Recommend me a lens for interior photography

[jkundi]

Hi all, I've been asked to shoot interior shots off a nursing home recently and it is quite compact. I own a 16mm focal length but would I need wider, or am I under estimating this length? What's everyone's opinions thouse of you that have shot building/home interior? Also any examples?

 

Thanks.

[Guest Ridgeback]

If your shots show what you want them to your lens is good.

If they show less than you want/need, you will need a wider lens and if they show more than you'd like you can use a narrower lens. Try the Samyang 8 mm for some real fun.

[Warwick]

If the nursing home want 'architectural' or estate-agent-style photos that fit in the maximum amount of wall, floor and ceiling and make small empty rooms look like big empty rooms, go for a fisheye. If they want a portrait of life at the home, with people in, then your 16mm is perfect.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[milandro]

Depending on the building that you are tackling the 16mm might be apt to the job, or not. My guess is that you will find several situations in which you would have wished to have a wider lens.

 

When I did these things in the past with a 35mm camera ( I also did that with a 6 x 7cm and a 4” x 5”) the 24mm often fell short and the 17mm took care of a lot of things that the 24mm couldn’t do, the same happened with 4" x 5” where I did have a 75mm but the real break was when I bought a Cambo wide with a 58mm ( mandatory use of the graduated center filter). I also used this lens with the 6 x12cm rollfilm back.

 

As for Fuji.

 

The 10-24 is the absolute king in these situations but, since you already have a 16 , probably it won’t be very wise to get a 10-24mm unless you accept that it would replicate some of the features of the 16m.

 

By the way I owned the 10-24 loved and used it a lot (although a I am no longer involved in this type of photography as a pro) but in the end I sold it because I almost always ever used it at 10mm or 12mm.

 

The fish-eye ( I own a 8mm f2.8 Samyang) is a very good lens but even used in a wise way, at the right height, with no tilt up or down, will still produce curved images of any straight line off the center of the lens. You can use this lens in a way that has imperceptible distortion if there are no straight lines to speak of ( In a meadow for example) but not in a house interior.

 

You could advantageously use fisheye-hemi software ( I have thought for a while to do so but then I have taken a different approach) but it will cost you some post production time and money. See if this is what you want.

 

In that case the 8mm Samyang f2.8 is a great lens and very cheap too!

 

http://www.imagetrendsinc.com/gallery/gallery_hemi.asp

 

Should that NOT be what you are looking for then do consider the 12mm f2 Samyang. You might think that there isn’t too much difference between 16mm and 12mm and you would be wrong. There is!

 

This lens, like the 8mm fish eye is very cheap for its performance and the lack of autofocus is really unimportant in a lens that once it is stopped down virtually transforms your camera in a point and shoot hobo.

 

Good luck!

[deva]

The Fuji 10-24 is excellent. The OIS is solid. I've managed sharp photos at 1/4 second handheld (braced against a wall etc). For a diverse range of indoor settings, the zoom range is useful. The lens has very little distortion. 

[Warwick]

There are all kinds of lenses you could buy - and the Samyang 12mm in particular comes very highly recommended. But actually, if I were you I'd use the lens you have. The 16mm is a wonderful lens, and if you find yourself in a tiny room wishing you had something wider, the trick is to find a great angle using the lens that's on your camera. It's entirely possible to fill your bag with lenses to cover every possible focal length - but what makes you a good photographer is the skill of mastering your limitations and finding the best angle with a lens you know really well.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kim]

I was shooting interiors for a client two days ago, used my 16-55 f2.8 and the 8mm Samyang Fisheye. You'd better be clear what the client wants out of the shots before you shoot as the 8mm is very wide and can be difficult to align up to minimise the curves. Fisheye Hemi is great for helping out in that. Other than that Fuji 14/2.8 is very good & the 10-24 is probably the best option out of all.

 

You have a 16mm and it will probably be fine for most shots but you might find 14 or 10 is what you need.

[frod]

For the sake of one job I'd definitely stick to what I already owned.

 

Depending on which camera you've got you might be able to use a smartphone to frame the picture using the Fuji app while the camera is backed up all the way to the wall.

[jkundi]

Hi all thanks for your input. Since it's a one off job I'll stick to my 16mm and will pick up the 10-24 later this year before the automotive show season starts. Should the client be fussy I will hire a 10-24 if I can not get the shot I need. I have few days to cover the shoot. For now I think the money is better put towards an X-Pro2