EOS BODY FOR ARCHITECTURE

[kia]

HI
i am an architect and i love taking pictures of buildings ( especially historic buildings) exterior and interior .... for some years i had a power shot s2is which was not bad , but had some serios weakness like lack of wide focal length , or low iso and mp ....
now i want to change to dslr , so i need advice .... i need high mp and great details but at the same time , i need to take pictures of interior , so i need your advice on 2 subjects .
first do you think i must go ff ?
do you think i must take 5d3 or wait for high megapixel that is coming .


one thing i forgot to say : frame rate per secound is not impotant to me .....

 

[LostArk]

Pick up a 5D2 and use the money you'd save by skipping the 5D3 to get a 24mm TS-E II.

/threadover

 

[Z]

The 63-point autofocus system is unimportant for architectural photography - you will most likely want to use manual focus anyway. A tilt-shift lens is pretty much a requisite for architectural photography, and for building interiors I would recommend the Canon 17mm TS-E and a 5D Mark II. This might be too wide some of the time, so you could attach a 1.4x extender to bring it to 24mm, or use it on a crop body to make it ~"28mm".

Ideally you would want a selection of tilt-shift lenses, but this would prove quite expensive. Another thing worth mentioning is the 17mm TS-E doesn't take screw-in filters, but I know of two companies (Lucroit and more recently Fotodiox) who do make a filter system for this lens.

If you are new to photography some of what I've said might not make sense - if that's the case feel free to ask for clarification.

 

[gferdinandsen]

Pick up a 5D2 and use the money you'd save by skipping the 5D3 to get a 24mm TS-E II.

/threadover

I agress a used 5D2 is a great choice, you might even want to consider the 24 TS-E mk 1 (used). Combined, you will spend less than on a new 5D3. As for you wanting high MP, the 21.3 that the 5D2 produces is more than enough for a 13x19 (A3+) print, in fact it has to be down scaled to print at that size.

 

[pwp]

Pick up a 5D2 and use the money you'd save by skipping the 5D3 to get a 24mm TS-E II.

I agree a used 5D2 is a great choice, you might even want to consider the 24 TS-E mk 1 (used). Combined, you will spend less than on a new 5D3.

This is good solid advice. There is little need for a higher MP camera. You'll be gobsmacked with the IQ if you have been even remotely satisfied with your PowerShot. If you absolutely MUST have higher MP, then there's always a Nikon waiting for you at a store near you.

-PW

 

[well_dunno]

Pick up a 5D2 and use the money you'd save by skipping the 5D3 to get a 24mm TS-E II.

I agree a used 5D2 is a great choice, you might even want to consider the 24 TS-E mk 1 (used). Combined, you will spend less than on a new 5D3.

This is good solid advice. There is little need for a higher MP camera. You'll be gobsmacked with the IQ if you have been even remotely satisfied with your PowerShot. If you absolutely MUST have higher MP, then there's always a Nikon waiting for you at a store near you.

-PW

+1
Also, images from a high MP camera is going to take a lot of harddisk place. Unless you are intending to make large prints or some drastic cropping, running out of space on the hard drive will be the only difference you will probably feel between 5Dmk2 and a high MP cam... IMHO anyway...

Cheers!

 

[TrumpetPower!]

Pick up a 5D2 and use the money you'd save by skipping the 5D3 to get a 24mm TS-E II.

I agree a used 5D2 is a great choice, you might even want to consider the 24 TS-E mk 1 (used). Combined, you will spend less than on a new 5D3.

This is good solid advice. There is little need for a higher MP camera. You'll be gobsmacked with the IQ if you have been even remotely satisfied with your PowerShot. If you absolutely MUST have higher MP, then there's always a Nikon waiting for you at a store near you.

-PW

The 5DII (or III, of course) with the TS-E 24 II (NOT I) is going to give you better image quality than the D800 with anything Nikon has to offer -- never mind the megapickles. Nikon just doesn't have any lenses to compare with the TS-E 24 II.

And, short of going to medium or large format, you're not going to find a better lens for architecture than the TS-E 24 II, or a better camera to mount it on than the 5DIII, with the 5DII being more than 90% as good as the 5DIII for this application.

