| Notes on using the photo booth mode in DSLR Remote Pro for Windows, PSRemote and NKRemote
|
Part 5: Getting the best results out of the camera
Next article: Other aspects such as reprints, captioning, running a slideshow and customization
Previous article: Printers and print layout
This section discusses some of the issues to do with choosing the type of camera to use and how to get the best out of it. It isn't intended as a definitive guide, but should provide a starting point.
Camera Choice
Our photo booth software supports a wide range of cameras and the choice of which camera is best depends on a number of factors:
1) Live view
Live view is very useful for photo booth operation because it allows the users to see themselves and adjust their positions to make sure everybody in the group is visible. All current Canon DSLRs have live view as do new Nikon DSLRs (D90, D300s, D300, D700, D3s, D3, D3X and the recently announced D5000). Live view from Canon DSLRs tends to work slightly better for photo booth operation than Nikon DSLRs: the live view is clearer in poor lighting conditions and is re-enabled after each shot faster than with Nikon cameras.
Canon PowerShot cameras also support live view but it is much smaller at 320x240 pixels than the live view you get with a DSLR (typically 800x600 pixels or larger). The live view can be enlarged in the photo booth software to fill more of the screen but may appear pixelated and blurred if enlarged too much.
2) High ISO performance
High ISO performance is only an issue if there isn't much light in the photo booth. DSLRs have much better high ISO performance than compact models like the Canon PowerShot cameras. DSLRs can be used up to ISO 400 with very little loss in image quality and most recent models can produce very acceptable results as high as ISO 1600. PowerShot cameras, on the other hand, do not perform well at higher ISO settings and anything above ISO 200 is probably best avoided.
In good lighting conditions with the camera set to ISO 100 both DSLRs and Canon PowerShot cameras can produce excellent results.
3) Battery life
DSLRs come with rechargeable batteries and these should have enough power to run a photo booth for a few hours. The live view display uses a lot of battery power and may result in the battery being exhausted before the end of your event and so it is essential to have a spare, full charged battery availabe just in case. Alternatively you can buy a mains adaptor for most DSLR models so that you don't have to worry about battery life. The mains adaptors usually cost about the same as a spare battery.
The Canon PowerShot G10 has rechargeable batteries which should last long enough for most events. The Canon PowerShot SX110 IS takes two AA size batteries and these tend to run down fairly quickly. A mains adaptor is probably essential if you intend to use a Canon PowerShot SX110 IS camera and worth considering with a Canon PowerShot G10.
4) Lens choice
Canon and Nikon digital SLRs accept interchangeable lenses and generally come with a zoom lens like an 18-55mm zoom (28-80mm 35mm equivalent) which covers wide angle through to medium telephoto. This should be suitable for most photo booths where the wide angle setting will usually be used to allow groups of people to be captured in the confined space of the photo booth. Wider angle lenses are available but these may give unflattering results due to distortion. The lens does not need to be particularly fast as it will generally be set to a medium aperture (e.g. f/8) to give a good depth of field. Unless you plan to produce large prints from individual shots later, the quality of the lens isn't critical because the images on the printed strip are usually not much larger than a postage stamp.
Canon PowerShot cameras have fixed zoom lenses which can't be changed. The Canon PowerShot G10 has a slightly wider angle lens than the Canon PowerShot SX110 IS (28mm vs 35mm 35mm equivalent) which makes it a better choice for photo booth use. You can buy wide angle adaptors for many PowerShot cameras but these can be expensive and may end costing more than buying an entry level DSLR. PowerShot models have power zooms which can be adjusted from the PC whereas with DSLRs the lens can only be zoomed by turning the zoom ring on the lens itself. This may make a PowerShot camera a better choice if you need to regularly adjust the zoom setting and the camera is not easily accessible.
Conclusions: DSLR vs Canon PowerShot
Live view: DSLRs have higher quality live view than Canon PowerShots and Canon DSLRs are slightly better for photo booth work than Nikon DSLRs
ISO performance: DSLRs are better if the lighting is poor otherwise any camera is fine
Battery life: DSLRs and Canon PowerShot G10 have good rechargeable batteries. A spare set of batteries or mains adaptor is desirable
Lens choice: A DSLR or Canon PowerShot G10 is fine, the SX110 IS doesn't have as wide an angle of view. PowerShot cameras have the advantage that the lens can be zoomed remotely from the PC
Price: Canon PowerShot cameras are cheaper than Canon and Nikon DSLRs (but the Canon EOS 1000D/Rebel XS isn't much more expensive than a PowerShot camera)
Overall the Canon EOS 1000D (aka Digital Rebel XS) currently seems to offer the best price/performance for photo booth use. This should be fine if you plan to use ambient light, continuous lighting, the camera's built-in flash or an E-TTL II compatible flash connected to the camera's hotshoe to light your photobooth. However, if you plan to use studio strobes or a flash which is not E-TTL II compatible then, to avoid problems triggering the flash when live view is active, you need a mid to high end Canon DSLR such as the Canon EOS 40D, 50D, 7D or 5D Mark II.
Lighting
The simplest setup is to rely on the ambient light and not use any external lighting for the photo booth. This may work in a well-lit venue with constant lighting but for most setups ambient lighting isn't sufficient to get consistent high quality results.
