Which Option is Best for me?

Storx

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Hello All,

I wanted to get some input from this forum. I currently own an older model Canon D20 with factory lens 28-120mm. I have been trying to use it and the photo quality has not been satisfactory while trying to take pictures of Real Estate for my Job. I have been taking the pictures twice with my Cell Phone Samsung Note 4 and afterwards i end up using mostly photo's from Phone due to the quality looking better.

So i decided to signup for a class to learn the basics of the D20 to see if i could improve the quality of my pictures and the instructor basically told me that the D20 would never exceed my current cell phone with the current lens setup and that the body of the camera is just to old of technology to get quality modern pictures. So he recommended that i invest in a newer model DSLR and a wide angle lens around 14mm, but also brought up if i am only taking real estate photo's that i maybe should look into upgrading my cell phone to the new Google Pixel.

So over the weekend looked at different model cameras and the google pixel and feel lost a little. I even remembered i have a Gopro Hero 3 Black that had the ability to take pictures so i dug it out and played with it some and just unsure what to do.

If you were in my shoes, what route would you go if your not looking to become a photographer really and just use the equipment for my job and occasional personal use.

1) Buy a new DSLR camera and Wide lens?
2) Upgrade my Note 4 to the new Google Pixel phone?
3) Use my D20?
4) Use my Note 4?
5) Use my Gopro Hero 3 Black?

Basically im looking to improve the quality of my listing pictures without spending a ton of money on equipment i will not use but 15-30 times a year for listing photos

 
Do you have examples of the D20 and Note 4 photos so we can see what kind of problems you are having ? Preferably with full EXIF if you know what that is (exposure information about the Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO).
 
I would say you've two choices depending on your needs and approach

1) A good quality point and shoot/bridge camera. Most estate agents get away with this for their house shots. It does what they need without being fancy. A phone/tablet can do in a pinch but a bridge camera would be a better step up both control and quality wise.
This is almost your bare minimum area; where you roll up and take the shot and go away again. Quick and efficient for standard housing

2) A DSLR and good lens and tripod - essentially you're improving the potential quality a lot. You're also saying that you'd rather push the quality further still by understanding the camera more so; controlling it (ergo not just in auto mode). This offers the best potential photos, if possibly for a bit more time out taking them (and using the right day time too to get the right light when possible).


Of course nothing stops you getting a good quality DSLR and lens and rolling up and using it in auto mode - that will work for common estate agent photos. But if you want to take it further a DSLR gives you that leeway to grow into it - if you want and if you need to for you work.
 
Question for you, if i was to invest in a wide angle lens for the 20D, would it function on other newer Canon's? I ask because i have thought about just buying one of the most common lens recommended in that article for Real Estate photography and see what potential i could bring out of this 20D because it still functions well as a camera from what i can tell. Just dont 100% understand how to use it for my needs the best. Someone told me to learn how to use exposure settings to take 3-5 images and do HDR pictures with it.

This is the most commonly used lens recommended for Real Estate...
sigma 10-20mm canon, there are a handful of them on amazon and ebay for sale used around $200-250
 
I think you need to look at why you are not getting good images from the 20D.
Go and buy that top rated 10-22mm Canon ultra-wide zoom.
Use a tripod, also buy used, if you don't have one already.
 
Hello All,

I wanted to get some input from this forum. I currently own an older model Canon D20 with factory lens 28-120mm. I have been trying to use it and the photo quality has not been satisfactory while trying to take pictures of Real Estate for my Job. I have been taking the pictures twice with my Cell Phone Samsung Note 4 and afterwards i end up using mostly photo's from Phone due to the quality looking better.

So i decided to signup for a class to learn the basics of the D20 to see if i could improve the quality of my pictures and the instructor basically told me that the D20 would never exceed my current cell phone with the current lens setup and that the body of the camera is just to old of technology to get quality modern pictures. So he recommended that i invest in a newer model DSLR and a wide angle lens around 14mm, but also brought up if i am only taking real estate photo's that i maybe should look into upgrading my cell phone to the new Google Pixel.

So over the weekend looked at different model cameras and the google pixel and feel lost a little. I even remembered i have a Gopro Hero 3 Black that had the ability to take pictures so i dug it out and played with it some and just unsure what to do.

If you were in my shoes, what route would you go if your not looking to become a photographer really and just use the equipment for my job and occasional personal use.

1) Buy a new DSLR camera and Wide lens?
2) Upgrade my Note 4 to the new Google Pixel phone?
3) Use my D20?
4) Use my Note 4?
5) Use my Gopro Hero 3 Black?

Basically im looking to improve the quality of my listing pictures without spending a ton of money on equipment i will not use but 15-30 times a year for listing photos
The problem is that the 28-120 lens is just not wide enough for what you are wanting to do. The Canon 20d, while not the latest and greatest, is more that adequate for the type of photography you are wanting to do. This lens Canon 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 II EF-S Mount Lens For APS-C Sensor DSLRS {58} is wide enough for your needs and won't cost you an arm and a leg.
 
