New guy with questions

April 7th, 2009 02:38 AM

Hi very new here, like just found the site yesterday. I wanting to build a booth and this site has been very helpful but I do have some questions. I currently own a portrait and wedding photography business and want to had a booth to my business.

For those of you using a DSLR like the Rebel what lens are you using? I recently purchased a 5D Mark II and it will not focus in Live View without me pressing a button. Would I be better off using a G9 or G10.

I was thinking I could run the Breeze software from a laptop with another monitor attached for in side the booth, will that work?

Thanks in advance for for your help. I google most of these but there just is not a whole lot of info out there.

April 7th, 2009 04:55 AM

See responses in your message below

Originally Posted by jhyslip View Post

Hi very new here, like just found the site yesterday. I wanting to build a booth and this site has been very helpful but I do have some questions. I currently own a portrait and wedding photography business and want to had a booth to my business.

For those of you using a DSLR like the Rebel what lens are you using?
Any Canon lens will work. On my photo entertainment cameras since I use a strobe for lighting, I don't need a fast aperture. One one camera I use a basic Canon lens. Just bought a Sigma 18-55 from AbesofMaine for $79 inc. shipping which works great.

I recently purchased a 5D Mark II and it will not focus in Live View without me pressing a button. Would I be better off using a G9 or G10.

For a photo booth, a 5D Mark II is way overkill (though a cool camera - I love mine!) I use a Rebel XT and an old 20D for the photo booths - work great and they are cheap. I've also tested with a G9 which works fine, but its a little harder to control the zoom on it compared to a DSLR. Canon Live view apparently won't continually focus when in use.

I was thinking I could run the Breeze software from a laptop with another monitor attached for in side the booth, will that work?

Yes - I do this. I have setup the 2nd monitor as an extension of my desktop. The laptop screen is used for viewing output images, reprinting, etc. The 2nd screen is used in the booth as the user interface. Works great.

Thanks in advance for for your help. I google most of these but there just is not a whole lot of info out there.

**snapshot** · April 7th, 2009 11:31 AM

I use a G9, and I think it works very well for a photo booth.

I use a laptop with an external monitor as well to run my booth. It has always worked perfectly.

April 7th, 2009 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by dfinkel View Post

See responses in your message below

dfinkel thanks for the info, I have an old Rebel XT and a 30D that are just back up bodies now. So I could use them even without Live view, or does the software take care of that?

I also have a nifty fifty that I don't use since I picked up a 50 1.4, so I would be able to use that correct? Does the software also take care of the focus, like if four people are in the booth and one set forward and the rest are back will all be in focus or will I need to adjust for that with my aperture?

On the Laptop and the other monitor we would both be looking at the same screen shot right? So when they see the count down in the booth I would see the same

Also I was planning to use an old Canon speed light for flash and just building a defuser panel to put in front of it, is that what you did.

Thanks again for all the help. I will be sure and post some pictures when I get it finished.

April 7th, 2009 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by snapshot View Post

I use a G9, and I think it works very well for a photo booth.

I use a laptop with an external monitor as well to run my booth. It has always worked perfectly.

I was going to pick up a budget laptop from Best Buy or Wal-Mart to run the software. The printer seems to be the biggest expense. I was looking at a Sony printer any recommendations on that?

**snapshot** · April 7th, 2009 09:19 PM

If you use a laptop and external monitor, you wouldn't be seeing the same thing on both monitors. The one inside the booth would show the countdown screen, while the laptop monitor would just show your desktop.

I didn't use a canon speedlite, but using one with a defuser would work.

As for printers, I use a a sony up-cx1. I have been very pleased with it. The quality is good, and it is fast enough for a photo booth at about 15 seconds for a 4x6. Plus, it is one of the least expensive dye-sub printers out there.

You could definitely get a faster printer like the Sony updr150 or updr200, but you will have to pay for it.

**Chris Breeze** · April 8th, 2009 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by snapshot View Post

If you use a laptop and external monitor, you wouldn't be seeing the same thing on both monitors. The one inside the booth would show the countdown screen, while the laptop monitor would just show your desktop.

This isn't necessarily the case and depends on the laptop and the display drivers. All of my laptops allow the main laptop display to be repeated on the external monitor (in which case you see the same display on the laptop and the external monitor) or the desktop to be extended to span both screens (in which case you see different things on the two screens).

April 8th, 2009 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by Chris Breeze View Post

This isn't necessarily the case and depends on the laptop and the display drivers. All of my laptops allow the main laptop display to be repeated on the external monitor (in which case you see the same display on the laptop and the external monitor) or the desktop to be extended to span both screens (in which case you see different things on the two screens).

Chris is one way any better than the other or will it matter?

April 8th, 2009 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by snapshot View Post

If you use a laptop and external monitor, you wouldn't be seeing the same thing on both monitors. The one inside the booth would show the countdown screen, while the laptop monitor would just show your desktop.

I didn't use a canon speedlite, but using one with a defuser would work.

As for printers, I use a a sony up-cx1. I have been very pleased with it. The quality is good, and it is fast enough for a photo booth at about 15 seconds for a 4x6. Plus, it is one of the least expensive dye-sub printers out there.

You could definitely get a faster printer like the Sony updr150 or updr200, but you will have to pay for it.

The cx-1 is the one I was looking at to start with, any online dealers you recommend?

I looked at your site and the booth pictures, are you using continues lighting, I was think of maybe using a few of the new daylight florescent because of the life of use and cost. To get a battery pack for my 430 speedlight is costy, that way I could just plug in one cord and use the speedlight as backup in case of total light failure.

Again thanks for all the info.

**Chris Breeze** · April 9th, 2009 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by jhyslip View Post

Chris is one way any better than the other or will it matter?

It depends what you want to do. Having the same display on the laptop and the external monitor is useful if you want to be able to monitor what the users see. Extending the desktop to use the external monitor is useful if you want to run a slideshow of the shots outside the booth and have the photobooth screen inside the booth. The full screen photobooth display can go on either monitor - simply move the main window on to the display you want to use before selecting fullscreen photobooth mode.

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