rrg6481 Loc: USA

I use Imagemaker360.com. Very photographer friendly. I have a good relationship with the owner but haven't had the need for a tour because real estate is so hot where I am. I will frequently upload just the exteriors to get the listing online and 8 out of ten times the home will already have offers on it...literally over night by the time the rest of the photos are delivered. Realtors have no time or patience for VT processing. If I were you I would begin the migration process of converting to a full time self employed photographer. You are more of a saddle horse for your tour provider. Check out the photographer program at IM360. It may be a good fit for you. Call to talk to Brad Kenny. Very nice guy and full of info. He sometimes takes a while to return calls. I think he has around 800 to 1000 photographers working for him at any given time so very busy fellow. Hope that helps.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Yes, that's true, I'm the saddle horse for this territory and there are hundreds of us all over the U.S. If I was in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale they have seven shooters over there. But over here there's not enough work to keep just me busy. I'll look at IM360. You could look at RTV as well. Jason, the owner, is a nice but hyper go-getter guy. You never have problems with getting a reply from him or the staff. You can barely get away from him actually. He's up in northern Michigan. I have an account with them and can host beautiful tours for $10 each but my current problem is the migration if I want to stay legal so I haven't used the RTV system. My current contract with the national company has a non-competitive clause that forbids me from creating products similar to theirs. I'm probably going to have to do a hard "switch" rather than "migrate" or I could get into a big problem.

Thanks for the conversation. Nice to talk with somebody who's doing this successfully and profitably.

rrg6481 Loc: USA

I know Jason...his program doesnt interest me. I have had many discussions with him. IM360 doesn't cost you a thing up front. They pay regularly. The only aspect of their service is that they are a bit behind the curve on technology. Any way, good luck and have a good one.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Thanks for the heads up. I'm not interested in his high entry cost program either. That's why I've procrastinated for quite a while. Him allowing me to just buy tour server space and do all my own everything, and leaving the marketing to the realtors, was likely his Ace in the Hole to get me onto their system without investment and hopefully I'd go for the package later. I really like their technology but the initial outlay has kept me away.

stncarpanus Loc: NJ

I have been shooting interiors for real estate for over nine years, so here is what I suggest:

First of all, 18mm on your d3200 will not be wide enough, especially when dealing with smaller rooms. The effective focal length is 27mm on your DX 3200, nowhere near wide enough for many interiors. I've been using a Tamron 17-35 on my full frame D3, and sometimes the 17mm is not wide enough. I just recently spent the money on Nikon's 14-24, which helps tremendously.

I also have a d5100 which I use sometimes on jobs with Nikon's 10-24mm lens. But since you are trying so save some money, the alternatives from Tamron, Sigma, or Tokino suggested by those here will probably work just as well. The effective focal length will be roughly 15-35, which is a good range for real estate photography.

Almost as important as the lens, however, is a good flash. Do NOT use your camera's built-in flash for interior photography. First of all it isn't powerful enough. Second, when using a wide-angle lens you will get a shadow on the bottom of many of your pictures from the lens. You need a separate flash. I have been using Nikon's SB-800, but Yongnuo makes some good, less expensive flashes. I also highly recommend using a diffuser. The one that came with my SB-800 has been great.

Finally, if you haven't already, purchase Adobe Lightroom and get to know it. Lightroom will be your best friend when processing real estate images. You'll need Photoshop from time to time, but 95% of all the post production I do is in Lightroom.

c8group Loc: Florida, NY

Thank you everyone for responding to my question.
I resolved this issue by renting the lens I needed.
It cost $20.00 a day as compared to paying $1000.00 for a used lens.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Actually, the costs can go much higher than $700, $1500 +. You'll also want a solid tripod, and ideally several fill flash units with a transmitter system to fire them. This isn't a "snapshot" business unless you want it to look like garbage and get paid accordingly.