Sub Dye printers?

[Baked_bean]

Hey guys,
As a small add on to the business i already manage (marquee company) we are thinking of adding photobooths as an option for clients as they are pretty big in events at the moment.

I already have the camera/lighting equipment sorted. However, i have no clue on printers! Basically im looking for a fast/good quality photo printer with a budget of £300. Sub dye printers have been mentioned to me in respect to the photobooth idea, are they any good?

Basically:

Good quality photo printing
Fast printing
Ideally not too large as its going to be transported regularly
Only needs to print up to A4
Budget of £300 (will stretch if required)


Thanks in advance guys

[sgrimshaw]

They are actually called Dye Sub printers, short for Dye Sublimation.

Whilst they'd be perfect for your proposed use, you won't find one capable of printing to A4 anywhere near your budget.

Both Olympus and Kodak used to do a 10x8 printer for "home" use, but even those were over £400 - sadly both discontinued.

Commercial capable ones are a lot more ... unless maybe you can find an ex demo/refurbished one.

They are quite "meaty" though.

This place has lots of info:

http://www.systeminsight.co.uk/web/

Edited by sgrimshaw on Monday 21st February 04:38

[Baked_bean]

haha, thats what i meant....i feel stupid now

Well it doesnt need to print to A4, 6x4 would be adequate!

what options does that open up?

Thanks

[Russ T Bolt]

I have a Canon Dye Sub printer, great quality.

It replaced a high end ink jet printer (which I still have) which wasn't used much and I spent hours having to clean it when I wanted to print off a couple of pics. The Dye Sub is much better in this respect, I can leave it for 6 months get it out of the cupboard and great pics straight away.

If you are using ink jet constantly there probably isn't much in it and a wider choice to be had.

[Baked_bean]

cheers, which one do you have? any links? im guessing it could just hook up to a laptop and print like any inkjet photo printer? as i was planning on printing from a tethered laptop-camera setup.

[Russ T Bolt]

Just to add the Dye Sub is also very compact, but will only print up to 6x4 prints. It does several passes of the picture laying different colours and a final pass with a clear film. So size and convenience may be ideal for what you want.

I don't use it a great deal but have never had any trouble with bad pics etc, just plug it in and away you go. I found that I had to spend a bit of time setting ink jet printers up to get decent quality pictures.

[sgrimshaw]

Dye Sub quality is high, cost per print not really that far above Ink Jet.

For event type work, can't be beaten.

Personally I have a couple for purely my own use, one at home .. Hi Touch 641 PS and a portable Sony one (can't remember the number).

You print to them like any other printer.

The cheaper ones are clearly aimed at home use.

For event work, you'd probably want to get a more commercially orientated one. They print much faster than the home ones.

The web link I posted earlier has a lot of info, also search for Hi Touch (Hi-Ti).

[Baked_bean]

cheers for the link, Ill have a look through it shortly.

i do think the dye-sublimation seems the way forward.