SLR Photo Booth
There are plenty of ways to set up a photo booth for an event, and this is how I did it. I went though a few tests first with hardware and software before using this solution.
My Photobooth Goals
- Must be completely ‘self service’ and minimal to no user interaction.- Must have minimal maintenance for all items whilst running
- Should have a long running time before any 're-stocking' is needed
- Must have auto 'startup', and a simple reset if something went wrong
- Must be cheap... and use existing stuff I had around.
- Must be lightweight and easy to transport.
- Must have a simple, repeatable setup.
- Must have robust user interaction (i.e. drunk people can operate without breaking it)
- Must have a photo preview so people can see their fancy pose
- Should have large screen for info/countdown, preferably with mirrored image of preview.
- Must 'auto-print' photos,
- Must be able to use a customised template with multiple photo layout of my design
- Must print to 6x4 photo paper
- Preferably… easy reuse, I'd rather be able to store it in a box so someone can use in future.
- Preferably... Auto upload to a central website... live for people to see as templates are created.
- Didn't need to be in a fancy box or 'booth', as it would be in a dedicated small room.
Hardware
- SLR Camera Nikon 3200 SLR. This was my 'spare' SLR, I think I paid about NZ$400 for it a while ago from our local auction site and it came with 2 lenses, bag and 2 batteries etc.- Camera Lens, I just used the one that came with the twin lens kit which is an 18-55 Zoom
- Camera flash, Yongnuo YN565EX and a small softbox. Imported a while ago from Dealextreme for around US$100 all up.
- Camera AC Adaptor Nikon EH-5a plus a EP-5A adaptor (or equivalent for your camera model). These are ridiculously expensive at about NZ$240 for both items. I got locally as there wasn't much saving to be had by importing.
- SD Card for camera ( I use Sandisk Ultras )
- Printer. I used a Brother Multifunction Inkjet MFC-J5720DW. Bought locally, for around NZ$100 including cashback. I needed a new printer anyway.
- Photo Paper. A stack of quality 102x152mm/4x6inch
- Camera tripod. I use this old one
- Videostrong K1 Plus Android TV device. (More info here) (and here) If I had more time I would have imported this, but got it locally for about NZ$100. Yes, I bought this specifically for the project, but it is only after trying a bunch of alternatives I had with varying success.
- A USB Keyboard (destroyed... just needed the encoder board inside)
- Treddle footswitch. I used one that looks like this again bought locally for about NZ$12.
- LCD Monitor or TV with HDMI input, or a DVI to HDMI cable. I used a donated 19" Dell monitor with stand
- Internet and wifi router... I used Pocket Wifi device, enabled with SIM card.
- Backdrop, stands for backdrop, table to put monitor on
- 4 way Power board, and cables for keeping monitor, camera, printer, pocket wifi and android TV box powered
- AA batteries for flash, spare and ready to replace if needed
- Printer Ink, spare, just in case
Howto
- Create a photobooth template. See here for info on how to create a template- Create a footswitch (I pulled out the small encoder circuit board from a USB keyboard and wired my foot switch to the matrix connections for the space bar)
- Plug the Android box in to power and the monitor and power it up.
- Connect mouse and keyboard to Android box. Connect the footswitch.
- Power up the wifi hotspot
- Setup the android box startup settings ie time/date, google account, language, wifi
- Remove all the useless apps via the settings menu
- Download the SLR Photo Booth app from the android store
- Download the appropriate Android plugin for your printer (Brother in my case)
- Set up the Android box with the Photo Booth app
- Get the camera ready with the permanent power supply (or charged battery).
- Get the flash ready with batteries and connect to the camera.
- Set up the tripod with the SLR and flash (Choose appropriate settings, eg Auto, and position the flash with bounce or diffuser etc)
- Connect the camera USB cable to the Android Box
- Upload your template for the photo layout and to the Android box and select it with the app (I created it on the GIMP, and uploaded it to my google drive. I installed the google drive app on the android box and downloaded it)
- Plug in the printer and connect to wifi. Load it with paper.
- Start up the photobooth app and check the settings. Choose the printer, paper size (6x4inch)
- The camera image should appear on the app screen
- Press the footswitch and the countdown should start, it will take as many pics as there are transparent boxes in your template.
- Ensure it prints to your printer correctly
Alternatives & Additional Options
- If battery powering your camera, you'd need at least 2 batteries so battery can be charged/rotated throughout the event- Many Nikon and Canon SLRs can be used... if they offer tethered support. A list of models that should work is here.
- A lot of people seem to use the Canon Selphy CP910 for printing which produces good quality dye sublimate photos, and is nice and portable. A dealbreaker for me was that it only has an 18 page hopper.
- You could dispense with the keyboard destruction and just use a purpose made programmable footswitch such as the Stealth Switch or this.
- You can also use a Bluetooth remote as a trigger (if your Android box/tablet has bluetooth... mine didn't)
- You could use an Android tablet rather than a box & screen, and use the touch screen instead of the foot switch (but see the details of my setup issues here.
- If you afford a mains powered flash, go for it. Actually, use a full studio camera, lamp, umbrella etc portrait setup if you are that way inclined. There are also plenty of 'already built' booths with curtains/backdrops etc if you want to use one.
- If you lave local wifi, obviously use it rather than a mobile Wifi device
- I used BTSync, Google Photos, and Dropbox (yes all 3) to synchronize the photos taken to somewhere else. I also ran a script on another linux box to separate all the individual photos from the template pics, and then sync them elsewhere so they could be displayed live on a projector screen slideshow.
- I used a google photos plugin for wordpress to display the photos (almost) live on a wordpress website. The photos upload, but I used my phone to add them to a photos album as needed (and this also allowed me to 'censor' some...)