Last Updated on: 15th December 2022, 08:29 am
As a professional videographer, it is the most commonly asked question: Which lens do you use for real-state videos? As different camera brands have slightly different visual aesthetics or features in terms of getting like 3D camera recording for real estate.
But the question should be which Lens for Camera you should use for actual state sample recordings. As I shoot thousands of listings in the year, I could tell that in-camera image first comes through your lens instead of the camera.
Finding a lens for shooting real estate videos can be a daunting task. It can be done with Prime lens, as most people suggest, but my recommendation is Zoom lens.
I have tested Zoom Lens in different actual states recording and car show recording , and I noticed that they are excellent for their quality, speed, and versatility while using them. These benefits make me overwhelmed to use them instead of Prime Lens for real estate business.
You must consider the lens’s focal length, aperture, and the camera body’s sensor size. With that in mind, I will go through some of the Best camera lenses with a wide angle for real estate video shootings.
Best lenses for real estate video recording
The key when shooting real estate videos. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 is a great lens for shooting real estate videos because of its sharp optics and fast aperture, but if you want even better quality go for Sony FE 15-35mm G Master.
In my real-state video, I mostly used wide lenses Panasonic Leica 8-18mm 16-36mm Full Frame lens and Sony 16-35mm lens.
The Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF EDGE is an excellent option if you’re looking for a wide-angle lens. It offers a wide field of view, and its sharp optics make it perfect for shooting real estate videos.
Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 – Best GM Wide-Angle Zoom Lens
Being a full-time photographer, I know which lens to suggest. The first choice is the Sony FE 16-35mm lens. This lens has the sharper image and video quality among all other lenses while you are recording or capturing photos, while some lenses might be a little sharper compared to this lens.
But G Master consistently stays sharp if you zoom video at any aperture. Most of us will now raise the question as most photographer use f/8 most of the time.
It’s true, but with video recording with shutter speed, with a wide range of shutter speed, and for the closeup shot in the image, you will still get sharper and clear images, which are the most liked by any agents.
Sony FE lens also has a programable AF/MF switch, which can be beneficial sometimes when you want to adjust focus.
FE 16-35mm Sony lens has an excellent stabilization feature, which does not matter while using a tripod for cameras. Still, its video will have more improvements during video recording than other recordings.
In terms of built quality G Master lens has the best structure compared to other models. With its special outer coating, you can quickly get the image and video recordings, and it handles flarings much better than different lenses.
I have even tested it with a Sony A6300 camera, which is a mirrorless APS-C camera with a challenging 24-MP sensor and the result were quite impressive.
As anti flare is mostly best when you are recording in outer space, and the sun is directly in contact and could destroy your image.
Why I recommend
In real estate, video has been skyrocketing, and I love to use this lens. Sony FE 16-35 is a robust lens with fewer quality limitations than other lenses. This is why I would suggest buying this lens.
Why I do not recommend
If you are new to real estate videography, it would not be the best choice as it is expensive and would be hard to afford, so I suggest going for other lenses. Another issue is its weight, which is a little heavy because of its build quality. So I never compromise weight over quality.
Pros
- Capture bright and clear Image
- Quality of built quality
- It has five axes Image Stabilization
- Has the ability to capture sharp images
- Recommend for video recordings
- Easy to hold still
Cons
- Does not have OSS
- Expensive camera lens
Sony 16-35mm T FE F4 OSS – Low distortion lens for real estate
After GMaster, another primarily used lens in my real estate video for many years before G Master was launched, I used Sony 16-35 Zeiss lens, and it was my solid choice with an affordable price range.
I used this lens along with the Sony A7S2 for many years for my real estate photography and video recording business, and at that time, I have been quite satisfied with its results.
Zeiss performs well and is lightweight as compared to the G Master lens. Regardless ofof weight,, it has a few drawbacks in video and photo.
This lens is shaped at f/8, widely used while shooting real-state videos. Still, if you are shooting at f/4, anything wide open such as video recording where you seek to have more lightning at this point, this camera lens get softens its quality while G Master does its peek even at this point.
While in photography, if you go over 24mm, then with this lens, your image quality gets soft. In terms of its built quality, it’s impressive as it is built of metal.
Zeiss has a built-in OSS( Optical steady shots) feature. Init could be good, but as most Sony camera comes with image stabilization, So it is a special feature to say.
Why I recommend
If you are new or not full-time photography or realstate video recording, then it could be wise to go for this as it is affordable compared to the G Master lens.
Why I do not recommend it.
Zeis lens image quality is not best while you zoom if you are capturing closeup shoots, then you might face slight trouble.
Another drawback I got while using this lens was it can easily get scratched.
Pros
- It’s Great for landscapes and interiors video recording
- Excellent performance at the wide end
- Fantastic build quality
Cons
- Barrel Distortion in non-bright places
- Nearly sharper Images
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III – Quality lens for Sharp videos
Tamron 17-28 mm lens is lightweight and small, which could be good while video recording, and easy to handle. Tamron lens has the sharp image quality and is wide open from F2.8 to f/4 and would perform even well if you try to use this lens with gimbals.
