Photobooth printer, software setup etc

[yourdj]

I have just purchased a dnp rx1 dye sub printer which is £472.00 + vat on pixmania and the film rolls come in packs of 1400 (95.00 +vat)which works out about 7p a print which you can then let the printer cut it in half and you have one for the guest and one for an album. also the film roll comes in two rolls as does the ink rolls so you have immediate back up with just one purchase although i would recommend at least 2 extra rolls and film depending on the event.
On the software side i have not purchased yet untill i go live but will probably be using dslr pro which is good and quite simple but you do have to pay for any green screen back drops.
dslr pro price is about 50 dollars for the software or 150 dollars if you choose video option as well.
i have opted for a photo booth tent which has the logo photo booth sign written all around it and is 1.5 m x 1.5 m square pop up tent and costs £239.00 and is easy to pack up.
gold posts red ropes and red carpet and curtain cost me 120.00
other things i made were light box with 2 x 5700 lumens natural daylight bulbs and diffuser screen
main box with 22 inch touch screen, laptop, speakers and canon eos 100d (certain software only supports certain cameras but canon seems to be well supported)
bottom box holding printer etc .
all in all this project has cost me about 1500.00 so far, just need a few more things such as strobe lamp, green screen curtain which i need some advice on, props for the booth and also i need to sort out pli for it and sort out risk assessments etc.
looking forward to getting it going but might have to do a few cheap nights to get used to running it though
One last thing i think if you can learn a bit about dslr photography rather than leave everything on auto on the camera it might help out when the pictures go skew whiff.
just remembered as well there is a dye sub printer that uses roll film that has a sticky back so you can peel off the back and stick the bruide and grooms guest pictures straight into the album or message board and also the guest can stick it straight on the fridge. its called a brava 21e and is about 1000.00 inc vat.

Thanks for that. I spent 8 hours the other day trying to find software for Mac and ended up using Windows on Dual boot with spark booth, which is OK?DSLR kept crashing on Mac, but the guys have emailed me independently and say that its only good on PC. I thought that them emailing me was a really nice touch. Having said that the spark booth dude is also very helpful, so nice to see you have tech support. ANYONE KNOW AGOOD PROGRAM ON MAC as I don't want to use dual boot if poss.

I found some excellent iPad programs and was wondering about attaching my camera, but thought that was a bit amateurish. Clients would think "hey I could have done that". Does the 100d have live view and autofocus? If it works I will get one as I currently have a 60d with a 24mm IS prime lens, which is better suited to DJing video and is heavy. I am going to purchase a 24mm Pancake lens as its f2.8 and sharp as and will consider getting a 600d (back up is crucial). I have the 40mm one, but the 24mm has just come out. They are super small!!

http://www.onestop-digital.com/index...FSjLtAodsUoAXw

I am seriously limited for space so thats my main concern, so printer wise i was considering a canon selfy to start with (recommended by a photo booth guru locally). Having said that a dye sub might be a better bet as I can always sell it and also use it to print other peoples photos if the business dries up.

I was going to mount the 20inch screen, camera, the laptop holder and printer shelf all on one heavy tripod, with a scrim/s, which will make a really compact, but reasonable setup without wires all over the place (recipe for disaster). Although We have done a few last year I can't help thinking that this business will be left in the realms of the chocolate fountains in 2 years so it needs to pay for itself before everyone thinks its naff and moves on to something else.

I will let you know how I get on and post some photos next week.

[yourdj]

Anyone thought of using an all in one touchscreen or is it a bit of a liability?
Its a lot easier than using a mac/PC laptop and second screen
These look very well priced:



Basically mount it up and away you go.
Never thought I would be shopping for a PC ever again?

[hadyn]

Anyone thought of using an all in one touchscreen or is it a bit of a liability?
Its a lot easier than using a mac/PC laptop and second screen
These look very well priced:



Basically mount it up and away you go.
Never thought I would be shopping for a PC ever again?

HI the 100d supports live view and is the entry level camera i believe for this sort of thing also the all in one pcs are not geared up for the commercial side of joe publics fingers all over it during a touch screen session.
the industry standard touchscreen is the elo brand which i have and they are tough as old boots and also have no bezel around them so easy to mount etc.

[yourdj]

HI the 100d supports live view and is the entry level camera i believe for this sort of thing also the all in one pcs are not geared up for the commercial side of joe publics fingers all over it during a touch screen session.
the industry standard touchscreen is the elo brand which i have and they are tough as old boots and also have no bezel around them so easy to mount etc.

Thought as much. tbh, its going to be manned all the time and the button will be pressed by staff anyway, so it was mainly easy of set up and limiting cables. I am using a 20 inch flat screen (mounted to a speaker stand) with a laptop on the other side on a novpro shelf, so not too much hassle. the camera will be above the screen probably on the top of the stand.

Might look at one of those canons as they are much lighter for side mounting etc. I think my 60d is overkill really.

