New to Photography. Question about settings.

[clark77494]

I just purchased a Canon EOS Rebel T5 to do Real Estate photography. For outside photos I want to set it to ISO 400, f/5.6 and let the camera determine the shutter speed. On the inside I want to set the camera to f/7.1 ISO 200 wih no flash, and also let the camera determine the shutter speed. I have a tripod so slow shutter speeds should not be a problem. I have a 18mm-55mm lens that came with the camera. I have two years video production training so I know how to setup a motion picture camera, just never took stills except with my Iphone.

[ebiggs1]

clark,

"I figured an $800 DSLR would be a major improvement..."

It is absurd to think what you have will not do a good job.  Run do not walk away from people that tell you differently.

As a realtor you know there is a difference between showing a $150,000 vs a $1,000,000 house.  The same is true in photographing them.  The high dollar house displays differently to a different market.

I have an aunt and uncle, both realtors and I did lots of photography work for them.  Most of these guys here if not all have never done photography for a living.  They are hobbyists.

Get yourself a good tripod.  Set the T5 to Av and use whatever f-stop works for you.  In your case I would shoot jpg not RAW.  If you do want to do some post editing, go ahead and shoot RAW but I doubt you will see much difference.

IMHO, you would do well to buy Lightroom.  It is just a better all around program than DPP.  But you can't beat 'free' and DPP4 does work.

[clark77494]

I took photos of the house today. It took me about an hour to sort and edit the photos. I used Corel Paint Shop Pro to edit 18 of them. You can see the photos at the link below. The last 4 photos of the Amenities were taken by as professional photographer. I’m not as good as the Professional, but I’m a lot better than the Realtor! http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/house,condo,apartment_duplex,mobile,townhouse_type/70310541_zpi...

[Waddizzle]

"I noticed that some people said I need a high-end rig to take professional quality photos. The way I see it is my realtor was using an IPhone to take snapshots of houses to put online. I figured an $800 DSLR would be a major improvement over an iPhone."

Your camera lacks a level display.  Another accessory that you may wish to invest in would be a leveling base adapter for your tripod.  I use a a Sunwafoto DYH-66i Leveling base.  It is far easier, quicker, and more precise to level a tripod head at its' base, compared to leveling a tripod head by adjusting the leg extensions.

[jrhoffman75]

If your tripod has a ball head all you would need is a $15 hot shoe level. 

[clark77494]

Robert,

I stand corrected the last four photos are the professional ones. The Club House, the two photos of the swiming pool and the playground. The picture of the front of the house was also the realtor, along with the inside photos.

Clark,

[TTMartin]

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@clark77494 wrote:

I just purchased a Canon EOS Rebel T5 to do Real Estate photography. For outside photos I want to set it to ISO 400, f/5.6 and let the camera determine the shutter speed. On the inside I want to set the camera to f/7.1 ISO 200 wih no flash, and also let the camera determine the shutter speed. I have a tripod so slow shutter speeds should not be a problem. I have a 18mm-55mm lens that came with the camera. I have two years video production training so I know how to setup a motion picture camera, just never took stills except with my Iphone.

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You'll want Av mode.

In Av mode you set the Aperture and ISO and the camera determines the shutter speed.

No problem for the T5 and no problem getting professional Real Estate photos with ANY modern dSLR. 

[clark77494]

TTmartin, 

Thank you for the advice. The information is not in the user’s manual. If it is it is buried somewhere. I found a work around in manual mode by holding down the shutter button halfway and dialing in the proper shutter speed. Your method will make it a lot faster so I don’t have to dial in the shutter speed. Here is the link to the current photos. After I shoot the house tomorrow. I will let you know, and see if there is any room for improvement.

The Amenity photos were taken by a professional photographer.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/20110-Wrights-Crossing-ST-Katy-TX-77449_rb/?fromHomePage=true&s...

Clark,

[ScottyP]

As you and Tim both say, if you have a tripod, you are gold. Real estate shots present some of the least challenging requirements asked of cameras. No moving subjects. No need for sophisticated autofocus. So no need for bright lenses, large sensors for high ISO oerformance, nothing. 

Get a solid tripod. Use the 2 second delay to make sure any vibration from your finger pressing the shutter stops before the picture is taken. 

Use Av mode, which is Aperture Value or aperture priority. You set the aperture, camera sets as long a shutter as needed. 

Go go ahead and use ISO 100 if you are on a tripod.  You will see degredation in image quality by ISO 400, and since you are on a tipod there's no need for higher ISO.  

If you need a wider wider angle lens, Canon has a 10-22 and a 10-18mm lens. Both are good according to the reviews and the newer one, the 10-18, is half the price of the 10-22.  

[ScottyP]

Funny your listing is in Katy.  We lived there for 10 years before moving up to PA 7 years ago.  Loved it, but we went back for a visit this year and almost didn't recognize the place for all the growth. 

[clark77494]

Scott,

I was able to get it working in AV mode. What I was doing wrong is there is a light scale in the middle of the menu that goes from minus 4 to plus 4. I moved the pointer from minus 4 until it was at Zero on the scale and that fixed the lighting problem. Now the shutter speed is 4.5 seconds, except now it is taking phenomenal photos.  I haven’t reduced the photos yet, will work on that tomorrow.

Clark,