Bokeh Fire: This startup wants to be Netflix for camera lenses

Camera lenses are expensive. Why not rent them instead?

That’s the idea behind Bokeh Fire, a new Philly startup that hopes to be Netflix for camera lenses.

Founded by photographer Pano Kalogeropoulos, Bokeh Fire offers a curated and vetted set of lenses that you can rent on monthly basis. (“Bokeh” means blurred background, like when a photo subject is in focus and everything else is blurred.)

Prices are competitive, compared to other sites: this Nikon lens will run you $45 for five days on LensRentals.com, but on Bokeh Fire, it’s $95 for one month. Other lens rental sites also offer hundreds of lenses — Bokeh Fire is choosy about which lenses it features, said Kalogeropoulos, who owns all the lenses he rents out on the site.

Kalogeropoulos, a Fairmount dweller, moved to Philadelphia from Chicago because Philly is ‘the number one city’ for amateur photography, he said. Aside from running Bokeh Fire, he also teaches photography to amateur photographers.