Sorry for the FAQ, but I know how knowledgeable you guys are :)
I need to take some one-off interior room shots of a holiday home I want to sell, so am looking for a prime lens to fit my D40. I'm fine with manual focus, even an old AI will do. In fact, I reckon the speed isn't that important either as I'll have a couple of speed-lights and a tripod.
So what focal length range should I be considering? - I want to avoid distortion, but at the same time get as much of the room as possible into the shot.
You can use any lens and stitch the images together to get some thing usable, but try to go as wide as you can (rentals are always a possibility if this is a one time job). A wide lens will not only get more of the room into the shot, but it makes the room seem bigger, and hence a more desirable purchase.
You can use any lens and stitch the images together to get some thing usable, but try to go as wide as you can ...
Seems to me when I stitch images I need something more in the "normal" 50-70mm (35mm EQ) range to avoid unwanted distortion in the final image; I usually shoot in portrait orientation to get the most vertical image as possible if shooting only one horizontal sequence ... it's possible to zoom in more but then you'll usually need two or three horizontal passes to get enough image in the vertical dimension.
Why not experiment "at home" in similarly-sized rooms?
Thanks for the advice everyone - earlier today I was actually thinking about doing some 'panorama' stitching of 50mm shots, wouldn't have thought of shooting in portrait for this! - I'll try it at home before I fly out there.
You might want to contact Bear_Music directly about this -- this was his business.
If you shoot stitched panoramas, I *think* you get the least distortion if you shoot from the center of the shorter wall.
If you have time, you can shoot several sets at different focal lengths and see which comes out best; it just occurred to me that the "ideal" FL also might vary with the size of the room ...
Good luck! Let's see the results and read some advice when you're done. ;-)
For what it's worth, I shoot real estate with my Nikon D3 with it's full frame sensor and this is my best lens for interiors: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 G ED. I don't recall whether you camera has a full frame or a DX sensor. I like the Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0G IF-ED for DX.
