Some time ago, the only kinds of booths available out there were the old Mechanical/Chemical style that have been around for almost 100 years! To date nothing out there quite has the same feel of these work horses. If you have the means to get one, I highly recommend it. There is a classic style to the photos that come out of these machines that just has not been replicated in the new-age photo booths that are in vast supply out there. They tend to fit 1-2 people comfortably and put out photos like what you see on the left. The downside of renting or owning one of these machines is that they can weigh in excess of 1000 lbs, are difficult to maintain, and the photos can take up to five minutes or more to fully develop. Even with the disadvantages of this aging technology, the new breed of photo booths still has not been able to fully replicate these time-honored classics.

On the other side of things are the new digital photo booths. Unlike the classic photo booth, they use all-digital technology to produce prints far quicker and in a variety of formats ranging from the classic strip to 4×6 grids and more. Where the old booths were more straightforward, the new ones vary greatly in design and function. Most use some sort of point and shoot camera while some go as far as a DSLR (Digital Single-Lense Reflex) camera.

I will go into booth cameras in another post but I can say that the type of camera you use makes some, but not all the difference when creating that perfect photo strip. Depending on what type of camera your vendor of choice uses, they will typically tout why theirs is superior. The factor that makes a big impact on your photos is Lighting. If your camera takes 15 Megapixel images, without proper lighting they will still turn out like crud. I’ll hit up my favorite Photo Booth Marketing Myths in a future post.

The new-age photo booth has many advantages:

  • Its portable: Many of the latest generation of booths are designed with portability in mind. Your event could be just about anywhere and lugging a old-gen booth around takes a team of people and a truck. Some companies have gotten their booths small enough to fit inside an average sedan!
  • High-resolution images. The cameras today are light years ahead of the film cameras that many of us grew up using. Your average digital photobooth takes pictures that you could blow up to near poster size.
  • Flexible: digital booths can produce prints in a variety of formats. While the photo “strip” is still the most popular option, you often see other formats such as 4×6 grids and other fun variations like color overlays

Anyway, my preference will always be the old-style booths but they are getting harder to find and expensive to rent. More often than not, the bulk of what you will find out there today will be the digital photo booths. What kind do you prefer? Post in the comments and let us know!