Sorry Sorry Sorry but what camera for me - Real Esate

I feel so guilty asking this as it is asked so many times. But I have been
looking very very hard over recent weeks and am more confused than when I
first started. Here's my specific needs.

I visit 3/4 properties per week
I need to take between 6 and 12 shots covering building, gardens, street
scene and internals.
Internal shots a bit of a problem needing as wide an angle as possible.
Other problem with internal is that some of the rooms seem to have very
little light, small windows and dark carpets drapes and furniture thereby
soaking the light from my current flash.
External can sometimes be a problem as I would need to take from a distance
IE across the river so optical zoom 4x + needed.
I can only go once so have to accept whatever lighting conditions on that
day.
Nearly all on being sold on a 'strictly confidential' basis so I haven't
time to fiddle with settings - I just have to zip round very quickly and
without neighbours being aware.
I don't mind some fiddling on software but haven't time to become more than
amateur and rely on auto settings.
The camera must get in my briefcase (quite big but not for SLR) as I do not
want to have to carry a separate bag otherwise I will look conspicuous
The printed end product is A4 four sides all colour. Largest photo 19 cm
wide but most of others 10 cms max.
It seems that whatever camera I get will be an improvement on my Kodak 280
which as been serving me very well but it looks the biggest compromise will
be losing its 30mm wider angle lens.

If you guys can help I would be glad.

Phil

 

Hi,

Check out the Minolta A1.
28-200 zoom (7x). good for wide angle and long shots.
Anti shake technology so you can get decent indoor pictures with the wide
angle.

5 MP for cropping unwanted objects.
and for large prints.

Cost is a bit high, around $760 - $850.

Good luck
Rosita

 

Buy any of the major brand cameras that fits in your pocket and that has
a 4x optical zoom. You should be fine. Your needs are modest. This decision
is not worth stewing about. Just go to a decent camera store that has a
wide selection of cameras and make your selection based on the model that
has the features you want, fits in your budget, and feels best in your hands.
All of the major digi camera companies offer products that would meet your
needs, such as Canon, Casio, Pentax, Minolta, Nikon, and so on.

 

What Stan said, then add to that:

A tripod for the low light situations and a stitching program. With those
two additions you can do everything you want to do.

 

Get one of the Oly's with the 1.8 lens. Makes a major difference in low light
shots.
The 5050 should serve your purposes very well.


http://www.madmousergraphics.com
web design, print design, photography

 

Get the Canon G5 with an external flash attachment, and wide angle lens
attachment.
You don't want to mess with stitching.
You don't want to mess with tripods.

Whatever you get, you'll need a better flash than what's on there.

 

Sorry Phil but this whoe thing sounds fishy to me.

You're getting a listing for real estate-- with a median US home price in
the $150,000 range, you're looking at a total commission of on average
$10,500. And you can't be bothered going back for a second shoot?

Real estate sales are public events. They're listed in the book of deeds at
the local court house-- and what difference can the neighbors' knowing make?
So you need a Carry Concealed permit for you camera?

Come on guy-- what's really going on?

Doc

 

It is real estate including a business - home and income - often with staff,
customers, suppliers, to who I am passed off as the man from the tourist
board, web design company, bank or similar. When theproperty is five hours
round trip is it not practical to pop back. Anyway my reasons are legitimate
and I was asking advice on a camera and have no wish to be told how to run
my business if you don't mind.

Phil

 

Probably some sort of collection agency looking to recover on judgments
etc., Had one of those asking here last week wanting help recovering a boat!

 

Buy a Digital Rebel slr, an f2.8 zoom lens, and a larger briefcase!

 

The C5050 has a lens that is 25-105 mm equivalent. It will not be good
for full room photos of small rooms.

 

A typo. The lens on the C5050 is 35-105 mm equivalent.

 

After quietly reading this news group for several months I realise the
Rebel is a good camera. Yep perhaps you are right I should look for a bigger
briefcase

 

Phil:

This is Usenet, where many people have a very hard time just answering a
simple question.
Anyway, you have two options, a D-SLR, of which the only decent ones below
$1500, are th Canon 10D
and Canon EOS 300D, or getting a high end point and shoot such as the Canon
G3 or G5, and adding on a wide angle lens. In both cases you'll need a
flash.

I'd lean toward the 300D. By the time you add the extension tube and lens
onto the G3 or G5 you'll be better off just getting the SLR with a proper
wide angle lens.

I'm afraid that you will not be inconspicuous though,

 

Unfortunately, the answer with the DSLR is probably not too helpful unless they
go for the $8000 Canon 1Ds or $5000 Kodak 14n, since all other DSLRs use a
smaller sensor than the traditional 24x36mm film size sensor. This smaller
sensor means they use only the center of the lens. You use a multiplication
factor (called the crop factor) to get the effective lens focal range. For
example, the Canon 10D and 300D have a crop factor of 1.6, which means a 20mm
lens for instance becomes effectively a 32mm lens. You can get very wide film
lenses and use them on DSLRs, turning them into normal wide angle cameras, but
in general those lenses are expensive. The 300D kit lens is fairly wide
(18-55mm before multiplying by 1.6, 29-88mm after multiplying) and is cheap,
but only available as part of the initial kit.

If 28mm is enough, there are a couple of prosumer cameras you might want to
look at: Minolta A1/7HI/7I/7, Nikon 5400, Olympus C-5060WZ, and Ricoh G5 wide.
I think you can get a wide angle attachment for the Nikon to bring it to 19mm,
and I believe there is a wide angle lens for the Olympus, but I don't recall
about the Minolta or Ricoh.

The other option is to take multiple pictures and glue them together as a
panorama.

 

Thanks for all the replies.
Most helpful and has got me a shortlist sorted.

Phil

 

Have you considered hiring a pro? You are trying to sell these houses,
right? Do you really think that your lack of knowledge of photography is
helping? No, it's not. If you have any doubts take a look at some
professionally shot images, then try to duplicate them.

 

Pros are uneconomic.
My shots are to a very high standard even with relatively inexpensive
camera.
Phil

 

Do you know one who works very cheaply in his area? If he
knew a photography student with a digital slr who would work
for $10 an hour and typically be available when he needed him,
he probably wouldn't need a digital slr. Hiring a pro at around
$100 an hour (or even $50 an hour) is not an economical
alternative for many people much of the time.

 

The student idea would not work as the area could be up to 100 miles in any
direction so to find someone in all these areas would be impossible.

Phil