[ianforest]

The only option would be to reduce the backdrop size, get some nightclub partition type things and make it 2m's etc. rather than 4?

Yebbut the beauty of the booths we run is the number of people you can get in a picture, you start reducing the backdrop size and you lose that selling point. Just have to buy 2m widths and then find a little old lady to stitch them nicely.

[yourdj]

Yebbut the beauty of the booths we run is the number of people you can get in a picture, you start reducing the backdrop size and you lose that selling point. Just have to buy 2m widths and then find a little old lady to stitch them nicely.

Yea, larger groups are good.
Thats what we have been doing. Lucky that Ania's mum is a seamstress.

[yourdj]

UKPARTYDJ

What did your friend end up with in the end??

- I have bought an all in one touch - HP PC for a staggering £85 (i3 - 4 gig ram) (not delivered yet)
I will add an SSD and perhaps 8 gig ram, which should be enough for the CPU hogging software I have bought.
mind you the trial worked fine on my 2009 2.4gig macbook - running bootcamp as well as loads of programs in the background?

- still have my 70d, but will get a 100d and use the kit lens. £150-£300
- Sparkbooth DSLR software (£130) - great support so far and easier to get used to than Breeze (although that more customisable).
I know its the best but I was also just not very impressed with their 2005 style website: http://www.breezesys.com/purchase.htm
- Manfrotto backdrop. much more expensive, but I love decent stands. £200

So ready to go. we have two bookings next month and now need to get a printer.
We have done about 6 now without the screen and its pretty easy when compared to the DJ set up and work in involved.
Gonna stick to this list as I know nothing about photo printers (despite previously owning a £4000 laser press).
I don't want to end up with the equivalent of a hercules controller when i wanted a pioneer
http://imagingspectrum.com/blog/2014...ur-photobooth/

I want one thats ideally under 15 kg. No point going cheap with printers as you will get what you pay for.
Also not sure if I should buy second hand. I am assume to not do that unless its been sat on an occasional photographers desk for a year.

Looking at Darrens Mitsubishi - http://www.richardfrankfurt.co.uk/mi...ye-sub-printer
OR DNP dx-rs1 - http://shop.photomart.co.uk/printers...n-printer.html

These are also going cheap now, but quite old technology and heavy.
http://www.richardfrankfurt.co.uk/mi...mation-printer

And this is a possible as its an excellent entry level machine:
http://www.richardfrankfurt.co.uk/mi...mation-printer

[ukpartydj]

We gave the photo booth it's first outing a couple of weeks ago for my girlfriends birthday party, went very well I was very impressed with the photos (although I'm not really a camera person so they could just be average).

He got a stand like this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/PIXAPRO-Tele.../dp/B00ELDH03C
Used a cheap PC which was about £100 I think.
He had an industrial grade touch screen (cost £30 for a signal cable).
Hasn't got the printer yet but that's his next purchase.

Couple of photos from the night

[yourdj]

Hasn't got the printer yet but that's his next purchase.

Does not look bad. i have spent ages looking through the "professional" photo booth forums and have seen some pretty crap photos.
Being an amateur photographer and ex amateur graphic designer I would not be happy without my DSLR and flash.

Although the crinkles in the back and the stand could do with being sorted. My wife runs mine so is good at the attention to detail.
Being a wedding manager and complete OCD with my disco set up i am not much better, but the first ones we did looked a bit crap tbh.
Barriers and limit on numbers (7 is a good number) is a good ideas all you get is a Rudby scrum which iMO is not great.
Setting up in a corner restricts access and gives somewhere safe to print etc. Not that I am an expert, just my thoughts.

I have been looking at the Canon Selphy and for the price I might give that a punt for now.
The may be a pain during an even as you have to change the paper all the time, but you could run 2 at a time??
A work horse will just get on with it and the prints will be cheaper, but for the cost of them its worth getting one for back up.

I am interested to see how this pans out and whether the photo booths have a shelf life as i have got into it very late. I can see the open booth getting more popular and also no prop options perhaps, with much more customisation and more video orientated? Also event photography as booth owners may move away from that and start being paparazzi style taking nightclub sort of photos that contrast the clean cut day time ones?

Who knows?

[ukpartydj]

booth owners may move away from that and start being paparazzi style taking nightclub sort of photos that contrast the clean cut day time ones?

Who knows?

That's what he used to do, nightclub photos. He's done one wedding and I think he felt it was too much stress as he already does a full time job.
Yes he's been thinking about how to get rid of those crinkles, he did iron it before setting it up but I'll leave that problem with him!

It's tricky to know really, I can't believe how much you can charge for a photo booth - It's a similar cost perhaps to starting out with a disco if you get a good camera and printer etc but it seems they still charge £250-350 which seems a lot for the work involved! I would meet the client beforehand, spend time with music before and do twice as many hours on the night for a few quid more!

Good idea with barriers though