Lens recommendations for real estate interior photography please

[kirispupis]

kirispupis, I've been in the industry in California and Nevada... I've got competition for $300 they not only will do HDR photography and have a turn around time of less than 24 hours and have full resolution files on a CD and website page, but they also will rent a helicopter to provide arial shots... RE photography in my experience, until the economy recovers is dying a slow painful death with cameras getting better and better and a realtor can get their own gear and take their own shots... I had a real estate agent try to buy my 7D so they can do their own stuff... If your working for real estate agents, it really isn't worth the fancy lenses or upselling to higher packages because in my experience, the agents just aren't buying... I live in the foreclosure capital of the world but the agents just wont spend the dough... I had to all but stop my RE photography in favor of commercial photography for the time being..

$300 is very cheap if aerial shots are included. My rates are between $150-$300 which is a tad below what other photographers charge. The main reason I charge a bit less is I do not depend on the money for income. I use it only to pay for more equipment. However even though I am not a full time RE photographer I have photographed over 100 homes.

If I depended on this for a living I am sure I would have a different view. It is a pita for the money and if I can ever get my print business going someday I will not hesitate to drop most of my RE clients.

Actually my biggest client sells almost exclusively foreclosure (REO) properties. She has found that by using professional pictures her homes tend to move quicker. The best agents out there realize that a small investment in quality photos make a big difference in the number of people that view the property.

I have yet to see a realtor who truly knows how to take RE photos. It is not as easy as it looks.

 

[wickidwombat]

why would you use a 60D and not a 600D? I cant see a single thing the 60D has for this type of shooting that the 600D doesn't? just wondering if there is something i dont know about thats all

 

[wickidwombat]

I have yet to see a realtor who truly knows how to take RE photos. It is not as easy as it looks.

Oh so true. Its funny how people assume the quality of images is more about the camera and not the person driving it then they wonder why the expensive DSLR they just bought isnt taking any better photos than their point and shoot

 

[awinphoto]

kirispupis, I've been in the industry in California and Nevada... I've got competition for $300 they not only will do HDR photography and have a turn around time of less than 24 hours and have full resolution files on a CD and website page, but they also will rent a helicopter to provide arial shots... RE photography in my experience, until the economy recovers is dying a slow painful death with cameras getting better and better and a realtor can get their own gear and take their own shots... I had a real estate agent try to buy my 7D so they can do their own stuff... If your working for real estate agents, it really isn't worth the fancy lenses or upselling to higher packages because in my experience, the agents just aren't buying... I live in the foreclosure capital of the world but the agents just wont spend the dough... I had to all but stop my RE photography in favor of commercial photography for the time being..

$300 is very cheap if aerial shots are included. My rates are between $150-$300 which is a tad below what other photographers charge. The main reason I charge a bit less is I do not depend on the money for income. I use it only to pay for more equipment. However even though I am not a full time RE photographer I have photographed over 100 homes.

If I depended on this for a living I am sure I would have a different view. It is a pita for the money and if I can ever get my print business going someday I will not hesitate to drop most of my RE clients.

Actually my biggest client sells almost exclusively foreclosure (REO) properties. She has found that by using professional pictures her homes tend to move quicker. The best agents out there realize that a small investment in quality photos make a big difference in the number of people that view the property.

I have yet to see a realtor who truly knows how to take RE photos. It is not as easy as it looks.

It isn't as easy as it seems but yeah... I used to have a handful of realtors from Dickson Realty and Coldwell Banker.. Coldwell Banker bought out dickson realty in my area and then provided all their realtors software to create their own tours... In one swoop I lost all those clients... REO realtors I've talked to either are putting little to no money in advertising which means no professional photography, or are moving them too quickly to see a need for advertising... which is a double edge sword for me... Where I live, the running joke is Realtors all have part time jobs somewhere else because there are so many realtors and so few houses selling unless they are REO will little commission going to the realtors... During it's hay-day in 2006 I shot a good 100 properties and such but can count on one hand how many i've shot since 2009..

