Recommendation for correct wide angle lens and flash for real estate photos for Canon Rebel T3i?

[nyang]

Hi I'm new to the forum. I always hire out a professional photog for my real estate photos however have thought that with the amount that I pay them, I could buy my own wide angle lens to do on my own. 

Any recommendations for what wide angle lens and flash to buy?

Here are some examples of the work they have done in the past for me:

Any advice would be much appreciated. I enjoy amateur photography with my family and portraits but am hoping to be able to do more of my own work on my listings. Thanks!

[Skirball · Accepted solution]

The Canon 10-22 is the gold standard for real estate photography.  No question about it.

For flash I would recommend going generic unless you’re prepared to spend a couple thousand on lighting.  For real estate photography going to want at least 4 flashes unless you plan on using a lot of HDR (less is more, IMHO).  As you get better at lighting you’ll find you don’t always need so many, but many times it’s easier to add more light than try to balance out trouble shadow areas.  Personally I’d get the Yongnuo 560 Mark III flashes.  They have a built in radio trigger that works with the Yongnuo RF-602 and RF-603 triggers.  It’s manual flash only, but manual is just fine for R.E. and architectural photography.  You can start with a couple of flashes if your budget allows and build on that.  Usually I recommend people start with one good reliable eTTL equipped flash like the Canon 430exII, but for purely Real Estate photography you won’t need it.  If you’ll use that for other types of photography then it might be a smart purchase.

And I would also highly recommend a perspective correcting software.  Real Estate photography is all about having those lines rectilinear (unless it’s a vanishing point).  I use DxO Optics Pro, but Lightroom 5 now has perspective control.  I can’ speak to how well Lightroom works, but the DxO Lightroom plugin is great.

[nyang]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! I'll be on the hunt for these for Christmas!

[TCampbell]

I echo what Skirball says -- the 10-22mm zoom is the one you almost certainly want.

However... if the lens axis is not parallel to the ground (i.e. if the camera is pointed on an upward or downward angle) then all walls, windows, etc. will take on trapezoidal shapes.   If the image is shot with generous space for cropping you can correct for it using Lightroom or Photoshop -- but if the camera is level you will not need to correct for it on the computer.

A tilt-shift lens can also be used but I wouldn't recommend one to someone unless they were very familiar with the operation of the lens -- and they are rather expensive.  BUT... the lens can correct for perspective distortion without the need for software.

Next... lighting.

Lighting can be very tricky for real-estate.  A single flash is limited (no matter how good it is)l because light has a property called light fall-off.  Each time the distance from the light source increases by a factor of 1.4, the amount of light is cut in half.    That means the really close stuff can appear over-exposed... stuff just a little farther back will appear properly exposed, and the distant background will appear underexposed.  e.g. if you expose the light correctly for a subject 7' away, then anything which is only 5' away will receive twice as much light (compared to 7') and anything 10' away will receieve half as much light (compared to 7').  Anything 14' away will receive just 1/4 of the light... and at 20' it would get half as much again -- or only 1/8th of the light compared to your 7' subject.

Also... homes (especially kitchens) tend to have a LOT of reflecting surfaces and can be difficult to work with.

[nyang]

Wow, ok so I don't know that much about lighting! I want to be able to use flash for great portraits too but for the real estate, my photog has a flash that bounces light off the ceiling. Can I just get a generic or ask for one that flashes 4 times like what Skirball says?

[ebiggs1]

Your samples look like incredibility simple images to do. I also suspect little artificial light was added. Possibly just a bounce off the ceiling.

Since you already have a Rebel T3i, I would get the Canon 430 EX, and just one. But be aware it will likely not provide equal coverage for a 10-22mm lens. Ten millimeters is pretty wide even on a T3i. Bouncing off the ceiling will help this.

Some ceilings may not be good for bounce either.

Give it a go and you will learn what works and what not. But the old saying, KISS, applies.  You will learn!

Photshop and/or Lightroom are great additions. They both have learning curves and PS a very long learning curve.

Still think your photographer is overpaid?  

[TCampbell]

You can bounce a flash off a ceiling IF the ceiling is neutral (preferably white).  Otherwise the lighting will apply a color cast to the room based on the color of the bounce surface (i.e. it would look like you put a color-tinted filter (usually called "gels") to the light.)

The Speedlite 430EX II has a motorized reflector which slides forward or back to control the spread of the light.  It's designed to cover the angle of for lenses in the 24mm to 105mm range.  HOWEVER... it also has a slide-out "wide panel" which slides out and swings down to spread the light even wider.  The wide panel supports coverage for lenses out to 14mm.  Given that those assume a full-frame body, it should adequately cover a 10mm lens on a crop-body camera.

[ebiggs1]

Tim,

If we want to get down to brass tacks, it is an easy task to see how the photographer did these photos.

Of course a 430 EX may cover 10mm but you know as well as me, it is never good to depend on the extreme ends of any photographic equipments specs.

It seems it is a moot point, though, as none of the sample photos were shot at 10mm. But 14mm, 15mm, 17mm and 14mm respectively. All were shot with a 5D and the aperture and shutter speed indicate that a fill flash was used along with ambient light. It also looks like all the available room lights are turned on.

It is obvious if you look at the shadows on the ceiling where a goodly portion of the light came from. His meter was set to Pattern.

Aperture 3 was used for post but some of the photos still show some pretty bad vignetting.

The guy knew what he was doing.

[juzan42]

I have been using Yonguo flashes and they are wonderful for the price, they are not cheap at all. I have 560 IV model with the 560 TX trigger. I have 3 total plus I also purchased a canon 430EX which I use for portrait photography.   

I love that I can hide them at different places in the room to give it the lighting I want.