Compact wide-angle digital for indoor (real estate) work

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Dave E - 01 Nov 2006 11:44 GMT

Hi all,

a friend has a real estate business and is wanting to take a wide-angle
camera with him for those occasions when his photographer is unavailable.
John is not a techo but knows how to get the right 'angles' on properties.

He's asked me for some direction on a wide angle camera (say equiv. 20-24mm
in 35 speak - suggestions??) that will do the job for under $1k. $700 would
be a nice point if there is something that will give a reasonable result[*].

As a transparency shooter these days, I'm waaaay out of the game as far as
small digital is concerned so hopefully one of you kind folk will have had
some experience and can shed some light on the matter.

Any ideas will be very gratefully received.

Cheers,
Dave E (Sydney)
[*] "Reasonable" I would define as OK for a real estate hand-out brochure,
probably not up to the task of being published in "Artichoke" magazine (as I
have been on the odd occasion... just a tiny little namedrop there...)

:-)

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Kelpie - 01 Nov 2006 14:13 GMT

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Any ideas will be very gratefully received.

Im thinking Pany LX2
http://www.digitalcity.net.au/store/product.asp?idProduct=2721

> Cheers,
> Dave E (Sydney)
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> :-)

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[BnH] - 01 Nov 2006 14:34 GMT

Is Nikon CP8400 wide enough ? 24-85mm coverage + hotshoe capability.
plug in the wide adapter WC-E75 and your friend is set to go :D

ps : a client of mine still happily uses the old Sony pocket cam which I
think goes to 35mm at it widest zoom and
never had a problem describing his properties interior shots. And yes, he is
selling the 1/2+ Mill $ units like hotcakes !

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> $700 would be a nice point if there is something that will give a
> reasonable result[*].

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PHATRS - 01 Nov 2006 21:10 GMT

> Is Nikon CP8400 wide enough ? 24-85mm coverage + hotshoe capability.
> plug in the wide adapter WC-E75 and your friend is set to go :D
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>> $700 would be a nice point if there is something that will give a
>> reasonable result[*].

I took photos of my house being built with a 2MP cam that was 35mm at
its widest. Had to take way too many photos of each room to cover a
decent angle. My current DSLR is 27mm at its widest and that didn't seem
wide enough when I was taking photos of my investment property prior to
new tennants moving in.

Signature

Ben

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cmyk - 01 Nov 2006 23:45 GMT

Hi Dave,

For any camera, you'll get a 90 degree field of view with a lens whose focal
length is half the film/sensor width. This is the minimum you'd need to get
those 'whole room' shots taken from one corner. Thus, for 35mm film, which
is 36mm wide, an 18mm lens will do the job. On Nikon digital SLRs, which
have a 24mm wide sensor, a 12mm lens will do the job. On Canon digital SLRs,
which typically have a 22.5mm wide sensor, an 11mm lens will do the job.

To get a 45 degree field of view, the lens focal length needs to be about
1.2 times the film/sensor width.

You can readily obtain zoom lenses that give a 90 degree field of view at
the wide end and around 45-55 degrees at the long end. Most lens makers have
lenses for this to suit *either* a film SLR or a digital SLR. That's because
their 'digital' lenses either won't fit onto or cut off some of the image on
film cameras and, conversely, their 'film' lenses don't have a wide enough
angle to give a 90 degree field of view on the digital bodies. One exception
is Sigma, which has a 12-24mm lens that you can use for a 90 degree field of
view on both film and digital SLRs (86 degrees on the Canon digitals). At
the wide end, this lens will even give a give a 90 degree field of view
vertically on a 35mm film SLR. At the long end, though, the same SLR would
only zoom out to 74 degrees horizontally (50-53 degrees on a digital SLR).

Cheers

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> :-)

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AMD - 02 Nov 2006 01:19 GMT

For shooting indoor not only wide angle lens required.
Also need a camera with powerful flash as well.

> Hi Dave,
>
[quoted text clipped - 62 lines]
>>
>> :-)

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Mr.T - 02 Nov 2006 12:46 GMT

> For shooting indoor not only wide angle lens required.
> Also need a camera with powerful flash as well.

If a wide angle is necessary to get the room in, then a *powerful* flash is
unnecessary. You will need a flash with a suitable degree of coverage
though, which is not the same thing, but may be what you meant to say.

MrT.

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AMD - 02 Nov 2006 01:20 GMT

For shooting indoor not only wide angle lens required.
Also need a camera with powerful flash as well.

> Hi Dave,
>
[quoted text clipped - 62 lines]
>>
>> :-)

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kosh - 02 Nov 2006 07:58 GMT

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> :-)

as far as wide angle ultra- compacts ( not bridge cameraa with
attachments) either the Panasonic, or the Ricoh R5(28-200 equiv.)

I would not touch the Kodak as they do not have a habit of stocking
parts for more than 12 months. Also it would be wider than 28mm... you
may start getting undesirable distortions.

I have heard mixed reviews onthe Ricoh, though I compared the results
fromt he Canon Ixus 60 and the Ricoh R4... I found the lens to be quite
similar in sharpness. Some peopel are also of the opinion there has been
reliability issues in the past with the R4..... having sold quite a few,
I have had other brands with greater fault rates.

You may want to check the reviews on the Panasonic. I have not read that
specific review, however a couple of their cameras do not rate well with
indoor White Balance, or low light performance.

check out www.dpreview.com

good luck,

Kosh

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