Anyone Using an 80D to Shoot Real Estate Video?

I usually shoot real estate with Nikon / Sony but - and it's a long story - I have been looking at using an 80D instead.

Is there anyone shooting RE VIDEO with the 80D and the Canon 10-18 lens on a gimbal?

Is the low-light video performance good enough? I expect I might have to shoot around ISO 2000 for interior video.

Also for STILLS, how easy is it to move the focus point from one side of the frame to the other? I think the 80D has touch-screen focus selection, right? I would imagine it is pretty fast to change AF points, right?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Off The Mark said:

Also for STILLS, how easy is it to move the focus point from one side of the frame to the other? I think the 80D has touch-screen focus selection, right? I would imagine it is pretty fast to change AF points, right?

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Shooting stills in Live View, you can just touch to focus. Through the viewfinder, you can use the multi-controller buttons or alternatively press the AF mode selection button and then move the selected AF point using the front and rear dials. You can configure the AF selection to "wrap" to the other side if an outermost point is selected and you try to move the selection further in that direction.

Sharlin said:

Off The Mark said:

Also for STILLS, how easy is it to move the focus point from one side of the frame to the other? I think the 80D has touch-screen focus selection, right? I would imagine it is pretty fast to change AF points, right?

Click to expand...

Shooting stills in Live View, you can just touch to focus. Through the viewfinder, you can use the multi-controller buttons or alternatively press the AF mode selection button and then move the selected AF point using the front and rear dials. You can configure the AF selection to "wrap" to the other side if an outermost point is selected and you try to move the selection further in that direction.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I use the LCD 98% of the time, so I think the touch focus would be quite helpful when shooting stills.

I saw a real estate agent using her cellphone video tapping a townhouse going on the market in my neighborhood.

mailman88 said:

I saw a real estate agent using her cellphone video tapping a townhouse going on the market in my neighborhood.

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True, if you are using the zillow video (can't remember what it is called) it is ONLY usable from either an iphone or android.

But I am talking about SERIOUS video.

I'm sure you know already...drones are being used in real estate to show boundaries

mailman88 said:

I'm sure you know already...drones are being used in real estate to show boundaries

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Which is why I have a phantom 3 Advanced and a part 107 certificate.

But all of this is irrelevant to the topic of how an 80D performs for shooting interior video.

--
Stay Broke... Shoot Sony!

Consider the sigma 18-35 f1.8, or if you need something wider and budget isn't a concern, sigma 14mm f1.8.

I have been using the 80D (with the 10mm lens to convert to 16mm with the 1.6 crop factor) for real estate video for over a year with a Glidecam and a Rhonin M, glide bar, jib and rolling dolly. Providing your in and out and side to side movements are very slow, it does a good job. The two focusing modes work well when moving. In low light situations, the video does look a little grainy, but with a slide bar one can take credible video.

I have been approached to consider producing high-end video, and I am worried if this camera is up to the challenge without 4K capibility. Much of the video I see is using slow motion, and I am considering the Canon 1DX MKII for the 60fps in 4K and 120fps 1080p capabilities and response in lower light conditions. If cheap realtors will pay the price for quality, I will invest the $4000-$5200 for the new camera. The big production companies are charging $1500.00-$2500.00. For the $250.00 price point, I will stick with the 80D for the time being.

Brent Rowlett said:

I have been using the 80D (with the 10mm lens to convert to 16mm with the 1.6 crop factor) for real estate video for over a year with a Glidecam and a Rhonin M, glide bar, jib and rolling dolly. Providing your in and out and side to side movements are very slow, it does a good job. The two focusing modes work well when moving. In low light situations, the video does look a little grainy, but with a slide bar one can take credible video.

I have been approached to consider producing high-end video, and I am worried if this camera is up to the challenge without 4K capibility. Much of the video I see is using slow motion, and I am considering the Canon 1DX MKII for the 60fps in 4K and 120fps 1080p capabilities and response in lower light conditions. If cheap realtors will pay the price for quality, I will invest the $4000-$5200 for the new camera. The big production companies are charging $1500.00-$2500.00. For the $250.00 price point, I will stick with the 80D for the time being.

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I hae a friend whom is a realtor and from what she tells me its feast or famine. They have to pay out of pocket for everything for a potential commission that may not happen. That means advertising, flyers, etc...

That is why they are cheap.

fstopx2 said:

I hae a friend whom is a realtor and from what she tells me its feast or famine. They have to pay out of pocket for everything for a potential commission that may not happen. That means advertising, flyers, etc...

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It kind of depends on the market, too.

Median home price in the USA is $200,000

A full service commission is 6%, which means a $12,000 commission on a typical home.

