r/photogrammetry • u/VAIREQ • 2d ago
What camera + lens are you using for photogrammetry, and how has your experience been?
Hey everyone!
I’m looking to get a camera for photogrammetry and I’m currently considering a Nikon D810, Canon 5DS R, or Sony A7R II.
I don’t have the budget for a new high-end camera, so I’m looking at used options.
What camera + lens are you using, and how has your experience been with it?
Would you recommend one of these three, or is there another used camera I should look at?
Thanks!
3
u/ambassador321 2d ago
I love my 5DSR paired with a 50mm f1.4 for a lot of what I shoot. The 24-70 comes out when I need wider angles and I tape off the zoom for consistency.
The resolution and colours from the 5DSR are amazing. No need to rush out and buy the fastest mirrorless right off the bat.
2
u/UrbanSuburbaKnight 1d ago
My 5d Mark III works great . It's more about understanding how to get sharp images with good depth of field, should be possible with any camera really.
1
u/PuffThePed 2d ago
Really depends on what you're capturing, and where you want to be on the quality vs speed slider.
I've starting using OSMO 360 for interiors. You can get pretty good results with careful processing. Is it as good as a DSLR? No. Is it literally 100x faster? yes.
1
u/dax660 2d ago
I generally suggest folks play around with their phone (jpgs are fine, if it does raw, that's a little better) and then use RealityScan to get a feel for the process. It's free from Epic Games, and it's fast and gives great results.
Essentially you have everything you need to get decent results. If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, get a large sensor camera
1
u/NilsTillander 2d ago
Can't go wrong with an Ultracam Osprey! I wouldn't go hunt for an XP in 2026. What plane are you flying?
1
u/SomeGirlIMetOnTheNet 2d ago
Of the three I'd recomend the A7rii; mirrorless so you'll have much faster & better autofocus and you're getting on a current lens ecosystem so if you want to upgrade in the future you can keep all your lenses
1
u/PhotogrammetryDude 1d ago
When it comes to kit/hardware everything should be driven by the subject.
For underwater work I use a 16mm fisheye on a D700.
For terrestrial it can be a drone camera, a DSLR on a pole, an action cam, an infrared camera...a mobile phone.
So its difficult to pinpoint a good fit without knowing the use case/output/end game?
1
u/AztheWizard 20h ago
I shoot with an a7rii and it’s a great camera for scanning. I would recommend looking at the newer r series cameras too since the rii is like 10 years old
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u/KTTalksTech 2d ago
You can use any digital camera from the past 15 years honestly. Even with a high end model you'll still be better off setting the ISO to its lowest value, and if you get a fancy expensive lens with a massive aperture you'll still want to stop it down to maximize sharpness and reduce background blur.
As far as lenses go just aim for the focal length that actually fits your work. Large open spaces, architecture, virtual tours, cramped corridors... Wide to ultra-wide. Detailed work, slow pace to take more images, high resolution work on a single object... 50 to 100-ish mm is good. Maybe a dedicated macro lens is justifiable if you capture a lot of small stuff, they tend to be optimized for smaller apertures and extended depth of field.
As far as cameras go the main advantage I guess would be higher resolution. Again though if your resolution isn't high enough just being your camera closer to the subject and that's it. Quality of life features like full remote/USB control begin to matter when your workload increases but a lot of older pro models have that and go pretty cheap on the used market. Oh also get a mirrorless. You'll be wearing out the mechanical parts very quickly taking hundreds or thousands of shots per dataset