Help buying camera- interior home shots

I am an interior designer and I cannot afford a professional photographer on every project. I am going to buy a

camera that will accommodate my novice needs to produce better self-shot photos for my portfolio. I am looking

for a wide angle option, which I am understanding 24-28mm is how to say that in photo talk? I am looking for

something in my price range (under 1k) that is good in poor lighting as well. I will also be using the camera to

shoot good pictures of my family as well. I am hoping to learn more about photography and even include

professional lighting down the line once I understand one thing I am talking about!!

 

Help!!

Any DSLR would do fine with the right lens. Lens selection will be far more important than camera body.

 

Since you want to keep costs below $1000 that will mean a small (crop) sensor body, as opposed to a full frame

DSLR. With that in mind, forget about 24mm being wide enough for interior design work. You need a 10mm or 12mm

lens. That will restrict you to wide zooms, as there are no fixed focal length (prime) lenses that short other

than fisheyes, and you definitely don't want a fisheye.

 

So I will recommend a low end DSLR of any brand you like ($400-600). I prefer Canon if you are looking to buy a

low end camera, but Nikon and Pentax are other good choices. Then you should look at the Sigma 10-20mm zoom lens

($500). It has relatively low distortion, and a very wide view when you want it. It's also probably the lowest

priced superwide lens available tight now. You should also buy the camera with its cheap kit lens of 18-55mm or

so ($100), so that you have a normal lens for times when you don't need something so wide. This combination will

push your $1000 limit right to the max, and perhaps a bit over. You still will need a good tripod ($100+), memory

cards ($50), and image editing software ($0-700).

 

You can deal with lighting later, but some of your greatest improvements in interior image quality will come from

the lights you use rather than the camera you choose. There are good reasons why the professionals get paid so

much for what they do. They understand both the technical and the art involved, and duplicating their efforts

will not be inexpensive or easy. Still, these are good skills to learn, and most people are capable of doing it

with education, experience and the right equipment.

Used dSLR body like Canon XT / XTi + Sigma 10-20 lens (that's 16-32mm equiv.). You'll get very wide angle indeed.

Sigma is $560 and XT / XTi is about... $300? Shop around a bit. That leaves some for a tripod and memory card. You need a tripod.

 

Point and shoot option would be cheaper but if you're serious about this and later want flash / lighting setup then dSLR is worth it.

 

But if under 1k means well under 1k then take a look at Panasonic LX3. It has wide and bright 24-60mm f2-2.8 lens. A bit expensive but capable point and shoot. $500. http://tinyurl.com/6ojkdk

 

Lighter (read: cheaper) tripod is ok for a P&S and it's better carry-everywhere & family camera than a dSLR.

 

Go to a store and see how wide 24mm actually is. Also, you can stitch multiple images so extreme wide angle is not necessarily needed.

 

For editing Photoshop Elements 7 costs about $100 and is all you need for a long time.

If you can manage to buy a 35mm Nikon SLR body or a FX/Full Frame DSLR body, than you can consider a Tamron AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 DI-LD or Tokina 17mm f/3.5 SL or Sigma 20mm EX DG ASPHERICAL RF. These are reasonable at price and extreme wide angles for full frame cameras.

 

Jim Kari have talked much on crop sensors, so you have those options also.

Make sure your lens has a very wide aperture. This will allow you to take shots indoors without using a flash to avoid unsightly shadows. You'll also want to get a tripod as well, so, depending on the light, you can extend your shutter speed and have it still be focused.

 

BTW, I have a Rebel XTi, and I'm really happy with it. I also use a Sigma lens, which I've been very happy with, all purchased for under $1K.

 

Hope that helps.

 

-Maija

I don't think that stitching images is easy for indoor shots - it requires a specialised tripod head and very careful setup, as well as good quality software. It will be much better to have a lens that can take the whole shot at once. I think the Sigma 10-20 lens makes good sense. The camera could be from Canon, Nikon, Pentax or Sony. Basic technique will be to shoot from a tripod - flexible positioning to allow you to squeeze into tight corners will be more important than maximum rigidity. I would add a double axis hotshoe level - an inexpensive accessory that will help avoid converging/diverging verticals. With a static scene you will be able to shoot at low ISO (100 or 200, depending on what your camera offers) for good image quality and also using a narrow aperture (I'd suggest f/11) to ensure good sharpness of foreground and background, although this will result in some long exposures. Use the mirror lockup/mirror prefire option to minimise any risk of vibration if the camera offers this. A long lead wired or radio remote release can be a convenient alternative to using the 10 second timer to avoid being in the shot yourself.