“Peter at StoneHome took beautiful and professional photographs and video of my business. The finished product exceeded my expectations.”
Equipment
For those interested in our educational photography workshops, we put the following list of equipment required for real estate photography and virtual tours:
Tripod (required for panoramas)
Lens
http://photographyforrealestate.net/lenses/
http://vistek.ca/results/CameraLenses/camlenses/Find-Your-Lens.aspx?Attrib=LENSES&af=d2g%7Cd2l&av=10%7C41
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/search/pho?query=dslr&srchType=T
Camera Mounted Flash
Bag or case
You'll need some way to carry your camera equipment around without damaging the gear. Last thing you want to do is have your lenses smashing up against other things loosely in some bag. This will ruin your gear. Get a proper camera bag or (and this is my choice) a case with cut-out foam padding. Here are some options:
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/search/pho?query=bag&srchType=T
http://www.vistek.ca/camerastore/BagsCases.aspx
Panorama head (for making virtual tours). Any one of these is fine:
Tripod (required for panoramas)
You need something solid, not flimsy and cheap. There are too many options, and expect to spend at least $300 for a decent new tripod or a little less for a used model. We highly recommend Vistek for new purchases in Toronto and craigslist for used purchases. We cannot stress this enough: do not purchase a cheap, flimsy tripod as this will compromise your panoramas and photos. Quality brands include Gitzo and Manfrotto tripods, but both of these manufacturers also make light models of tripods too, so make sure to get something that is very stable for a decent sized dSLR with lens. Start here:
There are basically two cameras you can go with: a point-and-shoot or a dSLR. The point-and-shoot type of camera has a fixed (non-removable) lens and usually doesn't offer a wide angle. As such, it's not the best option. A dSLR is a bigger camera and the advantage is that it offers more control over exposure settings AND replaceable lenses. There are essentially two types of dSLR camera's: there's a full-frame and a non-full frame (aka, cropped frame). To keep things simple, the full-frame is just a larger sensor than the cropped frame. The cropped frame is cheaper. Most cheaper dSLRs that you'll find will have a cropped frame. Here are some options:
Lens
For the dSLR, depending on which type of camera (cropped or full-frame), you'll want a wide lens (for full-frame, minimum 24mm; for cropped frame, minimum 17mm). In fact, a wide-angle lens is essential in real estate and architecture photography and videography. As with the tripod, you can find decent lenses used for much less on Craigslist…just make sure to test before you buy:
http://photographyforrealestate.net/lenses/ http://vistek.ca/results/CameraLenses/camlenses/Find-Your-Lens.aspx?Attrib=LENSES&af=d2g%7Cd2l&av=10%7C41 http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/search/pho?query=dslr&srchType=TCamera Mounted Flash
Although a camera mounted flash is not required for panoramas, it is required to produce quality interior real estate photos, so you should definitely buy one. Here are some options (again, check Craigslist and test before buying. Also, make sure to match the brand of the flash to the brand of your cameras):
Bag or case
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/search/pho?query=bag&srchType=T http://www.vistek.ca/camerastore/BagsCases.aspx