Any Estate Agents here? Which camera?

[derin100]

I need a little advice.

My wife returned yesterday from our house in the South of France which we're hoping to start letting for holidays.

She took numerous interior photographs which are....well frankly hopeless!

It's a nice spacious house with big, light rooms with good height ceilings. None of this is conveyed in the photos and the 'width' of the rooms just isn't there. They do not do the place justice and certainly have nothing the perspective of the agent's photographs we saw when we bought the house.

The camera used was a Canon IXUS 960 IS. That seems to take reasonable enough photos when I use it to take photos of my cars:

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/about/index.html

Do I need a completely different kind of camera? Sorry...I know very little about cameras and photography so looking for a 'simple' solution.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[londonagent]

I outsource my sales property photographs to a pro togger, however the kit they use is very similar to what I have in my bag. Mainly Canon 600d DSLR with a sigma 10-20mm lens or a 5D mkII with a 17-40mm lens + off camera flash. For lettings I tend to do it myself, Canon 550D with the sigma lens, then Photoshop to correct perspective.
It might be better to approach your agent who you bought it through and see if they can recommend someone, shouldn't be too expensive, I pay £60 for 10 photos and a floorplan.

[4Lmike]

It depends how much you want to spend (the age-old answer to any what camera thread). Ideally you want an entry level DSLR with wide angle lens

[Nick Grant]

Rather than learn about photography and purchasing new equipment I would suggest it would be quicker/cheaper and easier to hire a photographer for a couple of hours.

Unless you have hundreds of properties to photograph.

Failing that, light will be your main concern and you will also need a wider angle lens than you have on the compact.

edit, too slow!

[JulianHJ]

If you're not going to want/need a DSLR after you've got the house pics, it would be far more economical to go with the above suggestion of paying a pro to get them for you. The Sigma 10-20mm is a great lens, but at least £370 to buy, plus a similar amount or more for a body to stick it on, then another £100 for a reasonable flash and other bits and pieces, factor in some software like Elements (or maybe learn to use Gimp), read up on interior photography techniques, etc...

Edit: Damn, too slow by a country mile!

[derin100]

That's great guys!

I may go along the route of hiring a professional for a one-off shoot.

Thanks for the advice.