We’re moving house at the moment and it occurred to me that the Sony NEX-3/5 would be the perfect camera for real estate agents. Impressive photographs, virtual tours, walkthroughs etc are becoming essential if you want to sell or rent your house in the current house market. Here’s how a NEX camera can save you time and help you sell that house!
- Built-in Panoramas. The NEX can take panoramic photos by automatically stiching together images as you sweep around the room. No more needing a tripods, hassles with sitching software. Just take the panorama in-camera and it’s ready for upload!
In camera Panorama - Fantastic low-light functions. The NEX has a built-in HDR mode which allows you to balance the exposures between a dark room and bright outdoors.
Normal photo: notice the dark shadows and blown-out sky
In-camera HDR: more detail in the shadows and background
Regular Exterior shot: preserving the house details has overexposed out the sky
Exterior HDR: maintained shadow and sky detailIn addition to the Auto-HDR mode, there’s handheld-twilight mode for low-light shots and great performance at high-ISOs for particularly dull rooms. - High quality Video. The NEX can shoot high-definition 1080i video for walkthrough video tours
- Wide-angle lenses. Normally, I’d recommend the 18-55mm lens but interior photographers could really benefit from the 16mm lens, which can also take a ultrawide-angle or fisheye adapter for getting the whole room in the one shot!
- Compact size. Despite all this functionality, the NEX will easily fit into a jacket pocket or handbag so you’ll always have it with you when you need it
Interesting that you should say this as I use an a900 with a CZ16-35 2.8 for my work (real estate imaging). One of the reasons I purchased the NEX 5 w/16mm was to supplant what I do with the a900. I wanted to be able to shoot a quick panorama as well as quick HDR shots or video segments. It’s the perfect companion and I don’t have to worry about the weight of it hanging around my neck.
No it does not perform anywhere near the a900 or a700 for than matter but is can do just fine. I plan to use in in seminars I give for agents that want to take their own photos. I show them how to take better photos even if they do not use my services. In the end they came to me for their higher end listings and have a better appreciation of the Kraft.
Thanks for the feedback from a genuine real estate photographer! It isn’t really my usual sort of photography but I noticed the potential after going through the house-moving process recently. Most of the agents in Ireland would not be using a high-end SLR and very few would go as far as constructing panoramas or HDR images. And if the property is only for rent, it’s normally just a cameraphone!
The NEX has HUGE potential to improve the photography from these agents… and help them earn more money.