Giraffe PRO Camera Evaluation: Built for Photographers

Real property images has lengthy been one of the constant types of paid work for photographers. Add video, ground plans, and immersive drone-style advertising and marketing content material, and also you shortly develop into that one trusted skilled who can deal with every thing with dependable, high-quality outcomes.

Over latest few months, I’ve been testing the Giraffe PRO Camera, Giraffe360’s newest professional-grade system designed particularly for property imaging. Alongside hands-on use, I additionally spoke with Mikus Opelts, co-founder and CEO of Giraffe, to know how and why this digicam exists—and who it’s actually for. What turned clear in a short time is that this isn’t an AI instrument designed to interchange photographers. Quite the other.

What Is the Giraffe PRO Camera?

The Giraffe PRO Camera is an all-in-one actual property seize system that produces:

all from a single on-site go to.

Key Tech Specs

• Sensor: 20.3 MP HDR, Sony Exmor 1” sensor

• Lens: 16mm large angle lens

• LiDAR 2.0: 750,000 pattern charge, with 20× denser scans than the unique Giraffe360 Camera

• Build weight: 3.7 lbs (1.7 kg)

• Storage: 1 TB SSD

• Battery energy: 100+ property scans per cost

Powered Tripod and Automated Dual-Height Scanning

A core a part of what allows the Giraffe PRO’s superior seize workflow is its powered, motorized tripod. Rather than being thought of an adjunct, the tripod is an integral a part of the system and is what makes automated dual-height scanning doable. Dual-height seize improves LiDAR accuracy, ground plan precision, and the standard of fly-through movies. During a scan, the tripod routinely raises and lowers the digicam between two calibrated heights, permitting the system to seize considerably extra spatial knowledge with out the operator having to manually modify the setup.

In sensible phrases, this automation retains the workflow clean and constant. There’s no have to cease, modify tripod legs, re-level the digicam, or threat uneven seize heights between scan factors. On bigger properties or multistory properties, that consistency provides up shortly—each in time saved and within the reliability of the ultimate outputs.

The powered tripod reinforces the concept that the Giraffe PRO is designed as a whole seize system, not only a digicam with software program connected. It assumes skilled use and builds automation round duties that will in any other case be gradual, repetitive, or liable to inconsistency.

A Camera Designed for Photographers, Not Agents

One of essentially the most attention-grabbing elements of my dialog with the CEO and co-founder of Giraffe, Mikus Opelts, was his rationalization of how the PRO differs philosophically from earlier Giraffe fashions. The unique Giraffe360 cameras had been intentionally designed to be easy sufficient for brokers to make use of themselves. The PRO, nevertheless, is completely different. “The PRO is our first product where we’ve been deliberately thinking about photographers as the core user,” Opelts defined. “Instead of optimizing for simplicity, we’ve been optimizing for flexibility.”

That flexibility exhibits up in options like single- vs. dual-height scans, scan spacing, and the way a lot knowledge you select to seize in several elements of a property. This is essential for superior outputs like fly-through video, nevertheless it additionally means longer appointment occasions. That issue alone makes the Giraffe PRO much better suited to photographers than actual property brokers. Agents typically wish to get out and in as effectively as doable. Photographers perceive that spending slightly longer on-site usually results in dramatically higher outcomes.

The Giraffe Pro Camera in Practice

Through local-to-me agent Angel Homes, I used to be granted entry to some beautiful properties to check this digicam. One such property was the present dwelling for a improvement within the Fieldings: a set of townhouses on the outskirts of East Kilbride, within the west of Scotland.

In follow, the Giraffe PRO feels much less like a digicam and extra like a whole seize system. The menu and interface are very straightforward to know, even on first use. You can select between nonetheless photographs and scanning, in addition to single-height scans or dual-height scans. You can even point out which ground of the property you’re on for multilevel properties. Each picture is routinely bracketed, producing HDR images with glorious dynamic vary, together with interiors with vivid exterior views by way of home windows—one thing that’s usually a problem in property images.

Scanning and Battery Life

Dual scans are required for the cinematic video outputs, and this does improve battery utilization. On longer shoots, I take advantage of an exterior energy financial institution—in my case, a CUKTECH 15 Ultra—which might be bigger than most would use, however the included strap system holds it securely to the tripod and makes it workable within the area. The tripod holds its cost nicely and would simply sustain with every day property visits.

Fly-Through Video: The Standout Feature

The fly-through video is the place the Giraffe PRO actually separates itself. Built solely from LiDAR 2.0 and picture knowledge, the consequence appears like a rigorously deliberate drone or gimbal shoot, despite the fact that no video was filmed within the conventional sense. The skilled output of the fly-through “video” is astounding. This sort of output makes advertising and marketing supplies look costly, and it’s surprisingly straightforward to get shoppers to agree it’s value together with as soon as they see an instance.