The Tamron has a sharp image and video quality and can perform well in low lighting. As being new to video recording, it is hard to adjust my focus. With its Auto Focus, you can quickly clear most of your recording like a a Sony camera.
If you are looking direct for real-state videography, this would be the straightforward solution.
Why I recommend
It could be a good choice for a beginner realstate video recorder as it gets sharper images and quality focus management. Any new video can easily use it.
Why I do not recommend
I am addicted to the Sony lens and had slight issues while using it as it has reverted zoom and focal ring, so it could be hard to adjust to it.
It has no ultra-wide video recording ability, as I love to record video from corners of any buildings, and limited zoom compared to the G Master lens.
Pros
- A lightweight and portable lens
- Fast and accurate focus
- The very affordable price point
- Best for video
Cons
- It is not wide enough as a real Fisheye
Samyang 14mm f2.8 – Budget-friendly Lens for Beginners
I have also created a real state video for Buckinghamshire UK House, where I used Sony A7iii with Samyang 14mm lens for a client. The lens is also great for capturing landscape and architectural photos and videography.
Samyang camera lens works very well for video recording and has good quality. It is even suitable for photography, but for real estate videos, you need a stabilizer gyro or stick on a tripod to make your recording smooth.
It has good exposure without increasing the ISO exposure to unreasonable levels while capturing pictures.
It’s a 14mm ultra-wide lens, even wider than the Sony G Master, and I recommend it if you love to record wide video.
Why I recommend
Samyang 14mm lens is affordable. Even you can call it a cheap lens under 400$ price. With the price, it has an ultra-wide lens.
Why I don’t recommend
The only reason why I do not suggest that It has a focus sensor but that it does not work well for night pictures and might create an issue.
Pros
- Lightweight
- High build quality
- Most cheap lens
- Ultra-wide lens
Cons
- Fixed hood with this lens
Canon 17-40mm F4 – Best Canon lens for real estate filmmaking
To take my real estate videography, I must improve my camera gear and choose a Canon 17-40mm lens for filmmaking. So the Canon lens was the most gear in my filmmaking process. You can even use this lens for wedding video graphy and night photography.
I recorded videos for several luxury buildings for their floor and ceilings with this lens. Canon 17-40mm lens is so quiet to record videos.
Although this lens is not fast as the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L lens, we can still compare the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens in terms of its image quality. The only difference you will notice among these lenses is the price. The 17-40 is much less expensive
The most like features of this camera has ultra-sharp images and video with enough wide area capturing, and it is lightweight. You can use a gimbal to make video recording smoother.
Why I recommend
Canon 17-40mm lens is affordable for most people, and at such a price, you will have a lightweight camera lens with quality sharp video recording.
Why I don’t recommend
If you want to use it at 17mm and F/4, then the extreme corners of the image are really not very nice really mushy otherwise the image quality at different focal length is fine.
Pros
- Image stabilization feature
- Accurate and reliable focus
- It has an ultra-wide focal length
- The lens is Compact and lightweight
Cons
- It has Plastic lens mountains for Choosing Lenses for Recording Real State Videos.
The thing to Check Before buying Wide-angle Lens
To get a better result, we must focus on the lens instead of the camera, as we all know that video is captured through the lens instead of the camera.
Choosing a lens will decide whether the subject you want to capture is in a shot, whether it is in focus, and the depth of your field.
Lens Focal Length
In my view, while recording, the most used focal length is 35mm in full frame equivalent are 18mm,24mm, and 70mm.
18mm Focal Length
I used to prefer to use an 18mm super wide lens for interior shoots to capture all the necessary objects needed to be captured for real-state videos.
24mm Focal Length
To capture exteriors for any luxury or ordinary property, my preferred lens is a 24mm wide focal lens and mostly combined with Panasonic GH4 camera for shooting outside areas of the property.
70mm Focal Length
For capturing closeup detail, my recommended lens is 70mm for capturing closeup for the interior and exterior of any property.
Like in most modern lenses, you will also get built-in stabilization which is an excellent function if you are not using a stand or tripod to avoid shakiness. Then stabilization effect will be the wise decision during recordings handheld.
Conclusion
All suggested lenses for real estate videography are wide-angle ones because we want to capture the whole scene. Some of them are inexpensive, while some might be expensive, producing sharp and high-quality images, and are easy to use to capture high-quality video for any real state.
How to shoot a real estate video and what settings are best?
When you want to take perfect real estate there are many things to notice like if the camera settings are set, and if is there enough lighting in the shooting area. Another few tips to remember are
1) Try different locations and then pick the right one.
2) Capture and then Include some HQ photos
3) Do best at editing.
4) Try to take a wide recording to get the full scene
