If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Okay, that’s enough cliches for one day. It’s true though, great photography is vital to listing and selling real estate. It isn’t just important for a listing agent, it’s also important for the buyer’s agent. A buyer will scour though dozens, if not hundreds, of listings to find their short list. If the picture looks like a 5 year old took it, or worse, there is no photo at all, then the property will probably not make the short list.

Ideally, we would all have the perfect real estate photographer on staff to capture the perfect listing in the perfect light and life would be perfect. Unfortunately, few agents can even afford an assistant more less a photographer. The next best thing would be to hire a freelance real estate photographer which I would definitely recommend if you have the means, but not ever agent can. So then what? Are we stuck with embarrassingly amateur looking pictures?

No! The next best thing to having a photographer is to buy a great camera that can make any amateur look good. Yes, those cameras exist and I am here to help you identify what to look for. For a small upfront investment, you can score more listings and sell your properties a little faster. Yes, you heard me, it’s a magic gadget!

There are two types of cameras to look at, point and shoot cameras and (the far-superior) DSLR cameras. Regardless of which you camera type you choose to go with, there are 5 things to look for.

1. Low price
2. Widest angle lens possible
3. Flash. Stop groaning you purists.
4. Shooting in the RAW. Okay, wrong purists! RAW is a format like JPG but on steriods.
5. Tripod

So let’s talk about each and why they are important.

Price
Why is price so important? Well, unless you are a photography enthusiast, then it is important to see a quick return on your camera investment. If you spend too much money then that goes right out the window. Don’t skimp but avoid splurging on the best unless you plan on making a career of this new found talent. FREE TIP- If you get good, you can charge your fellow REALTORS a fee to shoot the pictures for them.

Ultra wide angle lens
An ultra wide angle lens is very important to real estate photography. In fact, dare I say it? The wide angle feature may be even more important that the actual camera. Large rooms look larger and small rooms actually show up in the picture… even half baths! Below are two shots taken of the same scene. One is a normal point and shoot camera and one is with an ultra wide angle lens. As you can see, there is NO comparison.

Unfortunately, there is WAY too much information regarding wide angle lenses that I could hope to possibly fit it in so I will just list a few point and shoot cameras that do a decent job along with a few wide angle lenses for DSLR cameras that are superb (not a complete list so no griping).

Point And Shoot

• Ricoh Caplio GX100 or GX200
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
• Samsung NV24HD
• Leica D-Lux 4

DSLR Lenses

• NIKON DSLR- Nikon 12-24mm, Sigma 10-20mm, Tamron 11-18mm
• CANON DSLR- Canon 10-22mm, Sigma 10-20mm, Tamron 11-18mm

Flash
I am sure you are thinking to yourself, what camera doesn’t have a flash? This section is more for those who venture into the DSLR territory. Some point and shoot cameras offer a hot shoe at the top to add an external flash. That may be worth looking into but I have never tried it so I can only offer an opinon.

A good flash will brighten up a dark room and help eliminate that grainy appearance from a dark image. The problem with using a flash is the shadows it casts around the room. One way to help eliminate this is to point the flash at the ceiling and to use a diffuser to help spread the light evenly around the room. Suddenly that dark theater room looks beautiful and inviting.

Below are too shots taken of the same scene. One with a high-end point and shoot camera with built-in flash and one using a DSLR with a mounted flash and diffuser. You can see a huge difference between the two shots. Amazing what a $150 flash can make.

Shooting in the RAW.
Don’t be crude! I doubt there are many home sellers that would let you walk around their house taking pictures like that so just get it out of your mind… and no, it would not be good niche to start.

With all joking aside, shooting in the RAW is a great way to go if you have the right camera and the right software to adjust the images. The RAW format is an image format like JPG except that it captures more information while the picture is taken and saves the image processing for later. Unlike a JPG where you can only tweak the images on your computer a little before the images start to look grainy or worse, RAW images can be adjusted by a lot more and still look great. Plus, changes that you make to the picture are non-destructive. Meaning, whatever adjustments you make can always be undone later.

To be more precise, a RAW image is like a digital negative. It allows you to significantly adjust the exposure, saturation, white balance, etc., while maintaining a clean crisp image. You’d think a pro spent time setting up each shot perfectly before taking the shot.

There is a downside of course. To use RAW, you must have a camera that will shoot in the RAW format and very few point and shoot cameras will do that. Secondly, you must use special software to make adjustments. My personal favorite is Adobe Lightroom ($200) followed closely by Adobe Photoshop Elements ($90).

Tripod
Last but certainly not least is a tripod… yes, I know, cameras do not come with tripods. I had to add this in because I can assure you, your pictures will look a dozen times better if you set your camera to the correct exposure and use a tripod. When a room is too dark, the shutter needs to stay open longer to adjust for the lack of light. ANY movement at all will blur the shot. Plus, the longer the shutter is open, the more light is allowed in which can decrease the noise in a dark image. I use a tripod on every shot and I even go as far as using a $10 wireless remote for my Nikon D40 and D90 to make sure I don’t shake it even a little.

Below is a picture of the gear I use along with some sample pictures that I have taken recently.


I hope this information is helpful. Please comment and let me know your thoughts and opinions on this topic. I love gadgets, and though I am by NO means a professional photographer, I love to talk about it.

Tags: Camera, Gadgets, Photography, REAL ESTATE

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