Is 14mm wide enough for interior/real estate work?

[noz03]

I am shooting quite a lot of interiors lately, although my widest lens is 18mm which is ok for most furnished places I feel like unfurnished properties need a bit wider.

But would a 14mm (like the samyang 14mm 2.8) be wide enough? Especially in relatively smaller rooms? Or if not, what would a good affordable (under 300-400usd) wider lens be?

I am usually shooting with a Nikon D610.

 

[BAK]

Is your plan to deliberately distort the rooms? 14mm would be fine.

A friend of mine almost skipped looking at a house because the pictures were distorted, He ended up buying the house at a good price, well below listing, because hardly any prospects visited it.

BAK

 

[noz03]

Well I was told by a real estate agent that the images taken at 18mm weren't wide enough. I of course plan to apply lens corrections and warping to get them looking as natural as possible after no matter what lens I use.

 

[Bobby49]

One additional problem when you are shooting with a lens that wide has to do with another distortion. If your camera is perfectly level, then it works. However, if you have a bit of angle up or down, then the vertical lines look non-vertical. They look like they are leaning in or out, and that looks bad. If you are shooting wide and if you cannot guarantee a level camera, then use a tilt-shift lens.

 

[Teila Day]

Well I was told by a real estate agent that the images taken at 18mm weren't wide enough.

Wide enough for what? ... an artistic rendition of reality? Tell her that they're wide enough.

I of course plan to apply lens corrections and warping to get them looking as natural as possible after no matter what lens I use.

That takes more time to do property than the shoot is worth if you're shooting the typical commercial / residential property.

I can't stand looking at property where some realtor (probably like the realtor you're dealing with) uses a super wide lens, which exaggerates cabinets and doors, and makes a 20x20 room look longer than the reflection pool in Washington D.C..

 

[BAK]

Real estate agents, one or two, or maybe three of them, have been known to mislead people.

BAK

 

[Victor Engel]

One additional problem when you are shooting with a lens that wide has to do with another distortion. If your camera is perfectly level, then it works. However, if you have a bit of angle up or down, then the vertical lines look non-vertical. They look like they are leaning in or out, and that looks bad. If you are shooting wide and if you cannot guarantee a level camera, then use a tilt-shift lens.

I think that's the first time I've seen a tilt-shift recommended for out-of-level photos.

 

[Ken Seals]

I am shooting quite a lot of interiors lately, although my widest lens is 18mm which is ok for most furnished places I feel like unfurnished properties need a bit wider.

But would a 14mm (like the samyang 14mm 2.8) be wide enough? Especially in relatively smaller rooms? Or if not, what would a good affordable (under 300-400usd) wider lens be?

I am usually shooting with a Nikon D610.

There are many situations where the 14 mm works great. It's more likely to be needed in smaller areas of homes. If I'm not able to keep the lens quite level for whatever reason, the transform functions in LR work great. Here is an interior for a real estate listing. D-810, Samyang 14mm 2.8. I always use a tripod and take care to get the verticals as straight as possible. Or, fix in LR. - Full frame, uncropped.



--
Regards,
Ken - LR ACE
FAA Remote Pilot Certificate, ATP ASMEL
Mizzou PJ '66
www.kenseals.com

 

[jeffcpix]

You might find stitching a good option. Try shooting with the 18mm in vertical orientation and overlapping by 30%, Combine the shots using PS Photomerge and then crop. You won't have a 2:3 format as you would if using a UWA on FF which may be a problem if the realtor is using some sort of template for web display, Personally, I prefer the look of a panorama (3:1 or 4:1 format) to a 2:3 where the distortion is evident.

Suggestions: Use a tripod with a pan head that's level; use manual focus and manual exposure (same exposure and focus for all shots); use jpg instead of RAW to keep file size smaller and retain built-in lens 'corrections'; keep the lighting as soft and non-directional as possible,

Depending on how big the space is, you might find that the 18mm is too wide -- seeing how you really don't want the left/right near foreground as big as it will appear -- sometimes a 28mm (vertical orientation) is sufficient (or longer depending on how much of the foreground/ceiling you want).

If you find this approach useful, you might want to invest in a panorama head which allows you to set the nodal point of the lens over the point of rotation and has rotational click stops.

 

[toomanycanons]

I am shooting quite a lot of interiors lately, although my widest lens is 18mm which is ok for most furnished places I feel like unfurnished properties need a bit wider.

But would a 14mm (like the samyang 14mm 2.8) be wide enough? Especially in relatively smaller rooms? Or if not, what would a good affordable (under 300-400usd) wider lens be?

I am usually shooting with a Nikon D610.

I'd think that would be too wide. I've had a lot of brokers complain about me shooting "too wide, are you using a fisheye?" when I'm shooting my DX Sigma 10-20 at 10 (16 FF equivalent).

 

[noz03]

You might find stitching a good option. Try shooting with the 18mm in vertical orientation and overlapping by 30%, Combine the shots using PS Photomerge and then crop. You won't have a 2:3 format as you would if using a UWA on FF which may be a problem if the realtor is using some sort of template for web display, Personally, I prefer the look of a panorama (3:1 or 4:1 format) to a 2:3 where the distortion is evident.

Suggestions: Use a tripod with a pan head that's level; use manual focus and manual exposure (same exposure and focus for all shots); use jpg instead of RAW to keep file size smaller and retain built-in lens 'corrections'; keep the lighting as soft and non-directional as possible,

Depending on how big the space is, you might find that the 18mm is too wide -- seeing how you really don't want the left/right near foreground as big as it will appear -- sometimes a 28mm (vertical orientation) is sufficient (or longer depending on how much of the foreground/ceiling you want).

