Raw Photos Camera Recommendations

Kal152 · May 23, 2016

Hi,
I am looking for some advice or recommendations on cameras. I am not a professional photographer, I am an Interior Designer and would like to take pictures of my own work, a professional is not needed for every job. I have minimal experience with photography but have experience with Photoshop to adjust the quality of my pictures. I would like to purchase a camera with Raw shooting capabilities for better editing. I do not want to spend alot of money or have anything to elaborate. Can anyone make and recommendations?

robbins.photo · May 23, 2016

Ok, so what is "not a lot of money" to you? Also, are you only wanting to purchase something new or is used possibly an option?

Kal152 · May 23, 2016

I was looking at new but used isn't out of the question. I wanted to try to stay under $300

robbins.photo · May 23, 2016

Kal152 said:
I was looking at new but used isn't out of the question. I wanted to try to stay under $300

In that case I'd probably look around for a used D3200 with a kit lens. It will have a larger sensor than a smaller, compact camera so you'll be able to get much better shots in lower lighting situations which you'll encounter a lot indoors. It's high dynamic range will also come in very handy for these situations. It will shoot in RAW, controls are pretty simple and straightforward, and if needed you can add an external flash unit for those times when you need a bit more light.

Kal152 · May 23, 2016

robbins.photo said:
Kal152 said:

I was looking at new but used isn't out of the question. I wanted to try to stay under $300

Click to expand...

In that case I'd probably look around for a used D3200 with a kit lens. It will have a larger sensor than a smaller, compact camera so you'll be able to get much better shots in lower lighting situations which you'll encounter a lot indoors. It's high dynamic range will also come in very handy for these situations. It will shoot in RAW, controls are pretty simple and straightforward, and if needed you can add an external flash unit for those times when you need a bit more light.

Thanks! I will look into that one more

robbins.photo · May 23, 2016

Kal152 said:
Thanks! I will look into that one more

I shot a D5200 for quite a while, image quality is first rate. At some point depending on how small the rooms are your working with maybe a wider angle lens might be in order, but with a bit of forethought you should be able to get most of the shots you need with the kit lens and maybe an external flash or some additional lighting.

That will probably be the biggest struggle for most cameras, interior lighting works fine for the human eye but cameras tend to need a bit more light to get a proper exposure.

KmH · May 23, 2016

How much do you have budgeted for lighting?
The following is about as inexpensive as it gets @ about $275

Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit
Get 2 -Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. GN58.
Neewer 4 Channels Wireless/ Radio Flash Trigger Set With 2 Receivers

goodguy · May 24, 2016

300$ ?

Try to look for a used Nikon D3200 or used D3300

Kal152 · May 24, 2016

KmH said:
How much do you have budgeted for lighting?
The following is about as inexpensive as it gets @ about $275

Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit
Get 2 -Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. GN58.
Neewer 4 Channels Wireless/ Radio Flash Trigger Set With 2 Receivers

Guess I should have explained more I will not be adding any additional lighting. I just want to take some basic pictures and enhance the lighting on photoshop. After I do the basic photos I will determine if I need for any reason to hire a professional. I do alot of Kitchen and Bath projects and they don't all photograph well due to size and layout.

Designer · May 24, 2016

Kal152 said:
Guess I should have explained more I will not be adding any additional lighting. I just want to take some basic pictures and enhance the lighting on photoshop. After I do the basic photos I will determine if I need for any reason to hire a professional. I do a lot of Kitchen and Bath projects and they don't all photograph well due to size and layout.

I'm curious about how that would look. I have never attempted adding light via Photoshop, and I would like to see an example of one that you did, if you would be so kind.

PaulWog · May 24, 2016

Kal152 said:
Guess I should have explained more I will not be adding any additional lighting. I just want to take some basic pictures and enhance the lighting on photoshop. After I do the basic photos I will determine if I need for any reason to hire a professional. I do alot of Kitchen and Bath projects and they don't all photograph well due to size and layout.

You will need an ultrawide lens alongside the camera. The big concern will be distortion.

A good professional photographer would likely have a full frame camera with a good ultrawide lens. The reason why a cheap ultrawide lens (might) not do too well is because of weird distortion; mustache distortion, or other distortion patterns, can make straight lines look wonky. Such distortion is not always correctable. It is much simpler (automatic in photoshop or lightroom) to correct for barrel or pincushion distortion, although you may lose some of the width of your shot by correcting for such distortion.

Lighting will be absolutely essential. Photography is all about lighting. You can boost shadows in lightroom or photoshop after the fact, but you will lose detail, significantly degrade color, and introduce lots of noise (if you're relying on only that and not bringing any lighting with you physically to the shoot). With a full frame camera this is a bit easier to get away with, since you can boost your ISO a bit, and recover shadows a little more easily, but lighting is still important.

Photoshop can't change the lighting in your shot. You can boost exposure, fake some lighting (within limits), and make adjustments, but that only takes you so far.