Back up cameras and printers

[greggie1]

I have a mac mini, canon s2 IS camera and a sony UP DR 150 printer. I plan on havei an ink jet printer as a back up.

Has anyone had a camera or computer break down during an event? Does anyone know the shutter life span on a S2 IS?

Thanks, Greg

[dfinkel]

I offer a number of photo entertainment options, including photo booths. Essentially the hardware is the same in all cases. My experience below is not limited to photobooths.

I've never had a computer completely die (yet!), but I have had situations where something went wrong, such that I needed to switch out the computer midstream. In my case, the computer just went terribly sloooooow and wouldn't work reliably after rebooting.

Have 17 years in the computer field before running my own photography business, I can tell you it is not a matter of IF a computer will fail, but WHEN and HOW BADLY does it hurt you. For me, I bring a spare laptop when I travel more than a few miles from base. I also use Sony UPDR-150s and they have been rock solid. However, again, when I travel far from base, I usually bring a 2nd printer with me just in case. With the release of the UPRD-200s, it is very inexpensive to get a 2nd UPDR-150. This actually helped me expand my business as I now essentially had the setup to do 2 events or 1 very big event, if necessary.

Haven't used the S2is. I've used Canon SLRs for my photo entertainment work. Essentially they give new life to my old SLRs - as I upgrade my bodies for my regular work, I use the old ones for photo entertainment uses. They have been great and I have the flexibility of switching between different cameras pretty easily if I have to.

Consider not just what can go wrong, but what you could do about it if it did. I was traveling in Africa two years ago and had a vehicle fire that destroyed most of my luggage. My cameras were up front with me, but my laptop was in back with my battery chargers, etc. Not pretty. If you really want to be rock solid, go through your process piece by piece and ask yourself what would happen if THAT piece fails (or was damaged by a client, etc.) Can you use something else? Can you get a spare or replacement nearby quickly? Do you need to have a spare on hand? What would happen if you couldn't keep the booth running?

Hope this helps

David

[snapshot]

Personally, I've never had a real big problem during an event.

The first event I did came up very unexpectedly. I did not yet have an AC adapter for my camera and I was running it off of a battery. Of course the battery couldn't last the entire 3 hours of the event and the camera died. I just had to put in a new battery and recconnect the and the booth was up and running again in less then five minutes.

I do carry back up parts just in case, including things like light bulbs in case the booths lighting blows.

[greggie1]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to buy a back up camera and use a canon ink jet printer as a back up ( I have a DP-150 primary printer). I will cross my fingers on the computer for now.

Does any one know how many exsposers you can get on a digital camera before the shutter dies?