I'm sure once the economy and unemployment and people start buying and agents start feeling the need to advertise, then I'll be able to get going again in that area, but until then... $300 for what photographers here offer are a heck of a deal, especially for arial photography... Hard to compete with that unless I start offering that and targeting the high high end clients... but then it gets even more competitive... I predict once the RE market turns around still photography will be a thing of the past with RE tours... it will have moved to video... hence I'm learning how to use my video on my 7d's and 5d2's better...

 

[Madkrafter]

There is a lot of advice here to take in. I can tell you that I've done high-end RE photography for several years now on homes from $1 million - $50 million USD. I did it for a long time with a 50D and Tokina 12-24 crop lens. It's focal view was that of a 19mm on the 50D. I would shoot straight on to avoid post processing distortion if I could, but still had to correct for barrel distortion. You can correct for keystoning in post, but it just stretches everything out. Sometimes you have to do that to "see" over objects in the room. I've done it plenty (shame on me).

I just upgraded to a 5DmkII FF and 17mm TS-E. It has enough view to get the tightest of rooms. I think the 14mm would be too wide. I find that the 17mm TS-E distorts the view more than I sometimes like. The plus is it doesn't have the barrel distortion of my Tokina and I don't have to correct keystoning.

I use HDR techniques on a tripod at twilight when the ambient light of the house can take over. I bring a box of light bulbs and replace any compact fluorescent bulbs so my light balance is consistent. I lock my white balance down to about 3000K, F11 and use Exposure Blending in Photomatix Pro for a very natural, realistic view of the space. I have never had a client say anything other than they love the shots. They don't ask HOW I process the photos, they just love the results. Better than them coming in with an on-camera flash and snapping away.

Setting up lights would take too long and take away from what the lighting designer intended (on higher-end homes). I can shoot an average house in 45 minutes to an hour, but spend 2-3 hours in post. Some bigger places may take multiple trips because twilight only lasts about 45 minutes.

If you are not doing this full-time, on high-end properties, you would probably get the most benefit from the 17-40 or 16-35, as you could use it for more... enjoyable shoots. I've heard good things about both but don't own either. I'm surprised to hear that even the 16-35 is soft in the corners (I've read that about the 17-40). How much more than the 17-40? I would rent both and see if one out-performs the other (I will).

 

[wickidwombat]

There is a lot of advice here to take in. I can tell you that I've done high-end RE photography for several years now on homes from $1 million - $50 million USD. I did it for a long time with a 50D and Tokina 12-24 crop lens. It's focal view was that of a 19mm on the 50D. I would shoot straight on to avoid post processing distortion if I could, but still had to correct for barrel distortion. You can correct for keystoning in post, but it just stretches everything out. Sometimes you have to do that to "see" over objects in the room. I've done it plenty (shame on me).

I just upgraded to a 5DmkII FF and 17mm TS-E. It has enough view to get the tightest of rooms. I think the 14mm would be too wide. I find that the 17mm TS-E distorts the view more than I sometimes like. The plus is it doesn't have the barrel distortion of my Tokina and I don't have to correct keystoning.

I use HDR techniques on a tripod at twilight when the ambient light of the house can take over. I bring a box of light bulbs and replace any compact fluorescent bulbs so my light balance is consistent. I lock my white balance down to about 3000K, F11 and use Exposure Blending in Photomatix Pro for a very natural, realistic view of the space. I have never had a client say anything other than they love the shots. They don't ask HOW I process the photos, they just love the results. Better than them coming in with an on-camera flash and snapping away.

Setting up lights would take too long and take away from what the lighting designer intended (on higher-end homes). I can shoot an average house in 45 minutes to an hour, but spend 2-3 hours in post. Some bigger places may take multiple trips because twilight only lasts about 45 minutes.

