Whether you want to rent some professional photography equipment, test out different lens, or need a camera quickly, Budgetcam has you covered in Amsterdam
No matter how prepared we are, no matter how many backups we have, plan B's we've made and how experienced we are... shit happens. And it's within those moments you have to rely on the kindness and willingness of other people.
12 hours before we were due to board a plane for a two month long trip, our Nikon D750 camera died. Chris went to snap a picture and noticed something was off. A closer inspection revealed our shutter had broke. We hadn't dropped the camera, it didn't get banged around, it just broke. WTF were we supposed to do? That afternoon in our apartment in Amsterdam things got a bit frantic. Do we rush out and buy a new camera? Our backup body won't work with several of our lenses -- so do we just settle and use one lens? Do we postpone the trip and look into getting a new camera? Ugh. Anxiety ensued, stress got a bit heavy and then I asked google. "Where can I rent a camera in Amsterdam?"
Feeling a bit helpless, I came across Budgetcam, a camera rental company with several locations around The Netherlands. I placed a call to their Amsterdam location and was instantly connected with a live person! No pre-recordings asking me to hit a ridiculous combination of numbers, or a loop of different messages asking me different questions, an actual human being was on the phone with me. After a quick discussion of what type of camera we were looking for, I was given the news that they had our exact camera available and that they could rent it to us for two months! And because we were leaving for Asia in less than 10 hours, they even coordinated the rental to happen immediately. All we had to do was head over to their warehouse and pick up the camera.
Once we got the their warehouse -- which is located in a business park just outside of Central Amsterdam -- we were greeted by a member from their team who was expecting us. And there sitting on the counter next to him was what I immediately recognized as a Nikon D750, ready to come traveling with us.
“Even though we were leaving for Asia in less than 10 hours, budgetcam was able to coordinate the rental to happen immediately. All we had to do was head over to their warehouse and pick up the camera before our flight.”
We signed some papers, got our bill and tried to hand over a credit card….and it was denied! We had forgotten that many businesses in the Netherlands do not accept foreign credit cards --- you have to use a Dutch pin card or pay with cash. Unfortunately, we don't have a duth bank card, and Budgetcam does not accept cash (for security purposes). However, our salesman got on the phone with his corporate office trying to find a work around and eventually we realized we could do a wire transfer. Well trying to do a foreign wire transfer from a US bank to a European bank is relatively easy, but it does take time for everything to clear...time which we didn't have. Long story short we got the transfer to go through and with the patience and motivation of the Budgetcam team, we were able to get our camera! Crisis averted!
In the 3 years we’ve been traveling, we’ve never had to rely on someone else (or a business) to help us solve a problem. Both Chris and I are quick thinkers, plan for different situations and pretty much just get along by ourselves. We are so thankful for the team at Budgetcam and pretty surprised at the level of customer service we received… you just don't find businesses like theirs that often :) Luckily we’re in Amsterdam often and are so excited to have a place we can rely on and try out different equipment! So moral of the story - if you find yourself in the Netherlands with a need for a rental camera, piece of equipment or just want to play with different cameras, make sure to check out Budgetcam. The process will be easy and stress free!
For more information about Budgetcam, please click the link below: