I originally had bought a Nikon D50 a couple of years ago and it came with a 18-50mm lens.
I just wasn't happy with the 18mm for my widest setting. I felt at times I was not getting the feel of the room for my home sellers. In smaller rooms, I felt like I was photographing furniture.
To enhance my real estate photography for my home sellers, I decided to get a wider angle lens. I found very quickly they could get quite expensive. I ended up with the Sigma 10-22mm. I found it to bea good balance between cost and benefit. You can purcase on for around $450.00 and you can get it in all the popular camera mounts.
There is definitely some perspective distortion that you will tend to get with any wide angle lens as well as a little bit of barrell distortion on the lower end of the zoom. Overall I have been quite pleased.
Below is an example of a living room photographed with the Sigma vs a point and shoot camera. With the point and shoot you feel like your shooting furniture, with the wider lens you can get the feel of this room.
Again, a decent sized room approx 14 x14, but you can get the feel of this room.
This room is approx 30x30 you can definely get the feel of the spce with the wide angle lens. I could have gone wider but I thought the furniture was getting to far away. (perspective distortion will exaggerate distances)
The next couple of shots are example of very tight shots that would never have been any good without an extreme wide angle.
Bedroom was 9x10
This Sunroom was 8x14
Now a tough one, a 6x11 Kitchen
As the internet gets more powerful are homebuyer are making more and more decision based on what they see online. The days of putting up one photo and getting them to call are over. I am sure we all have had buyers who think the interior must be bad because there are no photographs of the inside of the home.
I have noticed over the years as I have improved my skills at photographing houses it definitely draws more traffic and I can sell for more money and faster. You can compel valid buyers to see the home with great photos on the internet vs mediocre or bad photos. The listing with great photos stand out and shine above the competition!!
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Kevin, I use a Tamron 10 - 18 and it's indispensible for real estate. Rich
Nice! I've been debating between the Tamron and the Sigma. Thanks for the actual photos. Still haven't made my mind up either way, but this proves that I need to make a decision soon! Thanks.
Hi Kevin, I upgraded my point & shoot to a Nikon D80 . After doing all of the research I bought the Sigma 10-22 mm and am amazed at the quality. The wide angle is a terrific tool for any agent.
Nothing like an ultrawide for real estate interiors. Thanks for the sample photos. We're using all Nikon, but our 12-28 doesn't always cut it. I'll check out the Sigma. Thanks.
Great photos with a great camera. It's all about the product and marketing. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks Kevin for for sharing your thoughts and real life applications.
As it happens I also use the Sigma lens with a Nikon D40. Not all aftermarket lenses work with the D40 because the autofocus motor has to be built into the lens (on other Nikon cameras this capability is built into the camera) but the Sigma has worked perfectly (at half the price of the comparable Nikkor lens - always a consideration).
Some work with Photoshop Elements will help with the distortion issue.
nice shots Kevin!
love my Sigma 10 - 20
best WA lens for the money
I've heard good things about the Sigma 10-20mm, but Canon shooters have all said it was worth the extra money for the Canon 10-22mm. Nikon has a 12-24mm and recently introduced a 10-24mm. Here's a recent review of the 10-24mm.
Lee- The Nikon is way more money. I have this lens primarily to photograph real estate and can't justify the cost of the more expensive lens, especially when most of the output is a laser printer and the web.
I agree
I'm craving and saving for the Sigma 10-20mm lens. Thanks for sharing the comparison photos.I learned about ptlens a nifty little program for corrcting vertical and horizontal distortions from Larry Lorman at Real Estate Photography. I use Photoshop Elements and so I got the stand alone program.What a difference it makes!Judy
I use a Sigma 10 - 20 mm. I chose it since it was less expensive and is entirely suitable for real estate photography which is used online, in print advertising and in photo frames.
Great info. The example really show the benefits of the wide angle lense.
Thanks... I was thinking about getting the Sigma 10-22. It was a tossup between the canon or sigma, but after seeing some real shots taken with the sigma, not to mention the cost difference. I'm sold!
I had all Canon lenses until I bought the Sigma 10-20mm after reading the reviews. I've used it now for about 6 months and love it. It's been invaluable for Real Estate photography and I have had great results with it.
Jeff
Used to be if you bought a cheap lens you got what you paid for. Now it seems that the quality is better but not quite up to the name brand lens but do you really need that extra 10%?