Need camera suggestions for Real Estate and...

[JD to you]

I need a camera suggestion for taking pictures of homes, mostly indoor/interior shots and taking normal family photos. I was thinking of the Canon PowerShot SD870 as I want something small having come from the PowerShot G2. Comments or suggestions welcomed! Thanks :)

[SpecialK]

Indoors you will want a wider lens than most (about 35mm equivalent) provided with compacts. The Panasonic TZ-3 and one of the Kodaks has a slightly-wider-than-most lens (28mm equivalent).

[David Metsky]

The SD870 and the SD800 have a 28mm lens as well. I prefer the 800 since it has a viewfinder, but both would work fine. My RE agent has one.

[KCook]

If you're showing these homes on the office computer I'd think you would also want a video capability????

My Canon S3 takes nice video (ignoring lousy audio). But it is really too bulky to be considered a compact. Dunno which of the pocket size cams have nice video. Just a thought ... :)

Kelly Cook

[andyw]

I also am looking for wide angle camera for interior shots, looking to spend less than $300. The pics will only be on a website, so a large resolution is not that important. Are there any camera's w/ a 24mm focal length?

[pas49ras]

I also am looking for wide angle camera for interior shots, looking to spend less than $300. The pics will only be on a website, so a large resolution is not that important. Are there any camera's w/ a 24mm focal length?

28mm is about as wide as you will find on a P/S camera..below is a search of wide angle cameras..

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php?search=1&manSearch=0&resSearch=0&zoomSearch=0&storageSearch=0&cameraTypeSearch=1&priceSearch=0&lcdSearch=0&batterySearch=0&wideLensSearch=Y&submit.x=33&submit.y=8

[KCook]

This is why I suggested video for a real estate shoot. You could simply do a slow pan around the room. Actually more effective for giving the "feel" of the room than a still shot.

For very wide angle still shots the "stitch" programs for pasting together 2 or more images into panoramas do work very well.

A digital photographer actually has MORE wide angle options than the traditional film camera. Even though extreme wide angle lenses are not available on low price cameras.

out of the box Kelly

[David Metsky]

This is why I suggested video for a real estate shoot. You could simply do a slow pan around the room. Actually more effective for giving the "feel" of the room than a still shot.

Most real estate listing services take still photos, not all deal with video yet. And the size of the video is still a problem. For now, still photography is the standard way to show real estate, but it is changing slowly.

[andyw]

28mm is about as wide as you will find on a P/S camera.

Thanks. So if I go beyond a P/S, is there a recomendation for a camera that gets down to 24mm?

[JTL]

Thanks. So if I go beyond a P/S, is there a recomendation for a camera that gets down to 24mm?I would highly recommend the combination of an Canon XT and a Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens. The EF-S 10-22mm lens is actually a 16-35mm equivalent because of the XT's 1.6x crop factor. This combo will produce stunning results.

Canon XT body: $395.00 at B&H
Canon EF-S 10-22mm Lens: $640.00 at B&H

[David Metsky]

Thanks. So if I go beyond a P/S, is there a recomendation for a camera that gets down to 24mm?
In this case, P&S means anything that's not a DSLR. If you want wider then that you have to go with an add on wide angle converter for your P&S or buy a DSLR with a lens wider then 28mm equiv.

[gti4me]

Sorry for chiming in late, but I chose this camera for three reasons:
1) 10.4 Megapixel 16:9 aspect CCD
2) 28mm wide 4x optical LEICA DC lens
3) 16:9 aspect ratio LCD monitor (207k pixels)