Cheers,

b&

 

[acoll123]

Hi,
I am an architect also. I second what most of the others here have been saying - get a 5D2 and a TS-E lens. I use a 17 but if you are doing primarily exterior shots, you might also consider the 24 TS-E.

 

[dendowling]

Yeah, full frame is nice for architecture since it works well with the TS-E 24mm. FF+24 is usually good for interiors unless you need to shoot really small rooms like bathrooms - which might need the 17mm.

Using a cropped sensor camera with the 24mm might seem too cramped for interiors but, should be OK for exteriors if you have room to backup. Some places like old narrow European streets may not always have room to back-up when using a 24mm on crop sensor. If you have a cropped sensor you may end up needing/wanting the TS-E 17mm even for large interiors or cramped exterior spaces.

The old Canon TS-E 24mm can be found used around $800-900 maybe new $1000. The new TS-E 24mm II is about $2000 and, the TS-E 17mm is about $2300. Also, you can put filters on the 24mm lenses but, you can't put filters on the 17mm. Very often you'll want to use a polarizer for architecture.

It's also a good idea to go rent TS-Es for a few days to see how you like them before buying.

If you've never used a TS-E be careful with exposure and lens settings. Two main mistakes to avoid.. first, you can't shoot in auto exposure mode with the lens shifted. If the lens is shifted you'll get an incorrect meter reading. You have to shoot manual, make sure the shift is in neutral position, take a meter reading & set exposure then, shift your lens. Or, just use the LCD to judge your exposure setting.

Second, constantly check the Tilt setting to make sure it is always in neutral setting and locked down. It's easy to inadvertently bump it into a tilt even when it's locked and you end up with bad tilt blur when you didn't want it.

Another useful tool for shooting architecture is to get a bubble level that slides onto your hotshot. Traditionally, you always want your vertical lines of the building to be parallel so, the camera should always be perfectly level. You can also use LiveView mode to compose images with the LCD Monitor and turn on Grid View so you can align the building lines with the grid on screen.

I think 22megapixels is plenty. Though, you may want more megapixels if you're making really huge prints. Other reasons for more pixels - if you have to crop out a lot of your image -like maybe you want a square image so you'd be wasting a bunch of pixels. Or, if you don't have a shift lens or can't shift enough and you have to do post-process perspective correction - that wastes a lot of pixels too.

 

[Marsu42]

do you think i must take 5d3 or wait for high megapixel that is coming .

... +1 for 5d2 if 21mp is enough - and use Magic Lantern for automatic unlimited bracketing and/or focus stacking (with an af lens): fuse them with Photomatrix (commercial) or enfuse (free), that'll give you max quality at min noise.

 

[35mm Film]

Get an old canon f1 and a FD tilt shift. 35mm film is so much more rewarding then digital. Any muppet can use a DSLR but with film you have to think about what your doing and you cant photoshop your way out of a crappy picture so you learn when you take a crap photo. This way you wont be driven crazy with all the hype of whats coming out next like me. ;D Try it if you dont like it you can always sell your gear on evilbay and then get a 5Dmk2, I love mine.

 

[dryanparker]

I've used the following setup with truly outstanding results: 5D2 + TS-E 24/3.5L II + Manfrotto 410 Geared head + LEE Filters + Cable Release

The Geared Head was the big surprise for me. It's a phenomenal piece of equipment for fine-tuning the shifts when shooting architecture. Without a tripod collar for the TS-E, you're mounted to the tripod via the camera body. When shifting, it's really a delicate balance between the attitude of the camera sensor and the amount of shifting to maintain your horizon. Having the Geared Head with knobs for each of the 3 axes is critical.

(As luck would have it, this entire setup is listed for sale, as I'm switching focus. DM me if interested!)

 

[acoll123]

I've used the following setup with truly outstanding results: 5D2 + TS-E 24/3.5L II + Manfrotto 410 Geared head + LEE Filters + Cable Release

The Geared Head was the big surprise for me. It's a phenomenal piece of equipment for fine-tuning the shifts when shooting architecture. Without a tripod collar for the TS-E, you're mounted to the tripod via the camera body. When shifting, it's really a delicate balance between the attitude of the camera sensor and the amount of shifting to maintain your horizon. Having the Geared Head with knobs for each of the 3 axes is critical.

