The best cameras for real estate photography will help you show a home or space to its full potential. Photography has long held the power to make a break real estate listings, but that has never been more true than now. The number of people buying houses sight unseen has jumped significantly in recent years, with 63% of sold homes in 2020 purchased without having a buyer step inside first. The trend shows no signs of slowing down either. With so many buyers relying on listing photographs to help make a decision, it’s crucial to have a camera that can produce quality images. Having the right camera can also help ensure you keep getting those real estate photography jobs as you deliver consistent quality to agents with increasingly deep photographic talent pools from which they can pull.
- Best Nikon mirrorless: Nikon Z6 ii
- Best Nikon DLSR: Nikon D850
- Best Nikon on a budget: Nikon Z50
- Best Canon mirrorless: Canon EOS R
- Best Canon DSLR: Canon 5D Mark IV
- Best Canon on a budget: Canon EOS 90D
- Best Sony: Sony a7 IV
- Best Sony on a budget: Sony a6100
- Best for aerials: DJI Air 2S
Things to consider before buying a camera for real estate
Camera system
Buying an interchangeable-lens camera requires commitment. The body you choose will determine what lenses and other accessories you will buy down the road. Most major camera brands make models that are excellent choices for real estate photography, so it’s a matter of choosing one that makes sense for you. For example, you may consider how a camera feels in your hand and how you like the flow of menu systems. Of course, part of the decision comes down to the availability of compatible lenses that work for real estate since a camera body is nothing without the right lens.
Full-frame versus cropped sensor
Once you decide on a camera brand, choosing a full-frame or cropped sensor will be the next step. Of course, both formats have pros and cons. In general, a full-frame sensor will provide the most flexibility and best overall performance for real estate photography. And a full-frame camera is a must for those with more experience and taking on higher-end jobs. This is because full-frame cameras typically offer more megapixels, which can be useful for high-resolution applications like posters or large ads. You don’t need the highest megapixel count out there since most real estate photos are viewed on websites, but you do want something reasonably high. Full-frame cameras also will open up more focal lengths for you as there is no crop factor, which makes wide-angle photography more accessible. That’s crucial for shooting in small spaces. And lastly, they tend to be better in low light conditions, which is helpful for some real estate situations–dimly light basements, for example.
A crop sensor may make more sense if you are new to the genre and photography as a whole. A crop sensor is ideal for beginners mainly because APS-C cameras and lenses will typically be much more affordable. Despite the lower prices, the quality of most crop sensors will be plenty for many jobs. The main downside to APS-C cameras is that you are limited on focal length due to the crop factor. You’ll have to go with an even wider lens than full-frame options if you still want that wide field of view, which limits your choices.
Bracketing capabilities
For most styles of real estate photography, bracketing abilities will be essential. Bracketing is the act of taking multiple shots of the same scene, shifting the exposure for each image to capture detail in the shadows and highlights that might otherwise get lost. Bracketing allows you to stack images to create HDR files or selectively merge relevant exposures.
Some cameras are limited in the number of brackets they can take in Auto Exposure Bracketing mode (AEB) or the number of stops between brackets. While you can manually bracket, your process will be much more efficient–and less likely to have errors–using AEB mode, so finding a camera with flexible options for AEB will be helpful.
Video
One of the last considerations for a real estate camera is video capabilities. With more and more people shopping for houses online, having videos of properties has been growing in popularity and has been a requirement for some real estate agents when hiring photographers. Thus, finding a camera with quality video options will be important if you want to offer that.
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