I wrote this quick little post a few months back about my favorite website for camera reviews called DPReview.  It’s an excellent website with all the info you need to make a smart decision in your camera purchase, but if you don’t know the things to look for in a camera for a real estate, you still might get stuck!  So, I thought I would do a quick video and give you some tips in selecting a great camera to fit your budget….. if you have one

Also, look at the shear amount of categories within the “advanced search” feature, so you can hone in on your specific needs for real estate photography!

Their reviews are so comprehensive down to every last feature.  The other thing I really like about the site is that they offer a forum to talk to other camera owners to ask questions and learn from.  The forums are usually a helpful place despite a few bad eggs in the bunch that you just ignore.  I have benefitted so much from their site over the years, I figured it was time to show some love!

About Stephen Pacinelli

Check out the sample below as it’s the exact same model townhouse. Please share/forward/tweet/+1 this post to as many friends as possible to help all real estate agents take better photos….that is if they don’t hire a pro

About Stephen Pacinelli

Here at Tech Savvy we recommend the use of a professional photographer to give your listings the best possible chance to succeed in these trying times. There are more agents now than ever hiring a pro, to come in and get the photos their clients deserve. The agents we talk to, use it as an excellent closing tool and a huge value added service that they provide, to justify that 6%. Judging from our experience here at Tech Savvy, (some) of the most successful realtors and teams offer this. If you are not offering professional photography, you better have the photographic prowess to back up your decision for not hiring one.

Again, we would recommend a professional but, if you insist on doing it yourself, here are some basic tips. We will break this down into two categories. Going over the equipment in this post and covering techniques in the next, to keep the information digest-able, in bite size portions.

Equipment

Honestly, a proper camera is crucial to today’s internet marketer. Photographing a $500,000 home, with a $199 point and shoot isn’t going to cut it. These little cameras cannot photograph a “true wide-angle” and won’t display too much more, than a small portion of even a large room. You will not be doing a home justice by photographing a property with one of these. There are some new, point and shoot (compact) cameras out there, that claim to have wide-angle capability and some get pretty close, but still fall short of a DSLR camera. For example the new Canon SD 940IS is supposed to have great wide-angle capabilities but, still only goes down to 28mm, falling way short of a DSLR 10-22 mm lens (16mm equivalent Canon body) on a DSLR. You can also buy small, magnetic snap-on wide-angle lenses, for a compact camera but, are not recommended due to the huge amount of distortion involved in these budget devices. When someone looks at a picture, they unconsciously process that picture in their head and awkward angles and lines in cabinets, tables and furniture, due to distortion of a lens, can actually cause someone not to like a home. Don’t believe me? There is a reason companies spend millions of dollars in marketing and appealing packaging for their products. How are your listings packaged?

What’s a DSLR? A digital single lens reflex camera allows the user to shoot with less distortion due to the construction of a larger lens and can shoot with a great wide-angle view. DSLR camera’s used to be really expensive but have come down in price drastically, in the last few years. Now you can pick one for as little as $500! These cameras offer the highest optics and will serve you well in real estate photography. Make sure you buy a wide-angle lens, like the Canon 10-22 mm for Canon cameras or the 12-24mm for Nikon cameras. Check out this review of the Canon 10-22mm lens review and look at the difference between the ultra wide 10mm view and the semi wide 22mm view of this lens, also shown below.  BTW, these photos are  from www.the-digital-picture.com and it is the best website, in my opinion, for evaluating Canon gear.

10mm

22mm

What a difference the 10mm perspective can make, in showing all of small room or making a larger room seem expansive.  Do you see why a 28mm simply does not cut it?  These wide-angle lenses are crucial for your business.

You probably have another question….Canon or Nikon?  Ahh, the age-old debate.  The truth is, it doesn’t matter.  They both provide excellent cameras and you will most likely be happy with either of them.  Don’t worry about the brand that much.  I happen to be a Canon shooter but Nikon has wonderful options available too.  A great place to go to get camera reviews, for any brand, is www.dpreview.com.  They have pretty much everything there and also great forums to talk to other camera users as well and to ask questions.

Now buying of these cameras isn’t an instant solution for you.  Time will have to be spent learning how to use them too!  They are not as easy as a compact camera to use but, the results speak for themselves, if used properly.  In the next “photography post” we will go over some tips and tricks on ow to take better photos.

Stayed tuned for the technique section next….

We are also creating an album for our Fan page in Facebook so send your pictures and website info to:

techsavvylocalagent@gmail.com so we can put a face to our fans!  It is “Face”book right?