Introduction
Equipment Guide for Real Estate Photography Let start first with a preface, this equipment guide is based solely on my experience and opinions about what gear I use for my real estate photography and why. It’s by no means a comprehensive guide to every possible option out there and although I may mention certain camera types or sensor sizes, I won’t be explaining everything in equal detail. At the end of the day running a successful real estate photography business isn’t reliant on a camera brand, or sensor size, or Photoshop “look”, and there are far more important things to think about then worrying about the latest technology or “trendy” camera system. Now for a warning about GAS. Yes, you read it, “GAS”, if you haven’t heard of it before it’s an acronym and it stands for Gear Acquisition Syndrome, and yes it’s a real problem for a lot of people and has been also for me a different times in my career. You know you are suffering from GAS if you start to think that the latest camera tech or lens is going to improve your photography, or better put, make your photography more professional, or you are constantly watching new camera reviews and calculating if you can afford the repayments! The truth is that anyone with experience can create amazing images of many subjects, real estate photography included, with even entry level gear. It’s your experience and skills that matter more than gear and most of us start with a basic camera and lens setup to begin with.
My First Camera!
I started out with a Canon Eos 350D and a sigma 10-20mm lens. It had its limitations, but I was soon taking images with it that were good enough to get me more work and more clients, and from there I only upgraded when I felt like my gear was getting in my way. And that’s the key, upgrade when your gear limits you or when you realize that its costing you time you could better spend doing more important things. I would love to be able to buy the latest gear as much as the next person, but its neither practical nor sensible for most of us, most of the time.
But that doesn’t mean that I would never splurge on new gear. The truth is that entry level gear will soon become a hindrance to you, especially if you want to push your images to the limits in post-production which is common in real estate photography, especially with those of use who have a more HDR (High Dynamic Range) style. In this regard, not all camera sensors are equal in reproduction, noise control and dynamic range, and as a general rule the cheaper entry level cameras tend to lag in performance compared to semi-pro and pro cameras. Although the performance differences are not always as high as you’d think. And with lenses the differences can be even greater between entry level and “pro” lenses although the gap is closing with manufacturers like Tamron and Sigma now producing real quality alternatives that are priced like budgets lenses.
Ultimately though, you will have to decide yourself whether or not you want to save some money and start out with entry level gear, or if you want to start out with semi-pro or pro camera gear and pay the initial up front cost. Obviously if your budget is tight you will need to look for cheaper options but there are plenty of very capable cameras and lenses now that can perform very well even on a tight budget. And don’t forget that the camera and lens are only part of the gear equation, you also have lighting gear, tripods and bags to look at as well and the whole kit can start adding up very quickly! So, what would I recommend?
Entry Level Camera Choices
For someone on a tighter budget looking for an entry level camera for real estate photography Canon has plenty of options for you to choose from ranging from around $500 up to $2,000. Where you start will really depend on your budget but there are two important things to consider. Firstly real estate photography is almost always a completely manual process, and by that i mean that I shoot on manual around 99.9% of the time. Manual shutter, aperture and ISO. What this means for purchasing gear is that almost all entry level cameras are suitable for this task and when you pay more for a more premium camera body you are really paying for additional features that you will almost never use as a real estate photographer. And secondly with that in mind I would personally still go for a camera body in the $1,000 - $2,000 price range as you are definitely going to get a more durable camera body the more you pay for it, and if you are looking for your camera to last through several hundred jobs then and base model may not be built to last and it definitely won’t have any weather sealing. So, with Canon I would look at an EOS 80D/90D if my budget could stretch to that as it will like be a bit more durable over time but you could use the 800D if that’s all your budget could afford. I would also steer clear of the Canon M-Series mirrorless system as they lack the lens choices that the EOS system offers through Canon and third-party lens manufacturers and there is also no guarantee that Canon won’t suddenly discontinue the M-series if sales start falling.
NIKON
Nikon has three APSC cameras series that would class as entry level from the 3000 series up to the 5000 and 7000 series which at August 2019 are the D3500, D5600 and D7500. All three of these cameras are capable of shooting in fully manual mode however as with Canon you will likely find that the durability of the cameras goes up with the price and I would recommend starting with the D7500 if at all possible, just for that reason alone. Again, the price goes up because of added features that your almost never going to use when shooting real estate photography, but if your budget is really tight it’s okay to start with a 5000 or 3000 series body but just be aware that longevity may be an issue over time. And lastly with both Nikon and Canon you have access to a great range of wide-angle lens options available from both companies as well as from third party manufacturers like Tamron, Sigma and others.
SONY & FUJI
For Sony at the same price you would be looking at their A6000/6100/6400/6500/6600 range of cameras and although these are competent cameras capable of fantastic images you have to be aware that you are more limited when it comes to wide angle lens choices than you are with either Canon or Nikon APSC camera bodies. Sony hasn’t introduced any new APSC lenses in a few years now as of mid-2019 so whether or not they will continue to develop their APSC line of cameras remains to be seen. So, for Sony I would recommend that you either purchase an A72 body which still retails or try and stretch to an A73/4. Both though are full frame cameras so your lenses choices will be better than with Sony’s APSC, but the prices will be higher as well, which may result in a larger initial outlay. As for Fujifilm they have better APSC offerings in my opinion than Sony and if I had to choose between Sony and Fuji for APSC, Fuji would easily win. They have a similar range of camera bodies in the $1,000 to $2,000 price bracket and they also have a nice affordable wide-angle zoom, and it also looks like some third-party manufacturers are starting to make lenses now for the Fuji X-mount.
PANASONIC & OLYMPUS
And lastly, I’ll touch briefly on Panasonic and Olympus and their respective Micro 4/3 offerings. I’m personally not a huge fan of the Micro 4/3 format but I will say that both Panasonic and Olympus have some nice full featured cameras in this format that fall into our price bracket. For Panasonic you can’t go past the G95 or G9 for a solid entry level camera in the $1,000-$2,000 price bracket and they now also make a very capable full frame mirrorless camera system, the S1 that now boast 3 models including a standard MP body, a high MP body and the only just released S1-H which looks to be a video producers dream. Also most other Panasonic cameras boast solid video capabilities which can be very handy if your also cross over into real estate video for your clients. With Olympus I don’t have any recommendations as I personally have no knowledge of their camera systems, but from what I can tell they are similar to Panasonic in many ways but just not as common. The biggest issue I think you will find with both of these manufacturers is simply the lack of lens choices when compared to Canon, Nikon and even Sony now. Having said that though you can still purchase capable wide-angle zoom lenses for these systems. Personally I would purchase a Fuji APSC over a Micro 4/3 system and for me I just don’t see the point in going smaller than APSC these days, but if you own a Micro 4/3 system already and its producing quality images then don’t feel pressured to go up in format. At the end of the day if it works for you and your clients, that’s all that matters.