Best Camera for Real Estate Agent?
I got my license in 2004 and this was my first camera: https://www.dpreview.com/...nepixe500z
The 28mm wide angle was pretty nice. In those days, using a monopod and slave flash, my photos were better than most agents.
By early 2012, it wasn't cutting it anymore. I purchased a new camera that I still use today:
https://www.dpreview.com/...c_dmcfz150
The 25mm has been a big help. I started shooting in RAW format and processing in Silkypix that comes with the camera and PaintShop Pro X3. Today same camera, but upgraded to PSP X7 a while back.
The camera is still good, but maybe I'm needing more. Back in 2012, I was still getting listings under $300k. Today, that's low average. I just paid a professional $600 to photography my first $999k listing. I'm NOT happy with the photos at all. He used a Nikon D3300 SLR.
I'm looking at Nikon D5600 body and this lens.
https://www.dpreview.com/...2p8_pro_dx
I want to start shooting more HDR and get a panoramic mount that will allow me to stitch multiple frames together.
Am I under buying? Will I get 6 years out of this rig?
My 10 year old D40 would also work for this sort of job, so I'm sure the more capable D5600 would be good for a decade. The Tokina 11-20 is a wonderful lens that gives you a bit over 100 degrees of horizontal coverage. You may have issues with the lens focusing properly on autofocus. If I use auto focus on my D7000 with this lens, I will set the focus to something nearer than the subject, then, use auto focus to focus on the subject. However, for real estate photography, I would be more inclined to manually focus the lens since you need to pick a distance where the depth of field will make the elements in your image in focus.
Taking photos of real estate with a wide angle lens requires that the camera be aimed straight ahead. Do not tilt the camera up or down as this will give your image a weird perspective. If you decide to do HDR, I would recommend using a program called Hugin. It's free and the HDR part of the program is done by a program called enfuse which gives a natural look to HDR. Hugin is also a wonderful stitching program. For HDR and panos, I use Hugin over Photoshop.
Don't blame the camera, blame the camera operator. You could do just fine with a D3300, proper lens (that Tokina would be very good) and the knowledge of how to use it properly. Nothing at all wrong with that camera. You just hired a "Pro" that didn't know what he was doing.
You apparently know lighting and composition, which is half the battle. Using a very wide lens like that Tokina is best done on a tripod, not a monopod, because what qrk says is absolutely true. At 11mm, if you tilt the lens up or down even a couple of degrees, you will distort the image to the point of not being useful. It is already going to be distorted, but you can remove that distortion easily if it is the same top and bottom (from a level camera).
So add a good tripod and head into the gear list. Many have level vials built in to assist with making sure the camera is perpendicular to vertical. For this sort of work, I'd prefer a 3D head over a ball head, but that is personal preference.
There are no bad DSLR's these days, only people that don't know how to use them. Brand and model are completely up to you, it really doesn't matter. You will get the same results with any of them.
Thoughts:
1. Stitching a panorama will get weird with all the crazy distortions at the edges of wide angle shots. If you really want to go this route you either buy a cheap Sony Cybershot with a Sweep Panorama mode or get a dSLR and a wide angle tilt-shift lens to keep straight lines straight. Don't worry, by the looks of it, you can afford one easily.
2. You keep saying the camera eventually doesn't cut it. Why? What changed? The camera always took it the same way since you bought it. Your demands just became higher perhaps. Are you pixel peeping? You only need to establish your workflow. You have a camera that satisfies your requirements. You have software that you are familiar with. At some point, you should stop upgrading and stick with what already works best for you. From what I see, that point was before you hired a pro so basically, you're good to go. You don't need a dSLR. When your camera dies, simply buy the updated model. If it's not the same, it should be close enough. You have your software to rely on anyway.
3. Here's the most important part. You know exactly what you are doing. You even manipulate your images after taking them. Don't ever hire a photographer again. You can always do it better.