Beginner Internal property photography.

Simon Ward

Simon Ward

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Simon
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Hi,

my estate agency has been using professional photography for all our properties we list for the last 3 years or so. It's a little expensive to have done for certain properties where they're in terrible condition etc. so I'm looking for a cheaper option.

I have a DSLR (Nikon D3100) but it's not got anywhere near a wide enough lens for taking internal property images. I'm happy getting a lens solely for this purpose, but can't seem to find too much information online about what is good or not good for this. I asked the guy we use for pictures, but he's a Canon man and has a 10mm lens.

The more I'm trying to learn, the more complicated it seems to become in ref. to hardware.

Effectively, I'm after a setup with my camera that will enable me to take internal pictures of properties. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Depends on your budget. A Sigma 10-20mm or Tamron 10-24 lens would do the trick from a wide angle perspective. However, and I could be wrong, but I'd half expect a pro that does this for a living to be using some lighting as well, and that's an entirely different question. I guess it depends on the type of properties you are marketing.
 
You are correct and the pro does use lighting, dependant on property. I'm really not looking at taking over his role, but it's just that for a property that needs an entire overhaul and is perhaps full of junk, it's not worth us paying for the professional photography. Or if it's a small rental property.

I ideally wouldn't spend more than £150 on it. It will only be used a couple times a month.
 
Perhaps you should use the camera in your phone on panorama mode~?

or maybe a cheap point and shoot? I bought a point and shoot (14mp) off ebay for £13.50 and its great at close ups and panoramas!
 
You might be struggling on that budget to get a Sigma 10-20, even secondhand. The ones in the classified section here are priced at £225 and £250. Not sure if anything exists within your budget, I'm sure someone will be able to suggest something.

Alternatively, if you have an IPhone, camera has a panorama feature, which may give you an adequate picture if there is enough light? Not sure about other brands of smart phone, they may well have that feature as well.
 
Good thinking ref the panorama function. Just had a try and it's not near good enough.

I will stump up a little extra and get a second hand lens or new one.

Thank you for the replies.
 
I photograph quite a few properties and have dealt with high end estate agents , I have begun to think about maybe opening an Estate Agents myself as there does not seem that much too it , do you have any advice on how to start out and what kit i should invest in ? I have a tape measure and a calculator and one of those laser measure things, I dont want to be taking over the professional agencies jobs just yet but for those odd smaller properties that don't have the money for professional agents then there seems to be a market.....
 
Although I'm sure your efforts at being ultra funny and clever is an attempt to welcome me as a new member, it rather loses the edge when it makes no sense.

If I were going out and trying to take work off professional photographers without any experience, sure, this would be all sorts of funny. Instead, I really value our photographer (he's a top bloke) and will continue to pay him to take our photos. Unless it's a grotty 1-bed flat that needs a total renovation. Doesn't make financial sense to spend 10% of our fee on photos in that instance.

Estate agents are generally completely stupid so you never know about that career change.
 
I used to work part time for an estate agent and usually ended up taking the photos as I did a better job than the boss.
These were not high end properties and the company would not have employed a pro to do the job.
I used a canon 40D with a sigma 10-20mm and a bounced canon 580 EX flash and got quite reasonable results with a bit of tweaking in PS.
When I finally retired the boss went back to doing the photos with his P&S.
Really looking at your budget and the amount of time you would use it a P&S would be more than adequate, something like a canon G Series with an external flash would work, it will not be all that wide but would probably be adequate for the job
 
A p&s isn't going to achieve a standard I would be happy with.
 
Simon Ward said:
A p&s isn't going to achieve a standard I would be happy with.
Click to expand...

That depends on the P&S , one with a wide enough angle lens is going to do the job fine and if as you say these are grotty 1 bed flats why do you think a high quality photo is going to make any difference ?

On the lens side you should be able to get a Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 which you would need to use on a tripod for interior shots around 200-250 i cant think of anything off hand that would do the job better at that price but £150 is just too small a budget.

Or maybe you should ask your photographer if he would do a reduced rate on these quick jobs if you could book a few in together and work with him on it ?
 
Simon Ward said:
A p&s isn't going to achieve a standard I would be happy with.
Click to expand...
I think it could...

An UWA lens (i.e. 10mm) is used to emphasize layout/flow/decor/size/etc when those things are a positive. In your case it sounds like an UWA lens may not be "selective" enough to show the properties to their best advantage (other than size). I would suggest you just use the standard kit lens (18-55 or similar) and a tripod.
 
Nikon kit lens and a £100 flash should do it if you use panarama, D3100 has decent high iso capabilities and if you are only going for web/snapshot size then the noise will be acceptable if you rack it up.
 
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One of the advantages of using a professional architectural photographer is (should be) that they understand the principle of misrepresentation when it comes to wide angle lenses and small properties.
 
My current lens on the camera (18mm) isn't near wide enough. You just can't get enough of the room in to a shot.

I really appreciate the advice from everyone and think it comes down to two options:

1. Increase budget.
2. Stick with a 3rd party taking the photos.

I do understand all the things you've mentioned in reference to issues with misrepresentation and general frustrations with estate agency photos of properties, but that's not really our style. Simply want to do a good job for our clients; but obviously remain profitable.
 
It's really a question of return on investment. I can understand that properties that are dilapidated don't command high prices hence your fee is lower. However you've got to weigh this against what it's going to cost you to get the equipment, against paying to get the job done. Plus are the photographs that you will produce going to be of adequate quality ?

Now a Sigma 10-20 zoom is about £350, If it's cheaper and easier to get the professional in then that's the way to go
 
Might be worth researching wide angle adapters for your existing set up to see in they are any good
 
DemiLion said:
principle of misrepresentation when it comes to wide angle lenses and small properties
Click to expand...

