Lens for Real Estate Photos

[Darchangel]

Hi guys, just looking for some advice on the gear I'd need for RE photos. I've got the 7D, and planning to get a 550EX2 in 4 weeks time. Would the 10-22mm be enough for the indoor shots, or do people in this field usually use a Tilt-Shift lens? No idea how bad the distortion would be at 16mm in a small room.

Probably a dumb question, but thought I'd ask. Cheers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wideangle]

Your Canon 10-22 would be a good lens to use and give ample room for those shots where you need to get as much in as possible. Sometimes you will need to apply some perspective correction though. You could opt for a tilt and shift lens but these do cost serious $$$.

[eldean]

try with a fish lens? or maybe wide lens+fish eye photoshop..:)

[Darchangel]

Actually, the fish-eye effect, or barrel distortion is what I need to avoid. I could potentially use a fish-eye and then remove the distortion in post, but that's a pain in the bum to do for numerous images.

Think I'll give the 10-22 a go, per Wideangle's advice (apt name ;))

Cheers.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MarkW]

Do agents really expect photos to look like the subject - somehow I don't think so :D

Your 10-22 is just fine.

Once you get below 20 you are going to get barrel distortion, thats just simple physics. Correct this in your post processing. With the money you save from not buying a Tilt Shift you can then go a splurge on Photoshop or even a dedicated barrel distortion programme such as PTLens.

[balwoges]

This link may be of some help - http://www.flickr.com/groups/861317@N24/ and I agree the 10-22mm does the job.

As a retired real estate agent I think these photographers go a little overboard in tinkering with the photographs - been my experience that a lot of folks buy a property then proceed to do their own thing with it, there is nothing like physically inspecting a property. However, looking at the photographs online does sort the chaff from the wheat. :)

[Tricky]

Agree with Wideangle and MarkW - the 10-22 is fine and the PTLens is a great simple/easy tool to remove any barrel distortion.

[Astroman]

I had to do some research for a friend in this field, I ended up going to a few camera shops and they settled on a Sigma 10-20mm lens, so I think your 10-22 will be perfect for it.

[grnis200]

Another vote for the 10-22mm - Great quality lens for the price.

[Crazy Horse]

Hey Darchangel, I took some quick photos with the 10-22 of our house which is on the market now (Link Here) (http://www.jmsons.com.au/cgi-bin/clients/johnmatt/opropertyinfo4.cgi?clientid=johnmatt&type=sales&propertyid=2575015&showimage=1&keyid=&frame=&wwdisplay=0) (Real Estate agent in panic mode) and apart from some small distortions which I didn't have time to PS, I think they're good enough for the job... After all, the potential clients will be looking at the features rather than the lines. (However, better if you have the time to correct large distortions)

BTW, the first photo on the webpage with the date/time was taken by the agent.


After looking at the originals, I did PS some of the distortions ... sorry, my mistake.

[Crazy Horse]

Do agents really expect photos to look like the subject - somehow I don't think so :D

Your 10-22 is just fine.

Once you get below 20 you are going to get barrel distortion, thats just simple physics. Correct this in your post processing. With the money you save from not buying a Tilt Shift you can then go a splurge on Photoshop or even a dedicated barrel distortion programme such as PTLens.

+1

[Travelm8]

Hi

I have done lots of Real Estate photography and have as my main lens the tokina 11-16 on my D90, it is excellent. Being that wide you will always have some distortion but it's a fabulous lens for internal shots. I tried a number of lenses prior to purchase and this really stood out a the top of the bunch including nikons 12-24. Just my 2 bob's worth.

cheers

John

[Darchangel]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was looking at the 10-22mm for landscapes down the track anyway, so will pick one up and give it a go :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wazzu]

I have used my 11-16mm for real estate photography, absolutely brilliant and not too much distortion.

[johndom]

I use to shoot on my 12-24. 17 or 19mm with dxeffect. Well wide enough, you dont want any lens that is distorted.
Set apeture priority at 11, nice solid tripod. make sure your horizontals are right.
point the flash at the ceiling and bracket 3 shots either side usually 1/2 stop steps with possibly a 3 stop one inorder to get skys outside windows nice and blue.
If there are objects against the window do a shot on exposure, with the flash directly toward the window.
Shoot with lamps on and off, so they can be on without casting a light on the walls.
Dont forget the self timer- it will get you out of trouble when you cant get yourself out of reflections.

Look through a Mcgrath catalogue, the photos look weird, oversturated colours and blue skys with bright interiors.
If you are shooting proffesionally, you wont have to do the post. There is a team of retouchers to do it, they usually give you good feedback on your shots too.
As for perspective correction, thats is usually all in post too, there is little time for it on the job. You have usually spent all your time moving furniture for the interiors.
enjoy!

[chrisprendergast]

what about the 16-35 2.8 L incase u upgrade later down the track try and save some $$$ incase u go to full frame?

[Danylu]

what about the 16-35 2.8 L incase u upgrade later down the track try and save some $$$ incase u go to full frame?

A FF cam down the track might be good if you need your photos to be wider.

