These are our best Canon lenses for real estate or indoor photography.
All lenses we selected are also perfect for many other types of photography, such as architecture, indoor, landscape, street photography and so on.
You should never let the focal length of a lens limit your creativity, but when it comes to real estate, the ones below are used by the majority simply because they’re the best for the job.
If you don’t yet own a Canon DSLR, check out our selection of best entry-level DSLR cameras in 2016.
What’s important?
- For sharp shots you either use a tripod or go with a lens that has Image Stabilization. There are situations where you don’t have enough time/space to set up a tripod though.
- High quality images with minimal amount of distortion, aberration or any other flaws.
- Wide-angle lenses for shooting in tight spaces, or just capturing a lot in the scene
Best lenses for real estate we recommend:
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM
Best third-party lenses we recommend:
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro DX II
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC
You automatically support us if you order anything through our Amazon links, and we highly recommend them because of their low prices, fast delivery and top support, especially when it comes to camera equipment.
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM is an amazing choice for anyone looking to do landscape, architecture or real estate photography.
It replaces an older, more expensive 10-22mm lens, and comes with Image Stabilization up to 4 stops, which is excellent if you don’t have a tripod and want crisp shots in low light conditions. There’s a Stepping Motor (STM) for silent and accurate focucsing, so you’re also ready to record videos.
It’s designed to work on APS-C cameras (such as T6i, 80D and all models that are not full frame), where its field of view is equivalent to a 16-29mm lens (because of the 1.6x crop factor the APS-C sensor has). It is a bit longer, but is still your widest choice and is perfect for indoor photography with tight spaces.
Image quality, colors and contrast are all excellent, and there’s less distortion than with the old 10-22mm.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM
The Canon EF 16-35m f/4L IS USM is one of those zoom lenses that have the quality and sharpness of a prime lens, without being too expensive!
Personally I recommend it to FF owners because on an APS-C it’s not as wide as you’d want it to be (due to the 1.6x crop factor). Nonetheless, it’s sharper than it’s f/2.8 brother below, especially in corners, and also features Image Stabilization! Put it this way, if you don’t own a tripod, IS can help tremendously.
Its closes focusing distance is 0.92ft/0.28m, it has 16 elements in 12 groups (2 UD and 3 aspheric elements to reduce chromatic aberration and improve quality) and offers IS up to 4 stops. It’s one of Canon’s L lenses, meaning the build quality and top notch performance are “included”.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro DX II
The Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro DX II has amazing image quality and sharpness, is faster than most competition (f/2.8 is great for low light situations, such as night photography or indoors), is built like a tank and is highly affordable.
Tokina may not be the most famous third-party lens maker, but they’re definitely up there with the rest when it comes to quality!
It’s designed for Canon’s APS-C cameras (every entry-level DSLR and models below the 7D Mark II) and takes 77mm filters. If you’ve never owned a non-Canon lens, and are afraid that you’re going to compromise something by going with a third-party lens, this is definitely not the case here, and hasn’t been for the past few years. A lot of lenses from other brands are just as good, and this Tokina wide-angle is no exception.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
A couple of years ago, large apertures were only possible on prime lenses, but Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM changed that in 2013. You’re looking at an optically superb, wide-to-standard large aperture lens that could save you a lot of money and weight (1 zoom with f/1.8 instead of 3 primes with f/1.8).
Not familiar with Sigma’s terms? The lens features HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which means the lens is very quick and accurate at focusing. You can also expect beautiful background blur thanks to 9 diaphragm blades, especially when wide open.
Besides amazing quality in still photography, the lens is perfect for videos as well, thanks to its smooth focus and zoom rings.
It weighs 1.79 pounds (810 grams) and is quite long, meaning your neck will probably get tired after a couple of hours of shooting. However, we shouldn’t complain because having f/1.8 in such a high quality lens is every photographers dream come true.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC
The Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC is a manual focus lens, but since it’s got such a wide angle, almost everything on your shot will be in complete focus.
It’s highly affordable, delivers crisp images, although you may need to stop down to f/5.6-f/8 to get maximum sharpness, and is truly a steal for the money! There’s also little to no chromatic aberration. For a 14mm lens that costs less than $350, while Canon’s 14mm lens goes for $2,000, the lens is really amazing.
Again, I recommend this if you often shoot with a tripod so you can achieve maximum sharpness, but because of its wide angle, the depth of field will be narrow in almost any shot.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
3 More Recommended Lenses for Real Estate Photography
Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L UD – If you are serious about architecture/estate and plan on earning from it, tilt-shift lenses such as this one allow you to get straight lines (no distortion) on your shots, and much more.
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L – Slightly cheaper and longer than the 16-35mm, also offers excellent image quality and
Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – An ultra-wide zoom lens perfect for Full Frame DSLRs. Amazing image quality but not the cheapest lens out there.
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