Kit fee calculator
Price the gear you bring to set. Enter your kit’s replacement value and get a defensible day rate for it — built on the 1–3% rule working crew actually use.
What it would cost to replace everything today — not what you paid.
Suggested kit fee
$600 /day
- Rule-of-thumb range (1–3%)
- $300 – $900
- Typical market range (Camera operator / DoP)
- $400 – $900
- Kit pays for itself in
- 50 shoot days
Estimates only — your insurance costs, wear, and local market set the real number.
Billing hours too? Add your kit fee to the day rate calculator to see the full invoice.
How to price a kit fee
A kit fee is the daily charge for the equipment you own and bring to a job — your camera package, lighting truck, or sound bag. It compensates ownership, not labor: the purchase, the insurance, the maintenance, and the day of wear every shoot puts on your gear. If you show up with more than a laptop, you should be charging one.
The standard starting point is 1–3% of your kit’s replacement cost per shoot day. Replacement cost — what it would take to buy everything again today — not what you paid years ago. At 2%, a $25,000 sound bag bills $500 a day, and the kit pays for itself in 50 shoot days. Charge toward 1% for long bookings and gentle studio work; push toward 3% for short jobs, rough conditions, or gear that ages fast.
Sanity-check the math against what your market actually pays:
| Role | Typical kit | Typical kit fee |
|---|---|---|
| Camera operator / DoP | Camera body, lens set, monitor, support | $400 – $900 / day |
| Gaffer / key grip (with truck) | Lighting, grip, distro, vehicle | $750 – $1,500 / day |
| Sound mixer | Recorder, boom, wireless, timecode | $500 – $900 / day |
| Smaller specialty kits | Drone, gimbal, DIT cart, HMU | $100 – $500 / day |
On the invoice, keep the kit fee as its own line under your labor — “Gaffer, 10h day: $600” then “Lighting & grip kit: $750.” Productions approve it faster when it reads like the equipment rental it is, overtime premiums stay on labor where they belong, and your books stay clean at tax time. Agree on the fee before the shoot day, in writing, the same way you confirm your rate.
Kit fee questions
What is a kit fee?
A kit fee (also called a box rental or kit rental) is a flat daily charge for the personal equipment you bring to a job — camera, lenses, lighting, sound bag, expendables. It goes on your invoice as its own line item, separate from your labor, because it compensates gear ownership: purchase cost, insurance, maintenance, and wear.
How much should I charge as a kit fee?
The common rule of thumb is 1–3% of your kit’s replacement cost per shoot day. A $30,000 camera package lands at $300–900/day. Typical market ranges: camera operators charge $400–900/day, a gaffer or key grip with a truck of lighting and grip runs $750–1,500/day, and sound mixers with a full bag charge $500–900/day.
Is a kit fee the same as renting my gear out?
Same idea, different framing. A kit fee is your gear rented to the production for the days you’re on set — most productions book it as an equipment rental line. Renting gear out without your labor attached is a straight rental, and you’d usually price it against local rental house rates instead.
Should the kit fee be on the same invoice as my day rate?
Yes — one invoice, separate line items. Keeping labor and kit as distinct lines makes approval easier for the production, keeps overtime math clean (premiums apply to labor, not the kit), and in many countries the split matters for how the income is taxed.
Who insures my gear on set?
Ask before the shoot day. Larger productions carry rented-equipment coverage and can add your kit with a certificate of insurance; on smaller jobs you’re often relying on your own policy. Part of what the kit fee pays for is exactly that premium — factor it in.
Know what every piece of gear earns you
ProductionPal tracks your kit, its bookings and your invoices in one place — free for owner-operators.