AI That Works With Photographers, Not Against Them

Giraffe describes the PRO as “AI-native,” which isn’t only a buzzword. According to Opelts, the platform makes use of round 50 in-house machine-learning fashions to deal with every thing from ground plan rendering to legally compliant processing and picture changes. Historically, duties like ground plans required important guide enter; now they’re virtually solely AI-driven. The result’s velocity and effectivity.

“On average, projects are now coming back in around two hours,” Opelts stated. “As a photographer, speed could become your new USP.” In sensible phrases, which means a property may be scanned within the morning and be totally able to checklist by the afternoon. I’ve examined this myself and have now photographed a number of properties from begin to end with the Giraffe PRO Camera. Once again dwelling after finishing the advertising and marketing appointments, the photographs had been often prepared inside one hour of add, and the ground plan, movies, and excursions got here again a number of hours later. These gained’t at all times come again the identical day if, like me, you add when you’re again at your workspace, however importing as you drive from property to property would definitely maximize effectivity. It’s reassuring to notice that even with this velocity, all tasks nonetheless cross by way of human quality-assurance processes, so automation doesn’t come on the expense of reliability.

What I Liked

• All-in-one seize: Photos, ground plans, digital excursions, and cinematic fly-through movies from a single system in a single go to.

• Powered tripod automation: Smooth dual-height scanning with out guide adjustment, saving time and enhancing consistency.

• AI workflow: Fast, dependable ground plan rendering and media processing with out sacrificing high quality, enabling fast mission turnaround.

• Support and coaching: Responsive on-line help and preliminary coaching periods assist shorten the training curve.

What I Didn’t Like

• Lens fogging in chilly circumstances: Moving between heat interiors and chilly exteriors could cause the lens to fog, which takes time to clear. Avoid this by working from chilly to heat environments, not the opposite approach round.

• Artifacts with robust traces: Strong linear patterns (for instance, a wire desk) could cause points in fly-through video seize.

• Manual/documentation gaps: The printed guide could possibly be extra detailed, significantly round troubleshooting.

Learning Curve and Support

Despite the elevated flexibility, the PRO isn’t tough to make use of, nevertheless it does profit from not less than one full follow mission to know how completely different scan decisions have an effect on outputs. Opelts’ recommendation was easy: don’t anticipate perfection on the primary job. “Do one property just to understand the system,” he stated. “Then on the next one, you’ll know exactly what you want to do.” I took this recommendation and examined the performance in an empty industrial area previous to the primary residential property go to.

Training from Giraffe is obtainable from the start of the subscription, and I’d strongly advocate taking it earlier than your first giant industrial job. If you need a structured refresher on actual property fundamentals alongside a brand new workflow, Fstoppers’ How to Photograph Real Estate and Vacation Rentals is a strong, job-focused companion.

Who Is the Giraffe PRO Camera For?

The Giraffe PRO Camera will not be designed for fast, minimal seize. It’s constructed for professionals who wish to ship extra from a single go to:

• Real property photographers

• Media groups working with a number of listings

• Agencies with in-house advertising and marketing departments

• Anyone seeking to upsell distinctive, eye-catching video, excursions, and ground plans alongside images

Pricing and Business Considerations

The Giraffe PRO Camera will not be offered as a one-off buy. Instead, it’s supplied by way of a subscription mannequin that features the digicam {hardware}, the AI-powered processing platform, software program entry, internet hosting, and ongoing help.

At the time of writing, pricing begins at round $360 per thirty days for a single-operator plan. This covers the complete Giraffe PRO workflow with HDR images, ground plans, digital excursions, cinematic video outputs, and delivery-ready media with no per-project or per-asset charges. For working photographers, this shifts the dialog away from particular person deliverables and towards full media packages. Rather than charging individually for images, ground plans, and video, the Giraffe PRO makes it simpler to bundle every thing right into a single providing. In follow, many photographers will discover that one or two property shoots per thirty days can cowl the subscription value, with extra jobs contributing on to revenue.

Final Thoughts

The Giraffe PRO Camera represents a distinct mind-set about AI in actual property images. Instead of attempting to interchange photographers, it assumes their experience—and builds AI round it. The result’s a system that rewards considerate seize, affords distinctive flexibility, and produces outputs that really feel premium with out multiplying post-production work. For photographers keen to take a position slightly extra time on-site in alternate for richer deliverables, sooner turnaround, and stronger differentiation, the Giraffe PRO Camera is among the most spectacular instruments presently accessible for the actual property market.