Free tool
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
Know what every piece of gear earns you
ProductionPal tracks your kit, its bookings, and your invoices in one place — free for owner-operators. No more guessing whether that lens paid for itself.