I have come across Agents who like wide shots and ask for panoramics and and those who don't too and don't want to misrepresent , what is the current legislation / legalities of misrepresentation by an agent or agency ? or is it just down to moral code. ?
 
I'm wrong btw, the act has been superseded by this one: Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008
 
Buy a GoPro hero 4 stick it to the wall and close the door! Take the shot using your phone outside of said room! 12mp photos and 180• view from the camera [emoji106]
 
That nuclear power station set of details was really funny.
 
I remember that Bungalow/Power station when it first came out.
Anyway i seem to remember the last time I was house hunting a lot of the agents particulars had some small print to the effect of "All images are for illustration purposes only."...whatever that meant!
 
Have you tried taking multiple images and using some free software to stick them together to make a panoramic. If you have a monopod, it's easy enough to keep the height the same, then just spin the camera, take a few images, stitch them later into a panoramic
 
special wide lenses like a 10mm fisheye introduce all sorts of unacceptable distortions.
For commercial work often it is necessary to stitch images together to get the required result.
( these were all taken with a Canon 40D and 17/55 F2.8 lens and stitched as necessary using PTAssembler)
All were taken with available light (no Flash)

The second to last shows an intermediate screen shot positioned but not blended.
The last is an extreme wide angle showing the entire site boundary with minimum distortion.

All of these shots could have been taken with an advanced compact.












 
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I wouldn't worry too much about misrepresentation. The Consumer protection regulations would not regard you as committing an offence unless you materially misled a consumer into making a purchase that they would not otherwise have done. Everyone knows that a wide angle shot of a room will be a little distorted. You can get a sense of scale from furniture and fittings. If you shot a bare room and conveyed the impression that it was substantially larger than it was without giving any dimensions either, then you'd be heading into tricky space - but I assume you put dimension details in your materials?
 
In a past life I used to do interiors, including a lot of repeat work by a company who made static caravans which are really small. Even on a crop it is possible to get a good shot even in a teeny spot with 17mm, it's also possible to get too much in at 10mm. You can get a good image showing two walls, a bit of floor and a bit of ceiling. If it comes to it and if possible, go outside and shoot through an open window - obviously not recommended for the first floor or basements. Be creative, don't show all of the room just suggest what the room can offer. The photos are there to entice a viewing, not to sell from. In fact I would go far as to say (with my sales hat on) they serve to generate interest and encourage discussion about what's in the other corner, what's behind the door in the corner, are there any more units to the right in the kitchen etc.

Something else to consider especially with panos is that they don't work with the ratio on rightmove.
 
the trick here for me is this.
why spend too much time on this process when the idea if to save money. your time = money.
therefore get something that does the job and is reliable.
most mid range P&S are good but often not wide enough.
I would go for sigma 10-20, or the tokina 11-16mm f2.8

Go to your boss, say that you will save the business (cost x number of houses in the first year).
You will pay £150 towards this and you would like his contribution to be the remainder.
If you are the boss, then have a good chat with yourself about the business proposal or purchase it as a business expense and claim back the VAT.
also a speedlight would be handy, you can get a ETTL speedlite for <£90 now. 3rd party like Yungnuo, Neewer, etc.
 
Simon Ward said:
That nuclear power station set of details was really funny.
Click to expand...

Geering and Collyer are one of our better local estate agents. TBH if you don't know there's a nuclear power station there, you probably shouldn't be looking at property on Dungeness beach. It has some other quirks ;)
 
Hello Simon,
I also have a D3100. I consider lenses as investments, as it can be used with different camera bodies as we upgrade. I recommend looking into the grey market version of the..
Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED Lens
..it's a good performer, and it will probably be the lens that stays on your camera for real estate shots.
Here is a picture I took with this lens on my D3200, it is shot at 10mm, I did turn on and use the cameras own distortion control feature, but no post processing distortion adjustments are made..
http://www.pbase.com/image/159132428/original
Cheers, John
 
Just for a FYI, here's a shot with a 10mm in a 2m sq bathroom I did last year I think:
View attachment 35035
 
jshen808 said:
Ken,
Thanks for posting this picture. Can you please tell us the Camera and lens used for this image. Thanks!
Cheers, John
Click to expand...
Nikon D200 and Samyang 8mm actually. Thought it was 10mm.
 
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jshen808 said:
Simon,

I just learned about this Sigma 8-16mm lens from a friend, he says this is his favorite wide angle lens. It is a regular lens, not a fisheye. I read this lens is good for taking real estate pictures. Below is a link showing this lens..

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/8-16mm-f45-56-dc-hsm

Cheers, John
Click to expand...
I agree that's an excellent lens, one of my favourites. It's not only usefully wider than Sigma's well regarded 10-20mm, it's better quality. But it's more expensive! If the OP wants to spend the minimum I'd recommend the 10-20mm. For minimal cost RE shooting you also want to spend the minimum time post processing, e.g. ex-camera jpegs on suitable settings. You also want to spend the minimum time in the property. That means improving the lighting and getting handheld exposure times by using a ceiling bounced flashgun. Extra expense. Otherwise use a tripod and remote release to get appropriately low ISOs with good edge to edge sharpness at f8 or f11. You probably also want to take advantage of whatever in-camera jpeg settings can lift shadows. I think Nikon call it D-lighting.
 
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Simon, do you have any friends that might have a decent point& shoot, or a wide angle lens that you could borrow? You could then have a play free of charge & see how you get on, before paying out on anything.
 
@Simon Ward

I've got a nice camera with a Tokina 12-28, I love taking pictures so I'll do it for beer money .... if you're based in Hammersmith/Kensington.

If not, there must be enthusiasts in your area who'd do the same.
 
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