But... the commission is usually split 50/50 between listing agent and the buyers' agent brokerage. So now that is down to $6,000

Then, usually the brokerage (the company for whom the listing agent represents), takes around half of that. So now the agent gets $3,000.

The agent does have lots of expenses as well, and a house might sit on the market for several months before it sells, and it might not sell at all.

I am lucky that I live in a place where it is very hard to find a home for under $800K. Most of the agents that hire me are getting around $12K and up on commission.

Funny story (sort of): Photographed a house that sold within a week at $5 Million. Husband bought it for his wife while she was out of town as a surprise gift.

Wife hated the house.

They resold it for $4.8 Million.

Life be like that.

Off The Mark said:

Off The Mark said:

I hae a friend whom is a realtor and from what she tells me its feast or famine. They have to pay out of pocket for everything for a potential commission that may not happen. That means advertising, flyers, etc...

Click to expand...

It kind of depends on the market, too.

Median home price in the USA is $200,000

A full service commission is 6%, which means a $12,000 commission on a typical home.

But... the commission is usually split 50/50 between listing agent and the buyers' agent brokerage. So now that is down to $6,000

Then, usually the brokerage (the company for whom the listing agent represents), takes around half of that. So now the agent gets $3,000.

The agent does have lots of expenses as well, and a house might sit on the market for several months before it sells, and it might not sell at all.

I am lucky that I live in a place where it is very hard to find a home for under $800K. Most of the agents that hire me are getting around $12K and up on commission.

Funny story (sort of): Photographed a house that sold within a week at $5 Million. Husband bought it for his wife while she was out of town as a surprise gift.

Wife hated the house.

They resold it for $4.8 Million.

Life be like that.

Click to expand...

You explained the math very nicely. So $3K commission and people wonder why they are cheap ? I would be cheap too.

My friend told me that her month advertising budget was like $500. You can eat up your commission very quickly.

fstopx2 said:

My friend told me that her month advertising budget was like $500. You can eat up your commission very quickly.

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Yeah, that is a bit on the high side. Plus they have to pay all sorts of fees to be a member of the national association of realtors and such.

What is the median price of homes in the area where your friend is a realtor?

Off The Mark said:

Off The Mark said:

My friend told me that her month advertising budget was like $500. You can eat up your commission very quickly.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that is a bit on the high side. Plus they have to pay all sorts of fees to be a member of the national association of realtors and such.

What is the median price of homes in the area where your friend is a realtor?

Click to expand...

Area is NY metro. Not sure what the media price is but I would guess its 300-400K.

I cannot get ANY useable video from my 80D... I am using it for stills only and doing HDR at that!!! I have to shoot 3 frames and then use Photomatix Pro in order to get anything I can use.

Video shoots produce crushed blacks and burned out whites and I have the Contrast Setting in Picture Styles set as low as it will go! I do not understand how so many YouTubers are getting good quality video with this camera. Maybe mine has a problem, I don't know. Very Frustrated!!

No, you are wrong... realtors are just cheap! Period! I had a Photography and Advertising Design Company for almost 20 years. I did Business Portraits, House shoots (interior and exterior), developed my own B&W film and made prints, and designed and printed flyers/brochures (what a stupid name, but that's what they called them) and everyday was a battle with these people!!! I did well but finally got burned out helping them make such huge commissions and all the while they complained constantly! CONSTANTLY! Can you reshoot the front, the owner wasn't ready... NO! Can you crop out that tree in the middle of the front yard... NO! Can I come in and re-do my business portrait, I didn't like how I did my hair that day... NO! Can you drive for an hour to shoot my listing and not charge me travel time... NO! There's a mispelled word on my flyer, you need to reprint it... NO, you approved it! I'm going to use that new kid that's $10 cheaper than you are, I can't afford $250 for this because I'm only making $25,000 on this million dollar listing (southern california)... and on and on!!!!

Oh, and my all-time favorite rude realtor brain-dead comment - I was at a Broker's Lunch trying to do a shoot and I waited in the kitchen for a few realtors to clear out so I could shoot. A realtor client sees me and says "Hi"... later on that week I ran into her again at her office. She says "oh boy, when I say you the other day at that "Broker's Lunch" I first thought it was your house, All day I thought I'm paying you way too much for photography! Then I realized it wasn't your house! - - - This is the kind of arrogant, better than god crap these people think!!!! This realtor was very typical of the thinking and attitude of realtors back in the 80's . They are basically unable to do anything else to earn a living so become realtors!!

I decided to stop helping these idiots make so much money and got my own real estate license. Now I only shoot for myself and I'm doing great... everyone still absolutely loves my photography and now with digital, it's even better!!!!Some remember and still ask me to shoot for them, I just say "No, I don't help realtors make money any more!"

Good luck to you, I'm done with these people!!!! Oh yea... I use an 80D!