this is what I just bought... thoughts?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11034878

Strictly a camera for snapshots, but not serious photography. Your cell phone can probably do as well. There are other threads here with discussions of good cameras for real estate work.

That's fine if you want to take pictures just like every other Tom, Dick, and Sally in the business.

If you want to stand out, learn to take exemplary pictures and invest in a DSLR w/ interchangeable lenses and get an ultra-wide angle lens so you can capture what your eye actually sees rather than a small portion of the room.

And then learn to edit the photos to sharpen, correct the color balance, lighten, boost contrast/shadows, straighten, and correct distorted perspective.

There should be a class specifically devoted to training real estate agents on how to take excellent photographs & process them before publication, but unfortunately there are not many. I stood up and walked out of a "technology seminar" at Triple Play (a scaled down version of the NAR National Convention, for NY, PA, NJ Realtors, in Atlantic City) when the "instructor" said "Throw away your cameras, all you need is this cell phone!" and he was SERIOUS.

And others sat there gobbling it up. Oy. Probably the MOST important thing, next to price, when marketing a home is excellent photographs online. You can't achieve that with a cell phone - and while you can get OK pictures with a cheap camera, they will be at best "OK."

I have rarely seen a cell phone camera take good pics no matter how many pixels it has. However it's better then the no photos option. But just slightly.

My cell phone does HDR and will allow me to do color and contrast corrections. I use it all the time for informal photographs and it's great. However, I will still never use it for real estate photography.

Photos from a $100 camera will look like they came from a $100 camera. Fine for personal use, but for real estate? No way.

Yes, you need to take GREAT photos that will draw in potential buyers (and impress potential sellers during listing presentations). You don't need the most expensive camera in the world, but I agree that a good SLR and a good-quality wide angle lens are a must. Then get a decent tripod and a remote shutter button, and learn auto-bracketing-based HDR. Then learn Photoshop--don't bother with the cheap "starter" version, but rather get the whole shebang.

It's all an expensive investment, but I guarantee you it WILL pay off.

I hope you saved your box and receipt.

I agree with the others. You would be better off investing in a better camera. It is one of your more important tools and remember that this is a business expense you can write it off now!

I've been very happy with my Sony DSC-H5. Takes great pictures and very reliable. I used a Canon initially and it was a piece of junk.

Starting out I advise getting a good camera you can use for business and personally.

Good luck!

Thanks--Mario

The DSC-H5 is only capable of 36mm at its widest. This is insufficient for good interior photographs. I would choose a camera that is capable of a much wider field.

Hi Navarac! I am not a fan of taking interior pictures of houses with a wider than normal lens.

I was out with Buyers this afternoon and one of my Buyers said the house did not look as big as the pictures in the MLS because they used such a wide angle lens.

I prefer representing the properties as they really are----

Thanks,

Mario

Normal lens does not give you what your eye sees. It crops out what you see with your peripheral vision. It makes rooms look smaller than they actually are and eliminates many details.

Just try it. Stand in a room and look straight ahead. Take note of what you see in front of you and with your peripheral vision. Then take a picture. Then compare the picture with what you see.

I on the other hand, unlike you, have had my buyers tell me that house looked like they imagined it, thanks to my pictures. I have also had many people comment that the crappy pictures other agents put online made the house look awful.

A good camera is a competitive advantage in real estate!

If you're advertising online, you're missing amazing opportunities using a cheap camera. I get a large number of leads from R.com, Trulia, and Zillow on my listings. I've got a Nikon D40 and some $600 wide angle lens. If you don't care about additional business and don't mind longer days on market, then yeah, cell phone cameras are fine.

I just spent some time at one of my listings taking pictures with my ultra-wide angle lens, then using the "standard" kit lens that came with the camera, set on about 25 - 27mm, which is probably STILL wider than most cheap cameras. I will be writing a blog about it soon and will post the link so the wide angle can be compared to the "standard" side by side.

I think it's a cop out and an attempt to excuse sub-par service by using a cheap camera and justify it by saying it's more "realistic." Nothing could be further from the truth. It's doing your seller a disservice.

Thanks for making my point for me. Your buyers chose to visit this house based on the wide angle photography. The pictures gave the house a chance to sell itself in person. If it was your listing, and you had shot the photos with your "normal" camera, whatever that means, your buyers would have stayed home. It's about getting maximum bodies into the home so that one of them has a chance to fall in love.

I'm just now getting some of my pictures uploaded. WOW, a 36mm lens at the WIDEST? Holy cow. My "standard" shots were taken at about 28-29mm and they are super tight. I chose that because the OP camera is 27mm at its widest. I can NOT imagine not being able to go wider than 36mm. You must have to stand in another room to get a shot. And you think that paints an "accurate" picture of the room.

I also did some shots using my daughter's camera, a Sony Cybershot - looking it up online it has a lens capable of 25 - 250mm (poorly, but hey). Wow, and I thought that was insufficient.

My kit lens that came with my Canon does 18mm, and even that is too tight. I usually have my zoom set AT LEAST at 14mm, often 10 or 12.

It's taking me a while because I killed my laptop over the weekend, and have not gotten all my software loaded onto my new one yet. My pictures are going to be what you would call "rough drafts" because they were not only taken with a bit of haste, but also processed with haste as well. LOL. The point I am trying to make, however, will be made quite sufficiently.

36mm wide at the widest. Wow.

These were all taken with my own camera. They are not the best quality due to the haste with with they were created, but I think my point is made.

http://karenricesells.com/standard-vs-wide-lens.html

The standard focal length photo has not been cropped in any way, only resized to 1200x800 and sharpened/color corrected. The wide angle shots were slightly cropped after vertical line distortion was corrected.

I will be updating, if I have time, with photos I took from my daughter's Sony Cybershot camera...

Perky,

Great blog post! You really highlight the difference of the cameras. What was also very noticable was the amount of light coming into the room with the better camera.

Good advice. Taking great pictures is sometimes the only way to stand out among other agents. And buyers will notice the effort.