HELP CHOSING A LENS FOR INSIDE ARCHITECTURE

[klechak photography]

I was wondering if anyone could help me.... what is a good lense for

shooting inside architecture....I will be doing some local bed and

breakfast type deals for internet pics.

Thanks for your help!

Colin

[SCL]

Any Tilt & Shift Lens, preferable shorter focal length.

[denisbergeron]

It will help if you tell us the camera you have (1.6x, 1.3x or FF) ! Anyway!<br>

For B&B you want to make it large with lot of space ! Get the wider lens you can buy with in your budget !<br>

For FF and 1.3x I will get the Sigma 12-24mm <br>

For 1.6x I will get some 10-x lens<br>

<br>

Hope it's help !

[klechak photography]

The camera would help indeed... I just picked up a rebel xt with the sigma 28-300 f3.5 lens Thank you for all you answers

Colin

[bennyboy]

If it's an EF-S mount then you may want to look at the 10-22 EF-S. If you don't own a tripod it would also be a good investment.

[digitmstr]

COnverging lines can be correct in PS. NOt the same as having a T/S lens but, cheaper. For the web you don't need super quality so, any wide angle lens or zoom wide enough for the room will do.

 

If money is no object and you plan to MAKE A LIVING doing this for *magazine publication* the best thing would be a T/S and/or a T/S bellows with lenses of your choice.

[rick_waldroup3]

Colin, I shoot a lot of interiors, B&B, hotels, residential, etc. My stuff ranges from elaborate set-ups to simple stuff with one camera, one lens, and a good flash on camera, depending upon the quality the client needs and what their budget is. I shoot a Nikon D2H and this is a simple setup I use which would be very similar for you. If the clients want some clean, well-lit, sharp photos and they are working with a tight budget, try this. I shoot with a 12-24mm zoom and an SB800 flash mounted directly on the camera. No tripod because it takes up even more room. I've learned over the years that I can frame a shot pretty well without a tripod, just watch your corners for distortion, etc. Bounce the flash onto a card, ceiling, whatever to soften it. Turn on all the lamps to add some warmth to the shot (you may have to play with this a bit-you don't want too much light from the lamps). Shoot a few shots-see how they look, adjust the flash accordingly and that's it. I have made money for years with this setup- first with film, and now with digital. Now, if the client is looking for some really high quality stuff, then I bring in lights, reflectors, maybe even change the camera format,etc. It all depends on what the client wants. Hope this helps.

[robin_sibson1]

Colin, in an ordinary domestic interior you'll typically be about halfway between floor and ceiling when the camera is at eye level, and a TS lens would not offer any benefits. In any case, Canon's widest TS is the 24mm, which is not wide enough for most domestic interiors even on FF, let alone 1.6-factor. The EF-S 10~22 should do the job pretty well.

[miro]

I agree with Rick.

Colin,I use 12-24 f4 Tokina with Canon 10D and works well for all interiers.If work on something special ,I work with medium format and slides.

 

Miro

http://www.photographyplanet.net/index.html

[phyrpowr]

My 10-22 EF-S is surprisingly free of distortion, when shot level, and is very sharp, can highly recommend it

[edgreene]

A quality 24mm (<i>or 20mm, but a 20mm or wider induces distortion</i>) on a tripod.<p>Set your camera on full manual mode, meter, set the camera for two-second delay and use your flash for foreground fill (<i>EOS cameras/hot shoe flashes do fill flash automatically</i>.)<br>As suggested, turn on all the interior lights.<br> You must pay attention to those areas in the viewfinder which get little light (dark in the viewfinder) in that the venue ought to be fully lit.<br>For that, you need to shoot during daylight hours or no later than 45 minutes before dusk in order to make use of the ambient outdoor light.<br>This time of year you get the sun coming in at very low angles, making for some marvelous interiors.<div></div>

[edgreene]

Parlor, GE "natural" bulbs<div></div>

[neild]

For internet photos where quality issues are not very important (I'm mean, they'll still look excellent on screen, but perhaps not if printed), consider getting a fisheye lens. They are not cheap but the angle you get for your money is excellent. Also, the images can be easily "defished" in photoshop using a freeware plug-in called Panotools - it's really easy to do.

<p>

For example, on my 10D (a 1.6x crop camera) using a 16mm fisheye, I was getting images which when defished approximated the field of view of a 20mm lens on a full-frame camera (about 90 degrees across the diagonal of the image). This is quite wide, and you'll also be able to adjust the leaning verticals at the same time.

<p>

For more info, see this thread: <a href="/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005Lpu"><b>Canon 15mm fisheye as wide angle for 10D</b></a>.

<p>

If this is for a business then the lens will quickly pay for itself.

[bennyboy]

Of course if you're shooting digital then you probably don't need to bother with special light bulbs, just alter your white balance, either by setting custom WB or in ACR.

[gary_ferguson1]

"In any case, Canon's widest TS is the 24mm, which is not wide enough for most domestic interiors even on FF"

 

I'm not sure I agree with that. I shoot mainly architectural, chiefly with a P25 back on a Linhof M679 movement camera. But I also use Canon's T&S lenses with a 1Ds Mk II. Outdoors I'm often struggling to get everything in, but for interiors I'll use the 45mm or 90mm T&S lenses far more often than the 24mm.

 

Take the B&B example you gave, there may be one or two room establishing shots with the 24mm, but after that I'd be concentrating on specific details. A fresh, thick towel by a wash basin. Plump, inviting pillows with crisply folded sheets. A vase of flowers back lit from a window.

 

The problem with relying on ultra wides for interiors is that they tend to distort the room's perspective, giving endless expanses of boring ceilings or empty walls. And anything wider than 24mm will just exacerbate this, I don't think I use the Canon 14mm more than two or three times a year. The other issue with wide-angles is that they make your lighting problems harder to solve, and it's lighting that's the toughest challenge with interiors, not composition.