(As luck would have it, this entire setup is listed for sale, as I'm switching focus. DM me if interested!)

Does the geared head help align panoramas?

 

[acoll123]

Another less expensive option is canon's EF 16-35 lens. I used this before I got a TS-E. Only problems is correcting perspective in post. You need at least a basic knowledge of Photoshop (I use/used Photoshop Elements and it did the job).

The 16-35 is not nearly as sharp but is far more flexible and has AF.

 

[Dylan777]

HI
i am an architect and i love taking pictures of buildings ( especially historic buildings) exterior and interior .... for some years i had a power shot s2is which was not bad , but had some serios weakness like lack of wide focal length , or low iso and mp ....
now i want to change to dslr , so i need advice .... i need high mp and great details but at the same time , i need to take pictures of interior , so i need your advice on 2 subjects .
first do you think i must go ff ?
do you think i must take 5d3 or wait for high megapixel that is coming .


one thing i forgot to say : frame rate per secound is not impotant to me .....

I would go for FF. 5D 3 is a nice camera. I love it. However, your shooting style doesn't seem to fit well with 5D 3. I would go for 5D 2 and use the rest of money for L glass. (5D 2 + 16-35 f2.8 II OR 17-40 f4)

 

[Cannon Man]

I also recommend 5D3 with TS-E 24mm II,

I have had the TS-E 24 II for one year now and i absolutely love it!

 

[bdunbar79]

Pick up a 5D2 and use the money you'd save by skipping the 5D3 to get a 24mm TS-E II.

/threadover

Oh yeah!

 

[dryanparker]

Does the geared head help align panoramas?

Well no, not properly. Although, I'm sure there's some kind of technique. I think for real panos you need a special head/rail system. (Someone chime in here if I'm wrong. I don't shoot many panos.)

For simple panos, you can use the TS-E with great effect. Simply rotate the base of the TS-E so the Shift becomes a horizontal movement. (You may want to rotate the Tilt movement back to the standard position for downward tilt to extend DOF. Else, you'll have "Swing" movements left and right along the vertical axis.)

With horizontal Shift, you'll have parallax-free movement up to 12-degrees in either direction from center. With some simple stitching or Auto-Align Layers in Ps...you can create a pretty convincing pano!

 

[KyleSTL]

Also, images from a high MP camera is going to take a lot of harddisk place. Unless you are intending to make large prints or some drastic cropping, running out of space on the hard drive will be the only difference you will probably feel between 5Dmk2 and a high MP cam... IMHO anyway...

Cheers!

mRAW, sRAW. Problem solved. You can always downscale resolution, but it's impossible to add resolution beyond the camera's capabilities.

I agree TS-E lenses are a necessity (especially 17mm and 24mm I or II). Full frame is a definite. I'd say a 5D or 5D Mark II will save you a ton of money so you'll be able to buy both FLs. Good tripod and head is also necessary.

Additionally, you could add a used T2i, T3i, T4i or 60D in order to acheive 28mm and 38mm TS lenses with the crop factor (at 18mp; cropping the a FF picture from 5D would be 5MP, 5D II would be 8.2MP).

 

[art_d]

I would say yes, you should go FF, if only to be able to use the 24TS-E II

I shoot architecture professionally and use a 5DII with the 17, 24II, and 45 TSE lenses. I consider the 24TS-E II the most useful lens ever made. In my opinion, it's a wonderful focal length for architecture because it gives you a nice wide angle that still doesn't feel like an exaggerated projection of the space you're shooting. It has practically no barrel distortion, and it is beautifully sharp. The 17mm is very nice, but in practice I very seldom use it on commercial work, even on interiors...but of course if I run into a very constrained space, it's great to have. I would say 75% of my shots are with the 24, 15% with the 45 (mostly for details), and 10% with the 17.

There is no reason to get a 5DIII for architecture since (in theory) you should be shooting on a tripod at low ISO and using manual focus...under those circumstances a 5DII will give you the same images quality. So save yourself some money there.

As far as waiting for a higher megapixel model...personally, I don't think you need to wait. The 5DII will perform so much better than the Powershot you're using right now! A hypothetical higher mp FF camera will probably only perform marginally better than a 5DII.

Good luck