The first question in almost any conversation is what it costs. The honest answer is unsatisfying: anywhere from a few hundred euros to several thousand for what looks like the same job. Here is where that spread comes from, and what to look at when comparing quotes.
What is actually being paid for
A shoot looks like one day of work. Usually three are being paid for.
Preparation. Finding the location, building the timing, the moodboard, approvals, sometimes permits. The client never sees this, and it is exactly where it is decided whether the shoot day will be calm.
The shoot day. The part everyone pictures: camera, light, sound, a crew on set.
Post-production. Selecting the material, editing, colour, sound, retouching. Often longer than the shoot itself: an hour of good footage does not turn into a minute of finished film instantly.
When someone quotes you a price "for a shoot", ask which of the three it covers.
Why the spread is so wide
The format
A vertical clip for social media and a television commercial are different productions, even though both are "video". A commercial needs a script, a storyboard, sometimes actors and built lighting; a social clip needs an operator, an idea and an edit.
The difference between them is not twofold but five- or tenfold.
The volume
The second frame is always cheaper than the first. Shooting five product positions and shooting fifty do not differ tenfold in price, because the light is set up once and the crew travels either way.
Hence a practical conclusion: if you are planning several shoots over the year, doing them in one go costs less than coming back three times.
The crew
One operator with a camera and a team of four are different budgets. The question is not which is better but what the task needs.
An interview in an office is a job for one person. A campaign with a model, built light, a stylist and a make-up artist cannot physically be shot by one person — not because they lack the skill, but because there are not enough hands at a given moment.
The location
A studio, a street and a private villa differ in cost by multiples. A studio is rented by the hour. A street has no rental fee but depends on the weather, and a commercial shoot in the centre may need a permit with a city tariff. A villa or a historic interior is a separate arrangement with the owner, usually at a fixed day rate.
Usage rights
Frames for social media and frames for billboards cost differently, even when the file is literally the same. The reason is not greed: the wider the use, the greater the value of the material to the business, and the stricter the requirements on what is in the frame — releases from people, rights to objects, music, typefaces.
Urgency
A shoot next week and a shoot "the day after tomorrow" are different money. Not because rush carries a surcharge for its own sake: an urgent job displaces ones already scheduled, requires assembling a crew outside the usual rhythm, and leaves less time for preparation — which means more risk on the day.
Reference points for the Milan market
To make the conversation concrete, orders of magnitude for 2026:
| Task | Order of price |
|---|---|
| Individual shoot, 1–2 hours | 300–600 € |
| Social content, half a day | 600–900 € |
| Product photography, catalogue | from 650 € |
| Corporate video, one shoot day | from 1200 € |
| Campaign with crew and post-production | from 2000 € |
These are orders of magnitude, not a price list: the actual figure depends on volume, location and rights. Our current prices are on the pricing page.
What sits behind a low price
An offer noticeably below the market usually means one of three things, and it is worth knowing which.
Less time. A two-hour shoot instead of a full day means fewer options, fewer takes and almost no margin if something goes wrong.
Less processing. The material is delivered close to how it was shot: basic colour, minimal retouching. For social media that may be enough; for a catalogue it is not.
Less accountability. No written quote, no rights, no commitment on deadlines. While everything goes well the difference is invisible; it shows up in the first disputed moment.
None of the three is bad in itself. What is bad is finding out afterwards.
Studio or freelancer
The question behind half of all price comparisons. The difference is not in the quality of the shooting — a good solo operator will out-shoot a weak studio — but in what happens around it.
A freelancer is cheaper because the overheads are lower. No standing crew, often no own studio, less owned equipment. For a one-person job that is honest economy.
A studio costs more because it carries more obligations. Someone can step in if the operator falls ill the day before. There is a written quote and rights in the contract. There is an editor who will not disappear for a week.
A working rule: the higher the cost of a mistake, the more sense a studio makes. Content for a single post is a job for one person. A campaign going into paid advertising is one where it matters that somebody answers for the result.
What happens with tax
In Italy prices may be quoted with VAT (IVA) or without it, and the difference is 22%. "1000 euros" and "1000 euros + IVA" are two hundred and twenty euros apart, which is not a detail when comparing.
There is also the flat-rate regime for small businesses (forfettario), under which IVA is not charged at all: the figure in the quote is the final sum. Ours are quoted that way — nothing is added on top.
Ask about this directly, before comparing totals. Otherwise you are comparing different things.
How to compare offers
Comparing bottom lines is pointless until they are brought to the same basis. Look at:
- how many hours are included and from which moment they count;
- how many finished units of material you get;
- how many rounds of revisions are included;
- which rights are transferred;
- what is billed separately.
A quote that states all of this often looks more expensive than a one-line quote. Usually it is in fact cheaper — it simply holds no surprises.