An improvement on using ambient light is to use the camera's built in flash. This should give better results with more consistent color balance than relying on ambient lighting. However it will tend to give very flat lighting with harsh shadows and may result in red-eye. Using the camera's built in flash will use more battery power and sufficient time should be allowed for the flash to recharge before taking the next photo in the sequence.
For best results some form external lighting is required and this can be constant lighting from photo floods (e.g. tungsten of fluorescent lights) or flash lighting using studio strobe lighting. This is the most flexible approach but requires a bit more skill and practice to setup.
Camera Settings
There are four basic camera settings which need to be set to get the best results from the camera:
1) White balance
Setting the camera's white balance correctly makes a big difference to the quality and consistency of the colors in the photos e.g. if the photo booth is used at a wedding reception it is vital that colors like the white of the bride's dress is rendered accurately. Relying the camera's auto white balance setting probably isn't enough to get consistent results because the white balance will be affected by the predominant colors in the photo. You should get more consistent results by using one of the camera's preset white balance settings, particularly if you are using external photo flood or strobe lighting. For the best results the camera's custom white balance setting should be used by taking a test shot of a white or neutral gray subject under the photo booth lighting (please refer to your camera manual for details on how to set the custom white balance). Once the custom white balance setting has been stored in the camera the custom white balance should be selected in PSRemote/DSLR Remote Pro for Windows/NKRemote before entering full screen photo booth mode.
2) Exposure mode
The simplest option is to set the camera to program exposure mode and let it choose the shutter speed and aperture. This may not produce the best results if the ambient lighting is dim and external strobes are used as the main light source. A better choice may be to select aperture priority exposure so that a smaller aperture can be used to increase the depth of field to ensure the subject is in focus. For complete control you can use manual exposure and set both the shutter speed and aperture. For a DSLR an aperture of f/8 is probably a good compromise as it gives a wide depth of field and the best optical performance from most lenses.
3) Lens focal length and focus
Usually there is limited space available for the photobooth and it is necessary to use the wider angle setting of the zoom lens in order be able to capture groups of people. A 35mm focal length equivalent of between 28mm and 35mm should give good results with reasonable depth of field without excessive distortion. With a DSLR the lens should be set to manual focus and pre-focused to where people are most likely to stand (or slightly closer since the depth of field extends approximately 1/3 closer than the focus and 2/3 farther away). Auto-focus with a DSLR is disabled when shooting with live view and is not normally an issue. However if you are using a DSLR for a photo booth without live view auto-focus should be avoided because if the camera is unable to lock the focus it may not take the picture.
Auto-focus is less of a problem with Canon PowerShot cameras as they have a bigger depth of field (due to the smaller sensor size) and will normally take the picture even if they have difficulty focusing. If necessary you can use the "AF lock" option in PSRemote's main window to pre-focus the lens and lock the focus (manual focus isn't available with PowerShot cameras when controlled from a PC).
4) ISO
The ISO setting controls the sensitivity of the image sensor which can affect the image quality. The higher the ISO setting the more gain is applied to the sensor (effectively making it more sensitive) and the more digital noise there will be in the pictures. Therefore for the best results you should use the lowest ISO setting that is practical for the lighting conditions.
In practice a modern DSLR should have little or no apparent noise for ISO 400 or lower and will still give very good results up to ISO 1600. Canon PowerShot cameras have much smaller sensors and suffer more from noise at higher ISO settings. Ideally PowerShot cameras should be used at ISO 80 or 100.
Glossary
Aperture - the size of the opening in the lens expressed as a fraction of the focal length. A smaller aperture (e.g. f/8) lets in less light than a larger aperture (e.g. f/2.8) but gives a larger depth of field.
Depth of field - the range of subject distances which are in focus.
DSLR - this stands for "digital single lens reflex" camera. This is a camera which allows the user to compose the image by looking through the viewfinder and the lens used for taking the photograph via a mirror. The mirror flips up to expose the imaging sensor when a photograph is taken.
"fast lens" - a lens with a wide maximum aperture e.g. f/2.8 for a zoom lens or f/1.4 for a fixed focal length lens. A wider aperture lets in more light allowing a faster shutter speed to be used in the same lighting conditions than a lens with a smaller aperture.
ISO - The sensitivity setting of the camera's sensor. A higher ISO setting is more sensitive than a lower setting and allows shooting in poorer lighting conditions. Digital noise or grain increases at higher ISO settings.
red-eye - the effect where people's eyes appear red when taking pictures using flash. This happens when the flash is close to the camera's lens (e.g. when using the camera's built in flash) and the light bounces off the retina of the subject's eye.
35mm equivalent
- The field of view of a lens depends on the focal length of the lens and the size of the imaging sensor or film. Before digital cameras most film cameras used the standard 35mm film size and so digital camera lens zoom ranges are often expressed as the 35mm film equivalent to make it easier to compare different lenses. Digital cameras have different sized sensors with DSLRs tending to have much larger sensors than compact cameras.
Next article: Other aspects such as reprints, captioning and running a slideshow
Previous article: Printers and print layout
