The Perfect Camera Settings for Interior Real Estate Photography

Getting your camera settings right is fundamental to producing professional real estate photos. Unlike studio photography where you control every light source, interior photography requires balancing natural light, artificial lights, and often challenging mixed lighting conditions.

The Exposure Triangle for Real Estate

Let's break down each element of the exposure triangle and how it applies specifically to shooting interiors.

Aperture: f/7.1 to f/9

For real estate work, you want everything in focus from the foreground to the background. This means using a smaller aperture (higher f-number) to maximize depth of field.

• f/7.1: Great for most rooms, sharp throughout
• f/8: The sweet spot for most wide-angle lenses
• f/9: Maximum sharpness, good for deep rooms
• Avoid f/11+: Diffraction starts softening images

Why not f/2.8? While your lens might open that wide, you'd have a razor-thin depth of field. The foreground chair would be sharp, but the back wall would be blurry. That's not what agents want.

ISO: 100-400

Keep your ISO as low as possible to maintain image quality. Since you're shooting on a tripod, you can afford longer shutter speeds instead of bumping ISO.

• ISO 100: Ideal, cleanest possible image
• ISO 200: Still excellent, no visible noise
• ISO 400: Acceptable when you need faster shutter
• Avoid ISO 800+: Noise becomes visible in shadows

Shutter Speed: Variable

This is where you let the camera do its thing. With aperture and ISO locked in, shutter speed becomes your variable. On a tripod, it doesn't matter if your exposure is 1/60s or 2 seconds—the camera won't move.

• Bright rooms: 1/60s to 1/125s
• Average rooms: 1/15s to 1/60s
• Dark rooms: 1s to 4s
• Use a 2-second timer or remote to avoid camera shake

White Balance

Interior lighting is often a mix of daylight (5500K), tungsten bulbs (3200K), and LED lights (variable). Here's how to handle it:

• Auto White Balance: Works well for most situations, easy to correct in post
• 5500K (Daylight): Good baseline, makes tungsten lights look warm (often desirable)
• Shoot RAW: Always shoot RAW so you can adjust white balance later without quality loss

Bracketing for HDR

Single exposures often can't capture the full dynamic range of an interior scene, especially with bright windows. Bracketing solves this.

What is Bracketing?

Take multiple exposures of the same scene at different brightness levels, then blend them together in post-production. This captures detail in both the bright windows and dark shadows.

Recommended Bracket Settings

• 3-shot bracket: -2EV, 0EV, +2EV (most common)
• 5-shot bracket: -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 EV (high contrast scenes)
• Enable Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) on your camera
• Use continuous shooting mode for speed

Focus Settings

Proper focus technique ensures everything is sharp:

• Single-shot AF (AF-S): Focus once, then shoot
• Focus point: About 1/3 into the room for maximum depth of field
• Manual focus: For consistency, focus once and switch to manual
• Check focus: Zoom in on your LCD to verify sharpness

Quick Reference Settings

Room-Specific Adjustments

Kitchens

Often have mixed lighting (daylight + under-cabinet LEDs + overheads). Bracket more aggressively and be prepared to blend exposures.

Bathrooms

Usually smaller with harsh overhead lighting. Consider shooting with just natural light if there's a window. Watch for reflections in mirrors.

Living Rooms

Often the most challenging due to large windows. This is where HDR bracketing is essential to balance the bright exterior view with the darker interior.

Basements

Low light, often tungsten-only. Bump ISO to 400 if needed, and adjust white balance warmer to avoid an orange cast.

Common Mistakes

• Using too wide an aperture: f/2.8 looks great for portraits, not for rooms where you need everything sharp
• Forgetting to check ISO: Make sure you're not accidentally at ISO 6400 from your last shoot
• Single exposures only: You'll struggle to balance windows without bracketing
• Shooting JPEG: Always shoot RAW for maximum flexibility in post

These settings will get you professional results in 90% of situations. As you gain experience, you'll learn when to deviate from these guidelines for specific challenging scenarios.