All that I ask is that you keep it as vendor-neutral as possible ;0) No company bashing!

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Point and Shoot

As I hunted around for photo booths to rent for the events we put on every year I managed to learn a lot on how they function. One of the areas that vendors tend to be very secretive about are the types of cameras they use. Once I figured out some of the basics, it was a simple matter to tell what cameras were used by most of the companies we talked to without even having to ask.

You are likely to find a wide range of cameras in use out in the field inside of photo booths. Most of them fall into three categories:

• Web cams
• Digital Point-and-Shoots
• DSLRs (Digital Single-Lens Reflex)

DSLR Camera

All three can perform admirably in a photo booth. This is where you will start getting a different story depending on what vendor you talk to. The ones that use DSLRs will say that they are superior to point-and-shoots or web cams. They tend to site the Megapixel count as a reason the DSLR camera is the “Cadillac” camera for photo booths. This is not true. What is true is that these cameras can cost anywhere from 600-1000 USD (or more) and for all the features they boast, provide no practical advantage over point-and-shoot cameras in a photo booth. Vendors who use DSLRs will probably flame me for saying this but the ones who know about cameras know its true.

I equate it to using a sledge hammer to drive in a nail. Its too much camera for the job and may even be a hindrance.

Back to megapixels…

In short, a higher megapixel count does not mean a better picture. This has been a long standing myth with digitalcameras in general started by the camera manufacturers themselves. Here is an article that goes into more technical detail about the misconceptions of what a megapixel is and what it actually does. The skinny of all this is, according to Ken Rockwell…

Unfortunately, it’s all a myth because the number of megapixels (MP) a camera has has very little to do with how the image looks. Even worse, plenty of lower MP cameras can make better images than poorer cameras with more MP.

So you can see, the photo booth vendors that trumpet the use of 10 million megapixel DSLR cameras are likely doing so because either A.) They spent a ton of money on the camera and need to at least make is SEEM like its better B.) They did not know enough about cameras to know spending 1k would not give them a better picture in the end. The one thing this does translate into for you, the consumer, is the Operators that have more expensive (although not necessarily better) equipment will likely be passing that expense on to YOU. Value does not always mean paying more. I have found this to be especially true with photo booths.

Web cams can be a mixed bag.

Another fun hardware subject is printers. Like cameras, you will find some vendors use expensive, lab grade printers while others rely on consumer-oriented models. Neither is head and shoulders above the other, but I will save that potential flame war for yet another post.

Vendors that read this blog, I welcome your input! Hit me with your best shots ;0) Fire Away!

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!

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My goal with this blog is to help draw back the curtain as it were to help educate anyone out there either looking to rent/build a booth or for those that just want to learn a little more about this hot new trend in events today.

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