Ok. So I decided to try a little more video at a recent event. Didn't want to purchase a camera without a chance to play with it first. I also didn't know anyone that owned a D300s. So I researched online and found BorrowLenses Talk about making life easy. I had a few questions on the insurance and reservations but a quick call to their customer service took care of that. I opted not to purchase the insurance because there is a 10% of camera retail price deductible if something goes astray even if you get the insurance. I took my chances and didn't have any issues. Reservations can be made up to 30 days in advance. Their website walked me through the rest. The camera arrived exactly when it was suppose to. I chose the three day rental since I only needed it for last Saturday. I scheduled it to arrive on Thursday. This gave me Thursday afternoon and all of Friday to become familiar and get the camera setup the way I wanted it. It also meant I had an extra day in case something went wrong with FedEx. With the three day rental delivered on Thursday, I almost got four days with it. Since FedEx doesn't run on Sunday, they expected me to return ship on Monday.
The only complaint that I have was the battery. With a full charge, I was only able to shoot 13 minutes of HD video before the one they gave me died. Fortunately, the D300s takes the same battery as my older D200. I dropped one of my batteries in and was able to get over an hour of HD video and still had half of the battery left. Not sure what the problem was with the battery they sent but if you don't have extras for the camera, I would recommend getting at least one extra.
I tracked the package back to them and knew that it was delivered. That same day I got an email saying it was returned in great shape and thanks for taking care of the gear.
All in all, a pleasant experience. Just get extra batteries if you don't have them.
By the way, I loved the D300s. Enough so, that I went ahead and purchased one to have on hand.
