Camera choice for Business...

swifty52

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Good Evening

I’ve read through the guides but don’t know if I’m pure and simply looking far too much into this.

We own a double glazing firm and install doors, windows, roofline and lots of conservatory’s and orangeries.

I’m looking to purchase a decent camera in order to build a gallery showing our work. This would involve before and after shots of various jobs, the fitters and builders on site during work, which I may at some point on certain jobs like to create a sort of time lapse video, showing the job each day from start to finish. These images I take would also be used for brochures, website purposes and showroom graphics / leaflets.


So, without me becoming obsessive in searching for the right camera, can anyone point me roughly in the right direction. Would I need a specific lense? What other accessories would you recommend for this type of work.

Budget wise.... ideally under £400... but I can be slightly flexible on this.

Any help / advice is much appreciated

Cheers
Swifty52
 
More or less any camera, including on your smartphone is up to the job to make photos. Smartphone will also do time lapse most likely (iPhones certainly do).

However, to create great images to promote your business is a whole other ball game and probably worth hiring a photographer for that. Architectural photography is tricky and a very specialist field.
 
As above, it's really about composition and lighting rather than the gear, and this only comes with practice. An iPhone will be good enough for web, but if you're wanting to print large posters it's unlikely to stand up. Something like a Nikon D3300 or Sony A6000/A6300 with kit lens should be perfectly adequate. You'll be stopping down the lens anyway so no need to buy the very best of lenses.
 
My friend who runs a renewable energy company and an underfloor heating installation company swears by Olympus Tough cameras. If you're trusting them to fitters who are taking their own pictures and keeping the camera in the van then resilience is worth considering.
A quick google suggests the Tough series can do time lapse but check.
In terms of accessories for time lapse you're going to want a steady support - probably a tripod of some sort.

If your photographer isn't on the tools you might be able to use something more fragile but again if you're doing time lapse you'd want at least weather sealing in case it rains during the lunch break :)

I would suggest a bit of training or a good book on photography would be a worthwhile investment - as others have said mobile phone cameras are capable of taking pictures that are good enough for most purposes.
 
It all depends on your experience, most likely you need a camera for a beginner. Then you will not need to make special settings to get good photos.

Sorry but that advice is pretty much nonsense IME - most camera's have an Auto and various Scene Modes directly available that will generate pretty acceptable images in most situations

Jim
 
It all depends on your experience, most likely you need a camera for a beginner. Then you will not need to make special settings to get good photos.
Most DSLRs and mirrorless have full auto settings, even the high end ones so you don’t need a camera for a beginner. Also, getting a better camera allows you to grow as a photographer without having to change your gear again.

Also, apart from composition, getting a good photo using auto has a big element of pot luck. Understanding the basics of ISO, aperture and shutter speed and having your camera in manual or one of the priority modes gives you a much better chance of getting a good shot. And of course understanding light is essential.
 

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