If you find this approach useful, you might want to invest in a panorama head which allows you to set the nodal point of the lens over the point of rotation and has rotational click stops.

I actually thought this as well, got a pano head and am currently going through a nightmare dealing with them from my last job Probably would be better if I had a faster computer but still the distortion, and other panorama related problems just makes it too much time, work and headache

 

[noz03]

I am shooting quite a lot of interiors lately, although my widest lens is 18mm which is ok for most furnished places I feel like unfurnished properties need a bit wider.

But would a 14mm (like the samyang 14mm 2.8) be wide enough? Especially in relatively smaller rooms? Or if not, what would a good affordable (under 300-400usd) wider lens be?

I am usually shooting with a Nikon D610.

I'd think that would be too wide. I've had a lot of brokers complain about me shooting "too wide, are you using a fisheye?" when I'm shooting my DX Sigma 10-20 at 10 (16 FF equivalent).

Hmm that is interesting to hear, literally I heard the opposite from some people.

Are you shooting furnished or unfurnished interiors though? I prefer to go wider on unfurnished as there isn't anything to show in the room but the room, and only showing a corner doesn't really make sense.

Thanks for the opinions though (at everyone). It is definitely effecting my decision on the whole thing.

The other thing I have to consider though is that this lens is also a much sharper prime than my current 18-35, (around 40% more perceived mega pixels on my d610 according to DXOmark). If that is correct that also means I can crop in a lot more to remove the most distorted parts of an image if I need to.

 

[BAK]

I used a tilt shift lens for 1000 house exteriors, about 300 of which were published here.

Amazon.ca

BAK

 

[Ellis Vener]

I am shooting quite a lot of interiors lately, although my widest lens is 18mm which is ok for most furnished places I feel like unfurnished properties need a bit wider.

But would a 14mm (like the samyang 14mm 2.8) be wide enough? Especially in relatively smaller rooms? Or if not, what would a good affordable (under 300-400usd) wider lens be?

I am usually shooting with a Nikon D610.

A 14mm is a very wide lens but as long as it is not a fisheye design (I don't think the Samyang 14mm is) the only geometric distortions you will have to worry about are near/far relationships and making the interior look a lot larger than it actually is. This can mostly be solved by careful choice of where you shot from.

The other type of distortion that people find objectionable in interior and some exterior photos is "keystoning" which happens when the camera isn't level on both the horizontal and vertical planes. You need to use a tripod and the D610's internal electronic levels for that. I have found with various cameras that the pitch (fore and aft tilt) and roll ( side to side tilt) indicators in Live View are more sensitive and accurate than the indicators in the viewfinder. You can also use a crossed axis bubble level in the camera's hot shoe. The important thing about levels is to use either the in-camera electronic levels or a level on the camera rather than levels in the tripod head.

 

[toomanycanons]

check out this forum in the link. I'm linking you to the pool of photos some of the members have submitted. Check the exif for cameras/lenses/focal lengths used.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/pool/with/39354054281/

 

[Victor Engel]

I used a tilt shift lens for 1000 house exteriors, about 300 of which were published here.

https://www.amazon.ca/Going-Town-Architectural-Walking-Southern/dp/0921912951

BAK

I realize now I read the post I replied to wrong. The comment was restricted to pitch, apparently. I was responding thinking the comment referred to roll.

 

[noz03]

check out this forum in the link. I'm linking you to the pool of photos some of the members have submitted. Check the exif for cameras/lenses/focal lengths used.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/pool/with/39354054281/

It's a very nice group, and I'll definitely spend some time there but unfortunately all of these photos are large expensive and furnished apartments. I often have to photograph unfurnished tiny rooms so it's quite a different situation.

 

[dwight3]

I have limited experience with interior RE work but for those that I have done I used a Nikon 14-24 lens, but not always at 14. On occasion I would stitch 2-3 photos.

I have had no problems stitching, but the utility of very wide photos is sometimes limited because RE publications use predominantly fixed aspect ratios. Stitching gives you images that don't fit into that aspect ratio.

In tight quarters, it's frequently necessary to use Photoshop to correct distortions in the images.

 

[FranzKafka]

I shoot a lot of interiors, some for interior designers (very high end) and architects, others for luxury vacation rentals. I use a Tokina 11-16 2.8 for nearly all my work, mostly at 11mm, so 15-16mm FF equiv. Obviously, the camera being level is super important, but I find it's important to consider what you're putting closer to the camera, as others have mentioned, because of the perspective a WA lens gives. If you're going to be shooting the side of the couch as the closest element in a photo, it will look dumb. I often move ottomans, centerpieces, and the like towards or away from the camera to get the perspective I want. While I'd obviously want TS lenses, they're simply too expensive at this time, and I still find I can deliver a beautiful product. In short, unless you're shooting with a fisheye lens, you can make great photos, even with a WA lens, as long as you understand their weaknesses and pitfalls, and learn to work around them.

All the best

 

[davebreal]

Most of the responses in this thread are from outsiders to real estate / real estate photography.

14mm on full frame is perfect. I do most of my interior shooting with the Tamron 15-30mm on a full frame Canon @ 15mm and this is exactly what agents expect and desire.

I do not shoot any panoramas for a typical NJ listing, just 25 unique angles @ 15mm.

Dave

http://instagram.com/njhomephotos