Using a Sony A7IV For Real Estate Photography in 2023: My Settings!

[@ChristianThompson-w3j]

Great video man, I’m looking to start real estate videography this year. How did you land your first clients?

[@anthonykufta2197]

What would you say would be the best upgrade for the a74 Photography only? Or not worth getting anything else (have an FX3 for video)

[@ShareholderConnect]

Gotta comment for the algorithm! Great vid man and hope the channel grows!

[@chroniclecreative]

Much appreciated man!

[@mangomariel]

Actually disagree with your bracket settings :) If you did 5x2EV that would make sense. But Using 5x1EV will get you from -2 to +2 If you use 3x3EV you will get from -3 to +3 And have less pictures, while also getting you more dynamic range. a7iv already have very good dynamic range per image, so you don`t need to split a bracket in 5. What`s most important is making sure your darkest image has no clipping in highlights, and your brightest image is good enough to cover the shadows. Doing so quickly on auto pilot, require you to learn how metering mode and the exposure wheel works. What I find easiest is have metering on multi, and focus area on a large spot. I move that spot around to where I think the -3 will cover details in the highlights. If you have metering on a zone I find that it sometimes meter too bright for when there are small windows to the side. I also have exposure wheel on -0.5 because it tends to meter quite bright. You can also do metering mode highlight and put exposure wheel on +3 (from the bracket settings I use) so that the darkest bracket will be the highlight metering (+3 - 3 = 0 here 0 is what the mode metered for highlights) Easier to do multi tho. Also you can indeed do bracket handheld in good light conditions, I do it all the time. It is a massive time saver for outdoors, and gives you more flexibility to lean over edges on balconies. Outdoor usually have more than enough light for fast shutter. If there is a slight movement between brackets, LR have the option to auto align images. As longs as all brackets are sharp, you good. You can also do f6.7 and iso 800 or something, for outdoor, to make sure you get fast shutter. You are correct that you need tripod indoors for best results with low iso and f8-f11 tho.

[@shanewise7625]

That was such a great comment! Wish I had your knowledge and experience. It's going to take me awhile LOL

[@mangomariel]

@@shanewise7625 yeah there is a lot of small things that make the workflow faster. Then you can spend more time composing good pictures, or get to the next shoot :P

[@erikjuarezdk2367]

Thanks!!

[@Germanrubi91]

Thanks for the tip!

[@LifeStyleByEchelon]

What setting do you use when it’s super bright outside

[@jaredmeche6325]

I'm also shooting on the a7iv, but for architecture and interior design. If all I need is HDR for real estate, 2EV x 5 is usually my go to, and that'll make sure there's a dark enough on in there for windows. Higher end stuff, I've moved to 1EV x 5-9 depending on how much dynamic range is in the shot. Better safe than sorry, and memory shouldn't be an issue for anyone nowadays. Something to note that I see very few touching on with Sony cameras is shooting at one of your native ISOs. Standard profile should translate to photo the same way it does for video, meaning for a7iv, ISO 100 and 400. No need to mess with the in-between. ISO 400 should be cleaner than say ISO 320.

[@chroniclecreative]

That’s such a good point with ISO. Helps create a clean image. One thing I should’ve mentioned is that if you’re super low on shutter speed and it’s windy outside when you’re shooting a space with windows, I’ve found just taking the lowest exposure image and photoshopping the window space on to the image helps it look super clean.

[@mangomariel]

You are correct. Also ISO 400 actually have better Image quality than 100, on a7iv. 400 instead of 100 will make your workflow slightly faster :p

[@CompiChao]

I have a SONY A7IV, is it good for real estate video too? If so, do I need a stabilizer? if so, which one you recommend? Thank you.

[@irishnite41]

Dji ronin

[@madanddad4180]

Nice video! Do you every have the camera combine the shots rather than doing it in Lightroom?

[@chroniclecreative]

I have not - I've always used Lightroom just because of how I can play around with the colors. I didn't know there were cameras that did that!

[@TylertheThompson]

What lens do you use

[@chroniclecreative]

Sigma 24-70mm!

[@jankarlsson8341]

Do you shoot with mechanical or electronic shutter? I shoot 3 brackets with my A7 iv on mechanical shutter, but have been thinking of going electronic to save some wear and tear. Any feedback is welcome :)

[@RayRomanMedia]

Checking in on this comment.. did you make the change to electronic?

[@jankarlsson8341]

Yes, I try to do that most of the time nowadays :)@@RayRomanMedia

[@RolandWDunn]

I have taken a lot of estate agency (UK term) brackets with my Lumix GH5. Just got my new a7iv. I am a bit confused to be honest. You only need to press the GH5 shutter button once and it will rattle off a bracketed sequence. Better still, you can set a 2 sec timer which gives you time to step back from the tripod before it captures the range of images. It appears that the Sony needs me to hold down the shutter button with my wobbly fat finger in order to fire off all the shots in my chosen bracket. Is this right? If so, I suppose a Bluetooth remote will be my next purchase. Am I doing something wrong?

[@chroniclecreative]

Under drive mode, when you hit Cont. (Continuous) Bracketing, you should only need to click it once! It'll take all the photos (depending on how many you choose) one by one at different EVs without you having to do anything. Let me know if that helped!

[@abstractempirephotography]

If you go into the camera's settings menu and go to Bracket Settings you set the timer from there instead.

[@rickdeckardbladerunner2049]

Let's be clear, can you do a time delay after you hit the button to take a photo, and then it takes the 3 to 5 bracketed photos? Because after you hit the button to take a photo it could shake the camera, hence the need for a Bluetooth trigger, but if you can have a few second delay, that solves the issue. I find this glanced over in most videos.

[@BMXTraining]

Thanks, I do ton of video in real estate (@gregromerovideo) now my agent wife wants me to do her photos. I noticed a lot of photographers using flash, when would that come into handy, and what flash would you recccomend? Thank you

[@chroniclecreative]

I haven't done much flash work - but there's a guy on here named Taylor Brown who highlights a lot of that! He breaks down what ones are best and more. Good videos!