Has anyone successfully used their DSLR as video for business?

nashuavideotours said:
Real estate is NOT dead everywhere. There is plenty of business out there if you know how to find it. I shoot 3-5 houses every day (sometimes up to 7 houses a day) almost 7 days a week. Average cost $300-400 a pop. You can figure out how dead real estate is. This is all I've done for 6 years. Every single day.
.[/URL]
Click to expand...

I've seen your work before. Read an article in some magazine about you. How do you market? Or I mean to say, how did you build up your clients to start with. I've been going to realtor meetings and pitching my services. I'll seem to get a few interested every time, but few that actually stick around as regular clients. I've been advertising myself as a photographer mostly, maybe I should switch to saying video tours with photography offered as well.
 
Well, I just did my first video tour and the realtor thought it was great. We are the only people in the city that has tried this to my knowledge. I can't find any companies that specialize this in the area which surprises me. Hopefully I can tap into this and make something out of it. It's seems like there is a lot of potential here.
 
Morox said:
Well, I just did my first video tour and the realtor thought it was great. We are the only people in the city that has tried this to my knowledge. I can't find any companies that specialize this in the area which surprises me. Hopefully I can tap into this and make something out of it. It's seems like there is a lot of potential here.
Click to expand...
Congrats.
How much did you get paid, and what will your charge for your services?
Did you ask the first client what they thought other agents would be willing to pay for your services?
And, make sure you make a good impression on the first Agent, and ask her for referrals, and if you can use her as a reference.
All these real estate people know each other. So, once you get your foot in the door, and make a suitable impression, the rest should be easy.

Also, find out when/where they have their "meetings". Normally, in larger cities, realtors in larger cities will have a "meet and greet" ever once in awhile. They usually share their listings or pair up clients with properties.
In that business, it's all about networking.
 
DSLR FOR BUSINESS/PRO:

Definitely a possibility and most filmmakers we speak to and for our own production, we do use DSLR cameras for our documentaries, commercial projects, interviews, etc, specifically the Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, and even a few Nikon D7000s (although the low light capabilities of the D7000 Nikons leave a lot to be desired as they are very grainy at high iso).

The main concern with individuals moving into DSLR instead of standard 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 chip cameras is that you will need to understand manual exposure settings as well as use good lenses, and be careful with selective depth of field and realize that upping ISO is not even close to adding light when necessary. The beauty of these cameras comes from the chipset and the resolution, but more so that you can accomplish the cinematic depth of field seen mostly in films because of the size of the sensor. This look can also be accomplished via depth of field adapters, but probably not the best future investment at this point.

When amateurs and new DSLR/former video professionals move to this medium, the main problem we see (mostly at workshops we sponsor and administer) is film/videomakers assume they can make the same movements as with standard video. There is a whole new film-like approach to cinema with DSLR. The difference in truly moving from standard video to DSLR and accomplishing it well, is to understand filmmaking and manual settings of the camera, exposure settings, frame rates, metering, etc.

One common problem at workshops is that film/videomakers tend to use the lowest aperture on a lens regardless of the situation which is never ideal for moving subjects with fast lenses like f2.0, f1.4, f1.2 ,etc. I've also seen shots outside on the beach where cinematographers had multiple ND filters to stop down light as to open the aperture wider on a wide shot and was complaining how the depth of field was not what he wanted and how selective it was. Truly understanding your gear, lighting and the final editing process will be ideal for DSLR filmmaking. There really isn't a full auto option like with the XHA1, EX1, etc. Good luck on the new venture.

Eric J Kosinski
President/Designer
cineZEN USA LLC
www.cinezenusa.com
 
Last edited:
Just a quick weigh-in. I think one great reason to use a DSLR for this work are the great, reasonably priced wides that just blow away wide-angle adaptors on video cameras. If you're going to go the 7d/t2i type route definitely try the Tokina 11-16. An amazingly elegant look, very wide, reasonably fast lens. In fact we use it on our GH2 as well now, and while not quite as wide, it's just such a smooth looking lens for video.
 
havasuphoto said:
Congrats.
How much did you get paid, and what will your charge for your services?
Did you ask the first client what they thought other agents would be willing to pay for your services?
And, make sure you make a good impression on the first Agent, and ask her for referrals, and if you can use her as a reference.
All these real estate people know each other. So, once you get your foot in the door, and make a suitable impression, the rest should be easy.

Also, find out when/where they have their "meetings". Normally, in larger cities, realtors in larger cities will have a "meet and greet" ever once in awhile. They usually share their listings or pair up clients with properties.
In that business, it's all about networking.
Click to expand...

Right now, we are trying to establish ourselves and we offered a free video shoot to the realtor. This realtor just sold a condo to my business partners girlfriend and helped her out greatly in getting the home. As a thanks, we told her we would shoot a video of a home of her choice for free and that's what we did. Right now, we are in the process of trying to market this. We're thinking of trying to get a few hours in an upscale home and shooting a video of it and using it as a demo for realtors to show what we're capable of. Also, we have a website that will be up shortly. As for pricing, we are still talking about that.

As for the Tokina, I just purchased the 11-16 and is currently being shipped to me. :)
 
Just a few questions for those of you who do real estate videos:

Is this a full-time job for you now and how consistent has it been? I'd imagine if you can find 2-3 agents that want to market with videos, you'd have them as customers for a long time to come. I had advertised myself as a versatile videographer covering a wide array of video needs (dance recitals, Christmas concerts, training videos, etc) but found that it wasn't worth the money. This is why I am now trying to focus on one market and it's real estate.
 
