21 January 2020

NEW SMARTPHONE HACK TO SELL PROPERTIES FASTER! (IPHONE 11 VS DSLR)

Introduction

At BoxBrownie.com, we are always on the lookout for ways to help agents achieve magazine-quality images without breaking the bank. The days of lugging around a giant, and expensive, DSLR camera could possibly be coming to an end with the rise of incredible smartphone capabilities that really are changing real estate photography.

Throughout this blog, we are going to let you in on a fantastic real estate photography hack... the iPhone 11's new wide-angle lens! 

This latest feature on the iPhone 11 means we can now shoot real estate wide enough like a DSLR camera with a wide-angle lens. This makes it incredibly convenient for real estate agents and property managers to take the perfect real estate photo.

To showcase how crazy this new feature is, we are going to be doing a side-by-side comparison between the Nikon D7200 DSLR camera, a Samsung Galaxy S9 with a Moment wide-angle lens attachment and the iPhone 11 (with its wide-angle lens).

So here's a summary of what we are testing:

The DSLR Camera Setup
• Nikon D7200
• Nikon DX AF-S 10-24mm f3.5 lens
• Nikon Speedlight SB-910 with diffuser

The First Smartphone Setup
• Samsung Galaxy S9
• An 18mm Moment Wide Angle lens (costs $120)
• A Moment Phone Case (costs $30) 

The Second Smartphone Setup
• The iPhone 11 Pro (with inbuilt wide-angle lens)

Shooting The Exterior Images

To ensure our comparison is fair and accurate, we have kept the tripod in the exact same position for all three devices and simply adjusted the angle where necessary to keep the house centered. In all of our comparison images, we have only used single-exposure shots as opposed to bracketed images which we have spoken about in previous blogs.

We have simply taken a single shot using each device and then put the images through the BoxBrownie.com Image Enhancement service.

This is one of our most popular services and uses our 16 Step Enhancement Process all from just USD$1.60.

We know that 90% of what makes an image look good is in the editing and that’s why our 16 Step Enhancement Process includes everything from White Balancing and Image Sharpening to Tone Adjustment, TV Screen Replacement, Flash Reflection Removal and even Lawn Enhancement (repair or replace).

Here are the shots we took...

Shot 1 - DSLR - Exterior

Shot 2 - Samsung Galaxy S9 With Moment Lens - Exterior

Shot 3 - iPhone 11 - Exterior

Shooting The Interior Images

As with the external images, we have kept the tripod in the same place for each of these interior shots. In this case, we have kept the flash on the standard-setting with the DSLR camera in Program Mode and zoomed in the smartphones where necessary to avoid capturing too much of the wall in the image.

Again, for each of these images we have used single-exposure shots and edited each with the BoxBrownie.com Image Enhancement service. Thanks to the 16 Step Enhancement Process, each of the images looks fantastic and really helps showcase the property in the best light.

Here are the interior shots we took...

Shot 4 - DSLR - Interior

Shot 5 - Samsung Galaxy S9 With Moment Lens - Interior

Shot 6 - iPhone 11 - Interior

The Comparison

As you can see in the below comparisons, the finished product for each shot is fairly similar regardless of whether we used the traditional DSLR camera or the smartphones. There’s no doubt when taking single-exposure images, the smartphones can compete head-to-head with the traditional DSLR camera and still deliver a fantastic result.
When comparing edited interior shots between the 3 devices we saw a similar result again. There really wasn’t too much of a difference between each shot.  

Conclusion

In this comparison, we have tried to be as fair as possible and have found that the finished product is very comparable across all three devices.

When shooting with the iPhone 11, we found we had to zoom in considerably to frame the shot correctly. If you shoot too wide, the image will look like an aircraft hanger which misrepresents the size of the property.

The new wide-angle lens feature on the iPhone 11 is a possible game-changer for the real estate industry. If future smartphones begin to adopt this wide-angle technology, we could possibly see real estate photography begin to shift from being taken on a traditional DSLR to a smartphone.

It’s important to remember, we have used the Moment wide-angle lens attachment plus a Moment case with the Samsung Galaxy S9. This is a great product but it is an additional purchase whereas the iPhone 11 does come with the new wide-lens feature. If you are using a different phone, Moment does sell cases for a wide range of smartphones.

As we mentioned, 90% of what makes an image good is in the editing and by using the Image Enhancement service, we were able to capture magazine-quality images using all three devices.

Want to give our Image Enhancement service a try? You can get started from only US$1.60 and with BoxBrownie.com you will receive 4 free edits on signup along with 24-hour customer support plus we have no subscriptions and no monthly fees.

We hope this blog has helped give you an idea of the advantages and disadvantages of different devices along with some key things to keep in mind when shooting your next property. If you’d like to stay up to date with more property marketing tips and tricks, be sure to follow us on social media.

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