# Camera for entrepreneur/architecture



## Jiniix

My mom needs a new camera. She's, as the titles states, an entrepreneur, who buys houses, rebuilds them and sells them. 

She's not an advanced tech user by any stretch of the imagination, but she wants the best camera she can get - that she can also operate. 
The budget is anywhere from $1-1500, but if there's a good reason to go a bit beyond that, that shouldn't be a problem.

I'd say that lighting has to be good, as the houses needs to look good 

Any recommendations? And if you have the time, you can look at either of these two sites (Danish equivalent of PCPartPicker):
www.edbpriser.dk
www.pricerunner.dk

$1000 = 5.500DKK, but she can write it off as a business expense, so you can take 25% off the DKK price.

Thanks in advance


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## spirit

I'd buy a body and an ultra-wide angle lens, such as the Sigma 10-20mm. Those who photograph architecture (and estate agents!) love the ultra-wide 10mm focal length, because you can usually fit just about the entire room/building into the frame. 

You can get that Sigma lens for Nikon and Canon bodies certainly, maybe Sony and Pentax too. I like the Nikon D3200/D3300, so I'd recommend she have a look at those. There's been a recent thread about buying a new D-SLR here which you may want to read to see other's opinions: http://www.computerforum.com/228037-camera-recommendations.html


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## voyagerfan99

I don't see why you need to spend money on a DSLR if you're just photographing houses. A decent bridge camera should do the trick just fine.


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## vroom_skies

Honestly if I was in her shoes, with what appears to be no or limited camera knowledge, I would hire out the service.
It's not super easy to get correctly lit home interior shots from no experience.

Though if she did want to attempt it her self I would suggest keeping it simple and picking up a nice advanced portable setup. Something along the lines of a Canon G series, or Fuji X series or Rioch GR series.


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## spirit

Well she apparently wants the best camera setup for $1.5k USD for her work, so that's probably going to be a low-mid range D-SLR body with the 10-20mm lens I suggested... D-SLR will be much better in low light than a bridge camera (one of the reasons why I upgraded).

I was looking at buying a Sigma 10-20mm at one point, and I had a go with one in a local photography shop with my D3200. I wasn't kidding when I said you could capture pretty much the whole room with it at 10mm.





That's a big showroom too!


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## vroom_skies

If you don't understand how to properly utilize a DSLR setup with lenses then you're frankly going to be worse off then with a quality fixed lens setup.

If I wanted to dig a small hole I'd be better off with a hand shovel vs a full on excavator if I have no idea how to use it.


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## voyagerfan99

vroom_skies said:


> If you don't understand how to properly utilize a DSLR setup with lenses then you're frankly going to be worse off then with a quality fixed lens setup.
> 
> If I wanted to dig a small hole I'd be better off with a hand shovel vs a full on excavator if I have no idea how to use it.



God other people are so good at making analogies than I am. But Bob is right Jason.


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## vroom_skies

I don't mean to imply that Jason is wrong. We just need to have more info to understand if she is really willing to take on that challenge or if she would rather have a simpler solution.


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## G80FTW

spirit said:


> I'd buy a body and an ultra-wide angle lens, such as the Sigma 10-20mm. Those who photograph architecture (and estate agents!) love the ultra-wide 10mm focal length, because you can usually fit just about the entire room/building into the frame.
> 
> You can get that Sigma lens for Nikon and Canon bodies certainly, maybe Sony and Pentax too. I like the Nikon D3200/D3300, so I'd recommend she have a look at those. There's been a recent thread about buying a new D-SLR here which you may want to read to see other's opinions: http://www.computerforum.com/228037-camera-recommendations.html



That or just something with a fisheye lens.  I dont know about now, but fisheye lenses were really popular when I started digital photography and I think they were used alot in filming as well because they make everything look bigger than it actually is. When done right that is. I used to have a fisheye adaptor lens for my old E990 but hardly ever used it.

If not wanting to fool around with advanced DSLRs, they might still make point and shoots that have a threaded fixed lens that fits adapters such as a fisheye. That would probably work fine.


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## Fatback

I don't think most Point and Shoots go below 24mm which is wide but still not as wide as you would need. I think the Nikon Coolpix L810 can do like 22mm wide which is a little better but not by much. 

A basic DSLR with a nice 10-20 or even the kit lens would be great maybe a flash too. But like already said she would have to learn at least the basic's of photography and then some to make it a useful tool.


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## spirit

I don't think a basic D-SLR is going to be hard to use at all. She could just get the one lens (the 10-20mm), leave it on, and then shoot in auto. She could even shoot in JPEG if she wanted. It would be a matter of just literally 'pointing and shooting'. I think Dale is right, most compacts aren't going to go as wide as 10mm, and if you want to photograph rooms then you want to go as wide as possible.

Who knows, she may really enjoy this photography and start getting into it... 

Just my thoughts, but I see where the others are coming from...


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## voyagerfan99

G80FTW said:


> That or just something with a fisheye lens.  I dont know about now, but fisheye lenses were really popular when I started digital photography and I think they were used alot in filming as well because they make everything look bigger than it actually is. When done right that is. I used to have a fisheye adaptor lens for my old E990 but hardly ever used it.



I wouldn't recommend a fisheye. When you use them, you need to crop a large amount of the photo in order to see anything, so you get quite low quality shots when you use them.


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## Jiniix

I got some recommendations by a guy from work who's into cameras, and has a good knowledge of the prices etc here in Denmark, and he suggested the Canon 700D, as it would be an easy to use and cheap DSLR option. Any though on that? Costs around 4500DKK ($820)


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## voyagerfan99

To anyone not familiar with the 700D, it's just the European model of the T5i.


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## spirit

Jiniix said:


> I got some recommendations by a guy from work who's into cameras, and has a good knowledge of the prices etc here in Denmark, and he suggested the Canon 700D, as it would be an easy to use and cheap DSLR option. Any though on that? Costs around 4500DKK ($820)



That'd be a good camera to start off with. Have a look at Nikon too, notably the D3200 and D3300.

Be sure to get an ultra-wide lens like that Sigma 10-20mm though. It's much wider than the 18-55mm kit lens!


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## Jiniix

The D3300 with 18-55mm lens costs the same as a 700D - maybe $60 less. 
Would I have to buy the lens separately or find a D3300/700D with it pre-fitted? Not much into cameras at all, and I now see why people get scared when looking at PC specs   

Edit: Read back through thread and found that you had already answered it 

Would it be something like this? Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM Canon: 3295,- ($599)


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## spirit

You could get the D3300 with the 18-55 lens and then buy the Sigma 10-20mm on top of that, or to save money you could buy the D3300 body (with no lens) and then buy the Sigma. That'll save you a bit. You could do the same with the 700D if you went donw that route. 

You'll have to buy the camera and the 10-20 lens separately, since you're probably not going to get a 10-20 lens bundled with the camera.

You may actually find that 18mm is wide enough. In that case get a body and the 18-55mm kit lens (they come bundled). Try it out  in a shop and see. For the most part, 18mm is wide enough, but if you're looking to capture as much of a room as possible, I'd probably suggest the 10mm.

Make sure if you do buy the 10-20mm you get the Nikon version if you get a Nikon, and the Canon version if you get a Canon.

Have a look at the D3200 too. It should be cheaper than the D3300 and specs-wise it's almost identical. I've got one and love it (had it since December 2012).


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