I currently own an older model Canon D20

A Canon D20 is a waterproof point and shoot camera. Do you mean a Canon 20D?

Your cell phone probably has a higher mega pixel sensor then the 20D and also better low light sensitivity. To get to get better images from a 20D your probably going to have to have better lighting.
 
Well, *this* is your problem: Curiosity: Sensor improved by 1,5 stops only in 10 years development - mirrorlessrumors

Your smartphone is relatively recent, so electronic tricks have upgraded its image quality.

Your Canon 20D on the other hand is very, very old (2004). This mostly means it cannot perform well if you dont run it at base ISO. Your lens is also anything but great, especially for this type of job. You probably want much more wide angle.

Depending upon cellphone, theres further tricks that cellphones use to get decent quality out of impossibly small cameras, for example in case of the iPhone 7 (which offers the best image quality of all smartphones):
- using a fixed aperture prime lens (maximum image quality).
- keeping it to relatively "low" resolution, thus larger pixels (or rather - less tiny ones), thus better colors.
- allowing for base ISO 20, thus collecting 5 times more light than regular sensors that most of the time run at base ISO 100.
- builtin image stabilization - the camera can handle longer shutter speeds and compensates for the handshake.

All these factors combined explain why you cannot get the same IQ from a really, really, really old DSLR, than from an current production cellphone.

What you could get ?
1. A good tripod. Allows to take pictures at any shutter speed, with no hand shake at all. Dont get the cheapest ones (they wont last long), and dont get the most expensive ones (with some companies you pay extra for their name).
2. EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS. Allows to take pictures at ultra wide. Which is something your smartphone cant do ! Also its plasticky, but lightweight, really cheap (for this kind of lens), and optically excellent.
3. Maybe also a current camera model, however I would like to point out that the 20D is probably already fine at base ISO.
 
The Canon 20D is the 2004 Model, fully outdated. Avoid. The lens is a normal to very far telephoto (~ 50 to 320 in 135-Film terms) & quite dard a window.

The Note 4 is equipped with a great camera, also a great video camera.

I own and use daily the Note 2 and have had exposures from it printed as double page spreads in a color magazine. Looks great. The Note 3 anmd Note 4 are much better in the camera department. For immediate editing and sending to customers use "PhotoEditor" by dev.macgyver IMO the best Android photo editor.

Note that all smartphone cameras are ill equipped for low light photography (the Note4 is better than the 20D in this respect) and that for indoor shots a tripod might be required. So for such shots you need a tripod with smartphone adapter. Do some research, I do not have one, because I do my real estate shots with my big cameras.

Good luck & learn how to take better photos independent of the camera you use!
 
The Canon 20D is the 2004 Model, fully outdated. Avoid.
Well, he cant avoid it, since he already owns it. Probably bought it himself, back then.
Not only that but the 20D has an 8 meg sensor same as the Note II with the exception that the 20D sensor is APS-c. Far larger than the antiquated Galaxy Note II. At least the Note II won't set the house on fire.

For web use for listing the 20 D is more than adequate.
 
I appreciate the input guys. I do take all my photo's with a tripod, i have an adaptor to mount my phone on the tripod also when i take pictures.
yesterday i was trying out taking photo's with the Gopro Hero3 black vs cell phone from the same location to see its quality and the gopro is a very wide view on photo's. Im guessing this is how the 20D would look if i was to get a wide angle lens for it.

If i was to get one of the wide angle lens listed above, what else would allow the 20D to take the photo's i need or should i just view it as old technology and buy something more current?

All 3 shots were taken on the Tripod (Amazon Basic Tripod) from the same location.

Samsung Note 4
31525421764_ac5ac34686_z_d.jpg


Gopro Hero3 Black
32367908465_b7ef15546d_z_d.jpg


Canon 20D with current lens
31556731583_0822ed4ef3_z_d.jpg

32328786586_2d95fc55da_z_d.jpg

32328786856_da6a8dab0f_z_d.jpg
 
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If you are going to be doing this all the time for the realtor then get the Adobe photographer bundle of LightRoom and Photoshop for $10 per month (better yet, have them buy you a 1 year subscription - that gives an extra discount).

Your shots from the 20D will work fine. You can do some HDR - like taking that sky from the last shot in put in the previous two shots and you can do a panorama by combining the first two shots from the 20D to show most of the house. If you shoot in the RAW format and post process the images you can make up for the off colors and do some dodge and burn to improve the exposure.

That Canon 10-22mm lens is around $600 or used around $350. It's a good range for Real Estate on a crop sensor body and on a tripod you don't need a faster lens, and you want to stop down a bit anyway to have decent depth-of-field and best lens sharpness.
 

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