[Clubmanmc]

i have a 7D and a 10-22 and yes at 10mm it has some barrel distortion... bets to keep it above 12mm, and worst case take 2 shots and stitch them together... or use your 24-70 in portarit, over shoot and stitch together... if shot right it could work much better...

so to make sure they are good for stitching... do the following...

A set the exposure manulally for the 2 shots (makes the stich easier to blend)
B turn the camera 90 deg and take 3 - 4 shots of the room making sure there is plenty of over lap...
C stitch them together in PS or DPP or some free stuff off the web...
D resize

when i say over shoot i mean make sure you have loots of room top and bottom and left andd right in the mix of photos so that you can crop a good sized result...

if you want ill post up a series of shots with both 10-22 and the method above... of my bathroom (as its quite tiny in there...

M

[chrisprendergast]

if u wanted really wide u could go 5dmkII and canon 14mm L lens

[JM Tran]

I wouldnt use a 16-35 L for any real estate work due to distortion, or the 17-40 etc

Ideally, a 14mm L or the 17mm TSE

cheapest solution is the Sigma 12-24 - its a rectilinear lens and shot from 14mm onwards for rectlinear vision, and is very good if u dont plan to do this everyday

[mikec]

At the end of the day its real estate, the photos will go on the web or a few brochures and then never used again, it doesn't need to be 100% perfect.

If on the other hand you were doing actual architectural photography for a magazine, book or architect then you'd have to be worried about correcting perspective etc.. and a TSE would then become mandatory.

The tog we use at work only really uses his 17mm TSE, he uses a telephoto every now and then to flatten perspective or pick out key details but I'd say 90% of his work is with the TSE looking at all the EXIF info of the proofs he sends.

[Slide]

*Rant*
As a renter looking at rentals I'm getting sick of Real Estate agents making crappy small places look huge by sqeezing them selves into the very corner of a room and using a UWA.
*End Rant*

[Allann]

Having just done a shoot of a unit for LJ Hooker, I used a 5DII with 16-35/2.8 and found it very easy to shoot with minimal distortion only having to correct one image. The main thing they are after is bright/warm images but distortion is a factor. I found that in a small room it is zooming to 24mm+ and taking a couple for a stitch was much better than taking a really wide shot and fixing the distortion. The hardest part is getting the lighting right though and spending a little time (I possible) to setup a couple of remote light sources makes for a lot less processing afterwards.

[JM Tran]

What?

The 14mm is going to give you a lot more distortion than the 16mm.


ummm, do u know about barrel distortion and rectilinear aspects of wide angle lenses?

try shooting a room at 14mm using the prime, then at 16mm with the 16-35 zoom

look at this sample review of the 16-35,at 16mm

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/435-canon_1635_28_5d?start=1

a zoom lens will always suffer from a lot more barrel distortion than a prime, especially at ultra wide focal lengths.

makes me wonder why serious architectural and real estate shooters prefer primes for this sort of work.....

[JM Tran]

dont really care about vignetting, it is easily solved in the processing and editing, and not a particular concern for any serious real estate shooters, whereas distortion is - and this is what we are talking about here.

Vignetting and light fall-off can be fixed by stopping down the lens, using external light sources such as contstant light and strobes to light the corners, and in photoshop.

Barrel distortion is a concern, as one may need to submit photos on site to client without any further post processing - so the chance to correct it is nil, and client will not be happy if things are warped. Correcting it may also lead to cropping of corners when straightening the image out.

Professionals tend not to fix it by using the correct lenses, thus no need for extra work/cropping/time wasting etc.

[gje38752]

Hi, I use a Cannon 15=85 and find that at wide angle the results are excellent given that its a zoom on a 450D. RE Agents love it.

[Clubmanmc]

grabs micro wave popcorn and sits back...

M

[mikec]

grabs micro wave popcorn and sits back...

M

+ 1

[jeffde]

Did a bit of real estate out here in orange and surrounds and you'll need more than one 580Ex to light a room. I have a 430Ex as well but up to 3 flashes needed for large rooms. I use a 10-20 sigma lens and its more than adequate.

[JM Tran]

That's not a prudent comment, JM.

As a pro, shooting RAW for post is almost a necessity in workflow. Even if the slightest touch-up is done on-site, alterations should be done.

The 14mm is good, but does not produce perfect photos. It's also a fact that many RE photogs nowadays shoot pans/bracketed frames. Combining these requires at least some PP time, whether RAW or JPG.

Distortion correction should always be a priority for RE photography.


yup, but the 14mm MKII produces sharper corner to corner sharpness and more rectilinear than a 16-35 MKII will ever be able to. Both unedited and corrected later.

pretty sure quick shots of small jpegs required for listings of houses from LJ Hooker, Ray White, Elders do not need extensive PP nor do they have the time and personnel resources to fart around with PPing every single shot.

And if u want to talk about more serious, higher end clients such as Sir Norman Foster's works and five figure clients, Im pretty sure those photographers dont use a 16-35 at all. They use the 14mm, 17TSE and 24TSE for a reason, and its a bloody good reason. So whats the point of trying to justify about the 16-35? Yeah it can do the job, same as any other wide lens, but good enough? No. Its like me trying to justify using an 18-55 kit lens for wedding work, sure I can use it and produce good photos, but good enough as I should be? Definitely not.