Canon Australia launches new Camera Sharing community

Canon Australia launched a new service to help photographers get more value from their products.

Kyoyu means “share” in Japanese and it lets members rent out gear and make money when it’s not being in use, or conversely allows them to rent gear themselves when they need it.  The platform has ID verification and Canon themselves takes care of insurance protection.  The platform is free if you rent gear, however, you pay a percentage of your sale if you provide gear.

“Kyōyū allows owners to get so much more value out of their purchase while for renters its perfect for that one-off creative project or to test and try new gear in the real world before diving in to make a purchase,” says Jason McLean, Director of Consumer Imaging, Canon Australia. 

For renters the process is straightforward, you sign up to the Kyoyu website and locate members nearby and send a booking request, and finally, you arrange to meet to pick up the gear.   Renters are ID verified before they are allowed onto the system.

For providers, Kyoyu takes a 30% standard fee, and the first transaction is free, and the providers can set their own prices.  Kyoyu will provide suggestions for pricing.

There is a variety of services available in other regions such as KitSplit in the United States already, it’s unclear if Canon Australia’s system will expand to include different regions, as the identification and insurance portions would be different on a regional basis.  This would be a great service, backed by Canon, especially if their service included a cursory check of the lens or camera upon return from a rental.