The best gear for real estate photography is the gear that you are most comfortable with!! Really though there are many debates on what is the best gear for real estate photography like what is the best camera body for real estate photography, which we talk about in our Canon vs. Nikon Review, or what lenses or tripods are best to use. So here are our tips for building the best gear bag for real estate photography.

The Basics:

• Camera Body
• Tripod
• Wide Angle lens

I know it seems basic but you really only need these three things to have the best gear bag for real estate photography however let’s talk more about how to make sure you have what is best for you.

Camera Body:

Here’s the deal, the best way to know what camera body is going to work for you, is to try them. You need to know these three main things:

1. What will be comfortable in your hands?
2. Can you figure out the menu system?
3. Does it do Auto-Exposure Bracketing (AEB)* or have triggering capabilities?

*what is  AEB and why do you need it? Click here to learn more

What will be comfortable?

The camera body needs to fit well in your hands. You should be able to easily and comfortably access the different buttons. Each cameras button layout is unique and you need to know what you can and can not do with the buttons. Most of the Nikon camera bodies have multi-function buttons or the Fn feature and Canon camera bodies can have custom button layouts you can use. Weight is a factor here also. You will be carrying this camera often enough that if it is too heavy that will become a problem for you. Even if you have a great camera bag like the Altura Photo Camera Sling Bag, eventually a heavier camera will begin to wear you out.

Can you figure out the menu system?

I like educating myself just as much as the next guy but if the camera has a novel for a manual it is a deal breaker for me. When you are on the go and need to be able to make changes quickly you need to be able to navigate the menu system. Also, you do not want to be fumbling with the menu to make changes especially if you will be with your clients. You basically need to be able to get around the menu system with your eyes closed…well keep your eyes open just in case, but you get the point.

Does it have Auto-Exposure Bracketing?

Bracketing your exposures is the HDR method of shooting real estate photography so if you plan to go the flash photography route, then you can skip this point. Auto-Exposure Bracketing is your quick start to doing real estate photography. We have talked about this before in our HDR vs. Flash Photography article about which method is best for real estate photography so we will not really rehash the depth of AEB but we will say that to easily and cost-effectively get into real estate photography, make sure the camera body you get has it. If it does not have AEB but it does have a wireless triggering system where you can still access and adjust the camera settings quickly and efficiently then that will work also.

Tripod:

Getting the best gear for real estate photography includes getting the best tripod for you to use daily! The keyword there is DAILY which brings me to my first point that it needs to be durable. You do not want to go too cheap on your tripod because you will find yourself buying tripods often and that really defeats the purpose of having the best gear for real estate photography. Second, weight is a factor again! You will be carting this thing around a lot so if it is heavy or clunky, you will quickly get annoyed or frustrated with that tripod. Next, you want to ensure that it has a very secure quick release feature. You will be moving around often and going from tripod to handheld and vice versa so you want to get a tripod that has a decent quick release system. This will give you the peace of mind to know that it will not let your camera come crashing down and that it also will not add to your time by having some strange locking mechanism that takes an act of Congress to release. Fourth, you want a tripod with a telescoping center column. This will come in handy when you are needing a slight height adjustment. Next, you want a tripod that can go at least 61” because you will be shooting over railings, furniture, and countertops often enough that you will need the extra height every once in a while. Lastly, and this is mainly preference, we prefer flip locks over twist locks. Flip locks make your real estate photography process much smoother because you can more easily set the height needed. There are some other features to consider like, a bubble level, the type of tripod leg feet and ball mount vs. pan and tilt head but these are even more preferential things that you can explore on your own. Manfrotto makes some of the best tripods on the market and we use the Manfrotto MKCOMPACTACN-BK Compact Action Tripod as our entry level tripod for our new photographers and we also really enjoy the Benro GoTravel Carbon Fiber Tripod with the Benro BH2 Single Action Ballhead as a heavier duty setup.

Wide-angle Lens:

The wider the better!! Just kidding this is not always true. You want to have a wide angle lens that is comparable to 16mm wide at a 35mm aspect ratio. This is a good concept to understand because there are crop sensor and full frame camera bodies so if you get a crop sensor body you will need to know the equation to make sure that the lens you get will capture enough of the spaces that you will be photographing. Whoa, that is a mouth full…basically, you need to buy the right lens for the camera body that you get. At 16mm you can get a very wide view of most rooms and this is what your clients will want…the widest possible view without the image looking distorted. You do not want to go too wide on your lens unless that lens has little to no barrel distortion because nobody likes distortion outside of heavy metal music. DO NOT USE A FISHEYE!!! Please for the love of everything sane do not use a fisheye lens for real estate photography…just please…please…please do not use one. To understand more about crop factors check out this video by Tony & Chelsea Northrup https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=675&v=DtDotqLx6nA

Off to the races:

So that is it. You should now have everything you need to get the best gear for real estate photography. You can take a look into our gear bag here and if you are wanting to learn more about how to get started with real estate photography you can check out our Three Tips For Building A Real Estate Photography Business Video.