Researching Equipment
Once you have finished researching the creative, you can move onto researching the equipment necessary to achieve those creative goals. Your first resources should be your department heads, but once you have exhausted them, then you have a few other resources you can move on to.
Rental Houses
Rental houses, because they own and maintain the equipment, can be great to help you find the right gear to pull off a certain camera move or certain look. Calling or emailing them and letting them know what you are trying to achieve and asking them if they have anything that would do the job is a good first step.
An example would be if you needed a small camera that is 1.5" on its widest dimension, can record without a tether, and has slow motion capabilities. Giving the rental house all of those specifications can help them determine what piece of gear they have that would fit. While they can be helpful, you always have to Trust, but Verify. Ask them for the model number or additional information for you to research and look to make sure that piece of equipment will work on your own.
References
Share Grid Lens Test - Share grid has a really comprehensive lens test of anamorphic and spherical lenses that is handy to reference.
Just like for references you can also find help for equipment on facebook groups. Some groups you can post in for help are:
Again lay out all of your specifications and what you are trying to achieve, you can also ask for rental houses that might carry the item in question as well.