[Drinkkeri]

I wouldn't have thought of that, but it's an interesting idea; should only need 2-3 shots per image, it's just a question of how much post is involved (vs removing lens distortion).

Lightroom makes quick work on stitching and disortion control

[Mundj]

I visited with the phographer that our realtor uses when selling our house. He used a 12-24m lens and was careful to keep the lens level to minimize distortion. He also had a helper who shlepped the needed speed lights and umbrellas. Ours was not an expensive house and did not require any high end HDR.

[redmenace]

I took my first shots yesterday with the 10-17, then played with fixing them up. The results are serviceable, but the extra time spent correcting distortion (a known quantity going in) and lighting issues (trying to do too much with too little) underscores the value of starting with the best possible images.

The trying is still fun, though.


Gonna take another run at it in the next few days.

[normhead]

For such endeavours in the past, I've used my Sigma 8-16. I can't say I'd recommend anything else for that purpose. Very wide, rectilinear to keep those architectural lines straight, sometimes you need a tripod in darker rooms.

[R. Wethereyet]

I took my first shots yesterday with the 10-17, then played with fixing them up. The results are serviceable, but the extra time spent correcting distortion (a known quantity going in) and lighting issues (trying to do too much with too little) underscores the value of starting with the best possible images.

The trying is still fun, though.
Gonna take another run at it in the next few days.

Congrats, on getting that first shoot under your belt. I just have a couple of tips/suggestions to add to the great feedback that you already have had.


1. Use a tripod and make sure that you have the camera level. This will minimize the distortion (not eliminate it).
2. Shoot from just above waist level (just above counter height) rather than eye level to give a more realistic look to your images and also helps to minimize distortion.
3. You may want to take a look at some useful tips provided on YouTube for Real Estate Photography. There is also a terrific course available on udemy.com by a photographer named Charlie Borland. It is an indepth course on Real Estate Photography and provides a wealth of tips and strategies on all aspects of that type of shooting. There are some good prices on the courses right now and you could probably get if for under $20USD it is about 13 hours of videos:
Mastering Architecture and Real Estate Photography | Udemy


4. I have found that HDR works quite well in most situations and can be relatively quick in post processing as well.


Best of luck with your next shoot.
Dave

[redmenace]

Just to update this thread, the listing is now live. I'm withholding it merely to keep the thread non-commercial. (You can probably find it with minimal sleuthing.)

Following are the resulting interior shots from the 10-17, less a couple of bathroom pictures. Correcting the (heavy) distortion and compensating for lighting issues (compositing bracketed exposures) was time consuming, and taught me some painful lessons in the value of starting with the best possible source material. It took a few tries just to get to this level, and I'm still distracted by the shortcomings -- such as the keystone/trapezoid effect from not shooting fully level.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and advice! It was definitely a worthwhile experience for me.

[swanlefitte]

It's amazing how slightly off level creates difficult problems in post.
I really like how you got the woodwork of the kitchen. You also did a good job of even lighting, hot spots are tough to keep to a minimum.

[R. Wethereyet]

Redmenace: Nice images for your first work!!

One constructive comment is to watch for "Pokies" that encroach into the frame that distract from the image. In Real Estate Photography there is a fine line between "cleaning up" an image and "Mis-representing/modifying" an image. The one I noticed was the doorknob on the right edge in the 6th image. You could remove this without mis-representing the property, and it would be less distracting to the viewer.

Nice even tones and not too much blow out in the windows. The distortion will come under control as you practice more. Good angles to show a flow in the rooms. Well done :-D

[Rnovo]

Just to update this thread, the listing is now live. I'm withholding it merely to keep the thread non-commercial. (You can probably find it with minimal sleuthing.)

Following are the resulting interior shots from the 10-17, less a couple of bathroom pictures. Correcting the (heavy) distortion and compensating for lighting issues (compositing bracketed exposures) was time consuming, and taught me some painful lessons in the value of starting with the best possible source material. It took a few tries just to get to this level, and I'm still distracted by the shortcomings -- such as the keystone/trapezoid effect from not shooting fully level.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and advice! It was definitely a worthwhile experience for me.

Well done. Just to add my own workflow for this job: Always in RAW, 5 brackets (well done Pentax) at 2EV based on an middle exposure (the more the better - you can throw away useless ones, use camera histogram to help choose), always manual exposure (all shots will be the same base - Av+compensation is not practical), daylight WB, never in Auto or you'll have a problem in PP for panos (you can set the good one after in PP or shoot a grey card - Auto works well only in PP). Zero all sliders in LR/PS - never mind the over/under exposures before doing anything and render in TIFF 16bits, only do PP work on those images - you want all info on all pixels.
Good luck and have fun.