When photographing a space, it is important to understand what type of equipment to invest in, what each piece does, and if it’s even worth investing in or if you should hire a professional to worry about these details (and to cover the cost of owning a lens).
If you want to figure it out on your own, then here is a little bit of help in understanding the types of lenses you will want to use to photograph your space.
Prime lenses vs Zoom Lenses:
Prime lenses are a fixed focal length lens whereas zoom lenses will have a variable focal length. Zoom lenses are great for versatility, but you will typically lose quality in your images.
Prime lenses have a better glass (literally made with higher quality glass in the lens). They often have a wider aperture which will allow for a shallower depth of field and more light to enter the frame. This is very valuable in creating beautiful images in dark spaces. Prime lenses also have better bokeh (the out-of-focus part of the image). The better the bokeh looks, the higher end the image and the space will look. Prime lenses are better all around, however that comes at a steep price. Prime lenses are often 3x-6x as expensive as zoom lenses and you will need more than one.
Use a wide-angle lens (32mm) to capture the wide images of the space and a regular portrait lens (50mm) to capture the close-ups of your designs and to minimize distortion. A great wide-angle lens is the 16-35mm F/2.8. A high-quality lens like this can cost over $2000. Even though it is a zoom lens, it does a great job at capturing wide images. Another amazing prime lens for wide-angle photographs is the 32mm prime lens which will also have beautiful bokeh. Using a prime lens, like the 50mm, will allow you to focus on detailed images without the distortion of a wide-angle lens.
Another great lens option is the L-Series 24mm-70mm. If you’d like only one lens for the job, then this is it. L-Series lenses offer the same superior glass as prime lenses, although you will still lose some of the softness in the bokeh when using a zoom lens. It is a zoom lens, but it is a top-quality lens and will be able to capture all your wide-angle images and detail shots beautifully. This lens is typical $2000-$3000.
Hopefully, this helps you understand the investment in equipment that professional photographers make to achieve a high-end, magazine-worthy look in your images. If you’d like to avoid spending thousands on camera equipment and photography education in understanding how to take images with your equipment, then hire a professional photographer. My interior photography packages are a fraction of the cost of doing this on your own.
Click here to contact me to schedule your consultation to learn more about how I can help you.