If you are not doing this full-time, on high-end properties, you would probably get the most benefit from the 17-40 or 16-35, as you could use it for more... enjoyable shoots. I've heard good things about both but don't own either. I'm surprised to hear that even the 16-35 is soft in the corners (I've read that about the 17-40). How much more than the 17-40? I would rent both and see if one out-performs the other (I will).

I would be very interested to hear a detailed description of how you use photomatix to achieve realistic looking results setting etc. While i like HDR and have a fascination with it I am over photomatix and the sameness of the results, I've been using it for a while now. got any examples you would care to share?
also the 16-35 while one of my favourite lenses has too much distortion for this use without post correction

 

[Madkrafter]

@wickidwombat I've posted some examples of one of my latest with the 5DmkII and 17mm TS-E. A photographer may look at them and notice that they are some kind of HDR, thankfully, customers don't. Photomatix seams to give me the most realistic look with the Exposure Fusion option (plus I'm most familier with it). I've also attached a snapshot of some of the settings I use.

I have multiple settings to deal with different lighting scenarios. In the snapshot you can see in the upper right corner some of the flare that can occur with the 17mm TS-E. It's easy enough to retouch out. On the lamp on the left, you can see the posterization that can occur in lamps. In both the shade and being too close to the wall. If I can, I will move them away from the wall to get better light falloff. I do some touchup in Photoshop for these circumstances.

The accentuation and shadow adjustments both play a big part in posterization. I shoot in 1-stop increments, anywhere from 4-12 exposures. A lower accentuation will keep the posterization at bay. The saturation is also one to look out for. I keep it about -1. Any more and it can really make the woodwork and fabrics glow.

 

[wickidwombat]

Awesome thanks!
yes those pics look really good
it looks much more like an exposure blended scene than the enhancer pumps out
I will play with fusion a bit more and try some of your advice.
why so many exposures? even at 1 stop difference much more than 7 exposures is usually completely dark or completely blown out

 

[Madkrafter]

Two words: Bare Bulbs! If there are bare-bulb fixtures in the room, I will shoot from 1/250 or so to get my lamp highlights, up to 8-15 sec to get shadow detail. As great as HDR is, I don't believe the hype of "filament to shadow." Maybe using other HDR methods, but as you've pointed out, they can look pretty gnarly. At most I hope to retain a little detail of the glass scones or shades and pleasant shadow detail. As for too many exposures: Better to have them and not need them, then need them and not have them!

 

[wickidwombat]

ok next question
how are you doing so many exposures with the 5DII which only has 3AEB
I am hoping this new upcoming magic lantern adds it back in an works better
the last one i tried was unstable at best

 

[Madkrafter]

ok next question
how are you doing so many exposures with the 5DII which only has 3AEB
I am hoping this new upcoming magic lantern adds it back in an works better
the last one i tried was unstable at best

I shoot in manual mode - f/11, ISO 400, Mirror lockup and Promote Control trigger. The Promote allows you to program in what exposure range you want, depending on whether you want to start with a highlight, shadow or mid-exposure value; program and hit Start. They're a bit pricey, but after I used one, I have to say it was worth it for as many houses as I shoot.

http://www.promotesystems.com/products/Promote-Control.html

 

[wickidwombat]

ok next question
how are you doing so many exposures with the 5DII which only has 3AEB
I am hoping this new upcoming magic lantern adds it back in an works better
the last one i tried was unstable at best

I shoot in manual mode - f/11, ISO 400, Mirror lockup and Promote Control trigger. The Promote allows you to program in what exposure range you want, depending on whether you want to start with a highlight, shadow or mid-exposure value; program and hit Start. They're a bit pricey, but after I used one, I have to say it was worth it for as many houses as I shoot.

http://www.promotesystems.com/products/Promote-Control.html

good to know I have actually been looking at these, currently i still use my 1D for HDR because it can do 7 AEB

also have you ever had a look at this method?
http://goodlight.us/writing/tutorials.html

it looks really good, totally impractical for RE of course due to the time it would take but I think its a pretty neat way to do HDR