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My Fantastic New Digital Camera...

By
Real Estate Agent with John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm

I couple months ago, I purchased a new Digital Camera.  It is a Sony Cybershot DSC-H9...

DSC-H9DSC-H9

Wow, what a camera!  It has an incredible focal length range from 5.2mm to 78mm (thats a range from 31mm to 465mm in the 35mm camera world).... A huge built-in range to be sure, but it gets even better with the available attaching conversion lenses.

The Wide Conversion Lens (model VCL-DH0774) modifies the wide angle from 5.2mm to just 3.9mm (23.25mm in the 35mm camera world).

Wide Conversion Lens

The Tele Conversion Lens (model VCL-DH1774) takes the 78mm focal length and converts it to 132.6mm (thats 790.5mm in the 35mm camera world)

Tele Conversion Lens

For real estate purposes, a good wide angle lens in a must for us to shoot home interiors.  A wide angle lens lets you show so much more of the room and helps make rooms appear larger than they would otherwise in the pictures with an ordinary camera. I'm a pretty decent photographer, but my DSC-H9 with the Wide Conversion Lens has really helped take my pictures from good to great.

The super-zoom capabilities don't have much of a role in real estate unless you can get up on a hill and look down on the house to get an aerial photo look.

If you're interested in this camera, you can get it on Amazon.com by clicking here.

Another thing that has helped my pictures this year is the Architectual Photography class that I took a few months ago from photographer Dennis Huckaby. I learned a number of helpful techniques for photographing homes.... The angles of a room to shoot, the height to shoot from, always use a tripod, never use a flash indoors, etc...  If you're in Western Washington, you can find out when and where his classes are by calling him at (360) 332-1570 or emailing him at huckaby1@comcast.net.  There are also 7 1/2 Washington State clock hours for taking the class.

 

William Collins
ERA Queen City Realty - Scotch Plains, NJ
Property and Asset Management

Bill,

Thanks for the post. I have a Canon Powershot A300 and I tempted by the new ultra sleek designs to go out and get a new one!

Jul 30, 2007 04:19 PM
Ivan Warman
Verify Tenant - Dania Beach, FL

Thank you for the post I'm looking to buy a new camera and I'm not sure which way to go our
part of our marketing is base on our virtual tours and I belive quality is very important

 

 

Jul 30, 2007 04:37 PM
Nattalie de la Mothe
Maximum One Greater Atlanta Realtors - Atlanta, GA
Selling Atlanta Homes like a Boss
Nice camera. I got a simplier one, but I am thinking of upgrader....that looks like a nice piece of equipment
Jul 30, 2007 04:54 PM
delete me delete me
delete me - Dixon, CA
Too fancy for me. I use an Panasonic DMC-LZ3 from Best Buy. It's nothing fancy and get's the job down. I actually think I miss my old camera that was lesser quality because it was great for small rooms on a tripod when it came to making virtual tours.
Jul 30, 2007 05:02 PM
Bill Sauneuf
John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm - Mount Vernon, WA

Ivan,
This camera takes video at 640x480.... I use it for Virtual Tours... Simply videos of me walking through the house and talking about it for 15-25 seconds or so...

Very helpful, though it has taught me that acting is tough.... 15 to 25 seconds of video takes several takes... (at least for me)

Thanks for the comment!

-Bill

Jul 30, 2007 05:07 PM
» Bill Burress Nationwide Mortgage Originator
» Bill Burress Nationwide Mortgage Originator - Fort Myers, FL

Bill:

Looks like a neat camera.

Jul 30, 2007 10:50 PM
LLoyd Nichols
Premier Florida Realty of SWFL - Fort Myers, FL
Southwest Florida Homes By The Sea
Bill it looks like it has alot. I wonder if you let anyone use it besides yourself.I specialy like the tele conversion and the wide angle lens.
Jul 31, 2007 10:19 AM
Bill Sauneuf
John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm - Mount Vernon, WA

Lloyd,

This camera takes a bit of getting used to to take advantage of what it has to offer. Its not that I'd be afraid to let someone use it, but on a quick, here catch a few pictures, a simpler point and shoot camera would be better (so, in all likelihood, I would lend out the camera I replaced that still works great which is a lot simpler...)

