The History of Equipment Rental in Hong Kong

Kwong Ming Art Studio Ltd., founded by renowned cinematographer Wong Ming in 1965, was the earliest film equipment rental company in Hong Kong. A set of camera equipment (body, lenses, tripod, battery, film magazines and so on) was very expensive and to lower the production cost, independent film companies like Goldig Films (H.K.) Ltd. would rent it from Kwong Ming.

At its heyday, Kwong Ming owned 8 cameras and often all were rented out. The rental price was HK$1,200 for a 9-hour session and any extra time was prorated by hour. An accompanying camera assistant would mean an extra $500 per session. Even a helper would require $150. When the productions of Cantonese film dropped drastically, the rental business dwindled and Kwong Ming finally folded in 1973.

Salon Films (H.K.) Ltd. started out by shooting government newsreels for Rediffusion (Hong Kong) Ltd. in the mid-1950s and assisting foreign films in location filming in the 1960s. In the 1970s, they began their equipment rental business and has stood tall in the film industry ever since. With state of the art equipment and technical support, Salon has been involved in numerous foreign and local productions. In recent years, they even expanded their business into post-production, film financing and film distribution.