Morox said:
Just a few questions for those of you who do real estate videos:

Is this a full-time job for you now and how consistent has it been? I'd imagine if you can find 2-3 agents that want to market with videos, you'd have them as customers for a long time to come. I had advertised myself as a versatile videographer covering a wide array of video needs (dance recitals, Christmas concerts, training videos, etc) but found that it wasn't worth the money. This is why I am now trying to focus on one market and it's real estate.
Click to expand...

I've been doing real estate photos full-time since last May. I've done several videos, but most realtors here don't even want to spend more than $100 or $150 for photos of a small home. I've seen a few other people here doing video tours, but they're either too expensive and don't book many homes at all, or it's something done in-house by an agent. My first video tours were done make the house look the best I thought it could. I used tripods, sliders, my jib, and steadicam. They took about 3 hours to shoot a 3000 sq ft home. Then I did a walk-through tour, which took about 15 minutes on my steadicam, and way less time to edit, and the Realtor actually preferred it. I think they'll be easier to tack onto my photo packages, due to the lower cost.

The best thing I've done is getting exclusive photo deals with agencies. I currently have two smaller agencies that only use me for all of their photos and videos.

I agree on focusing your services. I did the same thing starting out. I tried to market (not very much) as doing everything, but when you're that guy, you just undersell all of your services. If you specialize, you can charge more for that particular thing. So now instead of having one company that does everything, I have 3 companies: one for Real Estate, one for weddings, and one for business/corporate video, the latter two with which I have business partners.
 
The short answer to your question? Yes using a mix of DSLR and Standard HD cams from any of the major players, you'll do fine.Now go worry about marketing skills, which will make the real difference between success and failure. Enjoy!
 
dust'n the callipygous said:
I've been doing real estate photos full-time since last May. I've done several videos, but most realtors here don't even want to spend more than $100 or $150 for photos of a small home. I've seen a few other people here doing video tours, but they're either too expensive and don't book many homes at all, or it's something done in-house by an agent. My first video tours were done make the house look the best I thought it could. I used tripods, sliders, my jib, and steadicam. They took about 3 hours to shoot a 3000 sq ft home. Then I did a walk-through tour, which took about 15 minutes on my steadicam, and way less time to edit, and the Realtor actually preferred it. I think they'll be easier to tack onto my photo packages, due to the lower cost.

The best thing I've done is getting exclusive photo deals with agencies. I currently have two smaller agencies that only use me for all of their photos and videos.

I agree on focusing your services. I did the same thing starting out. I tried to market (not very much) as doing everything, but when you're that guy, you just undersell all of your services. If you specialize, you can charge more for that particular thing. So now instead of having one company that does everything, I have 3 companies: one for Real Estate, one for weddings, and one for business/corporate video, the latter two with which I have business partners.
Click to expand...

Are you the only person in your area that tried marketing video tours? Also, how big is the city you live in?

As for everyone else, what sort of equipment do you guys utilize to make the tours?
 
Last edited:
I am from a mid sized town in Georgia, and I am looking to start doing this for a local real estate business. I was just wondering if you guys that have been doing this for a while would share some advice on what I should charge, or about the average cost to shoot a real estate video tour? Thanks in advance.
 
work out your costs, fuel rent tax, gear falling apart, insurance

get an annual figure

assume you may work 200 days a year

you then have your daily cost

get your desired wage

add on top

you then have your ideal day rate

S
 
morgan_moore said:
work out your costs, fuel rent tax, gear falling apart, insurance

get an annual figure

assume you may work 200 days a year

you then have your daily cost

get your desired wage

add on top

you then have your ideal day rate

S
Click to expand...

I think I would assume that I work maximum 2 days a week. Even that is optimistic in todays image making environment.
In 20 years as a professional, I have never worked 200 days in a year, either as a photographer and/or a videographer.

However, this year I have made more than anytime annually in the last ten years with my DSLR thanks to the video aspect. It is a clearly expanding need and is definitely replacing photography whose rates are sliding downward everywhere. Some areas like corporate annual report photography for instance, virtually don't exist anymore.
 
Last edited:
I do live shoots and the one DSLR that I have is the best camera available to me, owning equipment is easier as its never more then 5 minutes away :D

Use a mix of mini DV with digital so there's something to sync the video/audio to. :Drogar-Happy(DBG):
 
For those of you doing real estate... What sort of rigs are you using? I noticed on a lot of videos the movements are very fluid when walking throughout the homes. Are you using something like a Halo and a program (like Mercalli) to help reduce shakiness?
 
yoclay said:
I think I would assume that I work maximum 2 days a week. Even that is optimistic in todays image making environment.
Click to expand...

Depends, I have two classes of work - quick mag/pr jobs which we do most week days, and also bigger corps that we do less.

Also Pre and Post is work

--------

An effort for a builder, part of a 1/2 day shoot where I did stills too

 
I've obtained two shoots this Sunday. I am quite excited. I talked with an agent that distributes the #1 magazine for real estate in this region. He told me that to his knowledge, I am the only person that offers this type of service in the entire province.
 
We got in contact with the owners of a popular magazine in the area that features high-end (million dollar) homes. It's not a real estate magazine, but it promotes beautiful and unique architecture and the stories behind the building of the homes. We are scheduled to shoot two houses right now and got a 50% discount for advertising in their magazine. I am pretty excited!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top