Jul 31, 2007 07:55 PM
Jeff Turner
RealSatisfied - Santa Clarita, CA
Bill, I think everyone would love to see some of the wide angle shots from this add on lens. The moon certainly did a great job of illustrating the zoom!
Aug 01, 2007 04:35 PM
Bill Sauneuf
John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm - Mount Vernon, WA

Jeff,

I was able to get some nice interior shots on a new listing of mine that I had blogged about a couple days ago... All of the interior shots were taken with the Wide Angle Conversion Lens... Here's a link to it....

http://activerain.com/blogsview/159626/Great-New-Mount-Vernon

I'll post more as I find more opportunities to use it...

-Bill
Bill@Sauneuf.com
http://www.Sauneuf.com

 

Aug 01, 2007 05:41 PM
Patrick Canavan
Keller Williams Realty - Yorba Linda, CA
Orange County Real Estate Voice

Hi Bill,

This camera seems pretty good.  I was reading and older ost from Jeff Turner regarding the Kodak v705.  I am not an experienced photographer.  What is the learning curve for this type of camera?  Would you suggest someone like me to use the a the Kodak v705 or the Sony Cybershot?

Aug 09, 2007 06:24 PM
Bill Sauneuf
John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm - Mount Vernon, WA

Patrick,

This is a fantastic camera! No doubt...

There is a bit of a learning curve to get used to the Cybershot, but not much of one. It is easy to do the basic functions.... Point, Zoom, Shoot, Transfer to your Computer, etc... It just does a lot more than that and some of the higher-end functions can take a bit of time to get used to... but nothing is very complicated in my opinion, but I'm an electronics geek....

However, you should buy a camera that will accomplish what you want it to be able to accomplish for you.  If a simpler camera is right, buy it...

I'd like to be able to suggest buying this one, or that one, but it simply wouldn't be a benefit to you... The best suggestion I can make is simple.... Go to a store that has them both and hold them both in your hands and mess with them in the store.....  Whichever one makes sense in your head is the one you should buy... I'm sure they are both good cameras...

Hope this helps!

Aug 09, 2007 07:01 PM
Patrick Canavan
Keller Williams Realty - Yorba Linda, CA
Orange County Real Estate Voice

Hi Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to respond.  Especially at this time of the morning!  I appreciate your advice.  Probably the best thing to do is now get down to the store.  I have been reading...and reading...and reading.  I wrote down a few of them to check out.  Thanks again.

Aug 09, 2007 07:55 PM
Bill Sauneuf
John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm - Mount Vernon, WA

Patrick,

It is too easy to fall into information overload with electronics these days... 

I'm a big believer in a hands on approach...  As I said before, I'm an electronics geek... With all of the compter stuff, TV stuff, etc... I still must say that my Cybershot is the single best piece of electronics I've bought since I bought my last Sony Cybershot in 2000...  I still have that camera BTW and it still works well, but the wide-angle lens of the new camera (with the adapter) has taken my interior shots to a whole new level.... The rooms look so much bigger it is shocking!

If you haven't already done so, take a look at My I Shot The Moon Blog.... Can the Kodak do that???   ;-)

Thanks for your comments and questions!!  Good luck with your camera purchase!!

-Bill
Bill@Sauneuf.com

 

Aug 09, 2007 08:17 PM
Anonymous
Dane

Hi Bill,

I just received this camera with the wide-angle lens.  Not sure if this has been addressed and I can't seem to find any info online.  It's a great camera but the wide-angle lens (with the adaptor) is huge that when using the flash I get a shadow effect from it (the wide angle lens).

Have you experienced that or have a work around for it? 

Dec 02, 2007 02:49 PM
#15
Bill Sauneuf
John L. Scott Real Estate / Yelm - Mount Vernon, WA

Hi Dane,

Yes that can be a problem...  There is no work-around other than turning the flash off (Silver rocker knob right until you see "Flash Off".  The lens adapter and wide-angle lens simply shadow the bottom half of the picture in a big arc... For interior shots, you'll do better with the flash off anyway... It is a good habit to embrace... The photography is a little more tricky to get the lighting right, but when you do, the results are MUCH better... The camera should be on a tri-pod as well..

I think it was an oversight by Sony, but once I understood the challenge it is a simple workaround...

I hope this helps... It is a fantastic camera!!

-Bill

 

Dec 02, 2007 04:12 PM
Tom Davis
Harrington ERA,DE Homes For Sale, $$ Save $$ Buy Today ! - Dover, DE
FREE Delaware Homes Search!, $$ Save $$ - Find Homes! Delaware Realtor

This does sound like a great camera,

Thanks,

Tom Davis

World Class DE Realtor

Aug 29, 2008 04:00 PM