A Marrickville camera rental business has enjoyed an unexpected change of fortune — with almost $50,000 worth of film equipment suddenly returned overnight.

The gear vanished last week after an Uber courier driver was booked to deliver it to a production company in Mona Vale. Instead, he allegedly drove off, cancelled the job and disappeared, prompting the business to go public with its frustration.

After 7NEWS aired the story on Tuesday night, the courier came forward.

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

“He said, ‘OK, my friend will just leave it on the street.’ I said, ‘What do you mean — you can’t just leave it on the street’,” Rentacam’s Peter Soltys told 7NEWS.

“But they literally just dropped it on the street and left it there.”

The equipment — including a camera, four lenses and multiple accessories worth $47,455 — was safely recovered.

Soltys says the business is relieved and credits the swift turnaround to the attention the story received.

“We are very, very, very grateful to Sam Payne and the whole Channel Seven,” he said.

Marrickville business loses $50,000 in camera gear to suspected Uber theft Credit: 7NEWS

Security footage captured the moment the Uber courier arrived at the Marrickville business on March 26 to collect the gear — a common delivery method in the film industry. Staff loaded the equipment into his car, expecting it to be driven straight to Mona Vale.

But moments later, the job was cancelled.

“A couple of seconds later, hey Peter, the job was cancelled, I’m sending another Uber. And we were like, what do you mean you’re sending another Uber?” Soltys previously told 7NEWS.

Inside the uber vehicle was nearly $50,000 worth of equipment.

When the business reached out to Uber, the company said: “When they arrived at the pickup location, they were informed that the parcel had already been collected by another driver.”

“Both drivers have stated that they do not currently have the item.”

After security video was provided, Uber said: “We’re currently reviewing this internally and attempting to contact the delivery partner involved to clarify what happened and request the return of the item.”

“I just don’t get it. How can somebody just pick up something and just like, yeah, here we go, that’s it,” Soltys said.

Vision of the man’s face, car and number plate was provided to police six days ago.