Photobooth Printer?

[nhanandmel]

Hi Everybody,

I wanted to know which printer for the photobooth is most commonly used or best to use? I have a Photosmart and it's eating up a lot of ink. Any good suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[warwickwater]

If you are printing enough for ink use to be an issue, your only real choice is a proper dye sub printer. The Mitsubishi 9550 is built like a tank bust costs £600 / $900 on special offer. Print cost is about 10p / 15 cents for a 6x4 inch print - thats paper and 'ink' combined from one 'cartridge'.

You could play about using special paper (laser glossy) in a cheap (£100 / $150?) colour laser - but I have never really got it looking very good. Depends whether you are handing out prints free to drunks (no offence!) or charging 'real' money to some extent. One person I know buys these cheap lasers, does 1000 prints and then flogs them as 'ex demo' on Ebay, thus avoiding ever buying cartridges, which often cost more than the printer.

[dfinkel]

I do a lot of different photo novelties. When I first started I used ink jet printers, then added more, pooled them together, etc. Unfortunately they are relatively slow and ultimately unreliable for professional work. When the print head eventually goes out (and it will), it is horrible. I once had an awful job where we didn't catch a print head clog issue until the event was over and it created huge issues. I switched to Dye Sub and have never looked back.

The printers are faster, more reliable, and cheaper to run. The downside is that they are relatively heavy and require an upfront investment, although if you get a refurb or B stock printer you can save some $. Also, one printer can handle print sizes of 3.5x5, 4x6, 5x7, or 6x8 (only one size at a time), but NOT 8x10 - those require a different (more expensive) printer.

I use Sony printers (the UPDR150s mostly). You can get smaller ones that are a bit slower, UPCX1 I think, or ones that can also operate as standalone mini labs, such as a SnapLab.

I've also owned a Mitsubishi 8000. Not bad, but the Sony is better IMHO.

Get yourself a dye sub, you won't regret it in the long run.

David

[snapshot]

I use a Sony UP-CX1, and though they may be slower then the UPDR150, I think it is fine for a photo booth. It is still quite fast at about 16 sec for a 4x6. That is plenty fast enough, as even if someone gets right in the booth when someone else gets out, the photo will be done well before the next photo sequence is over. Plus it is also about half the price.

[cirwin]

I use the Kodak 6800 & 6850 Dye-Sub Printers. They are heavy duty printers. They may be a little overkill, but they are ultra fast! And, the prints are so durable that they will last through a washing machine cycle...this I know from personal experience.

Plus, I order the media for these printers through PhotoWholesaler.com, and they are always running a sale. I've been getting 750 prints for $120 or less shipped...that's $0.16/print. Not a bad deal.