Mixed Results that Delight and Frustrate
I’ve been using the combination of an iPad along with Lumabooth’s software to run my photobooth in Jacksonville for three years now. I guess that if you look at it from my guest’s point of view, it’s awesome. They all have fun with it, they all ooh and aah about what they’re doing with it, and in the end they love hold their prints of their session. So that’s worth a lot when it comes to providing a satifying photo booth session and experience for your customer’s guests.
But, there’s a lot going on second by second behind the scenes so to speak. While they’re posing, I have my fingers crossed that the
camera will capture a consistent quality of image, that the software won’t freeze up, and that a print will spit out of the printer as promised. These are the issues that I’ve seen with my set-up.
THE GOOD
Abundant Features – they’ve given a photo booth operator all they could need.
A variety of pre-made print layouts to pick from
Flexibility to add or delete prints, boomerangs and straight video with audio
Customize the Welcome Screen
Green screen with unlimited background options
Auto-pilot
Waiver
Texting or emailing pics to guest
A dedicated event web page
Instagram posting – sort of
THE COULD BE BETTER
Not all the glitches can be blamed on DSLRbooth when paired with Apple, but I don’t need the glitches during an event.
ISSUE: Freezing after the photo session – luckily this doesn’t delete the session
MY FIX: Close out Lumabooth
ISSUE: Loosing connection with the printer via Bluetooth
MY FIX: Restart the printer
ISSUE: Inconsistent photo aperture response
MY FIX: None. Using auto light settings trumps going for a fixed setting as all different kinds of skin colors come into the booth. Plus when then come in for a close up, their get over exposed and that looks good on no one.
ISSUE: Price
MY FIX: Buy monthly and try to outsmart them with unsubscribing and subscribing as my schedule demands. I’ve been much busier lately so this is becoming mute.
ISSUE: Updates without notifications.
MY FIX: Not sure. I’m not aware of whether they send them out via the Apple Store or not. I don’t get emails either. Their major overhaul from last year really took me by surprise, but as I got used to it, it was clearly an improvement.
VERDICT
Use It – Or Suggest Something Better
I’ve used two other photo booth softwares. One is Simple Booth which I’ve discussed previously (it got deleted along with the rest of the earlier version of this review) and another I don’t remember. Doesn’t matter, Lumabooth bring joy and laughter to a wedding, birthday party or anniversary. All my issues listed have had a minimal impact of my guests and my reviews. That takes priority, but damn this software and Apple iPad combo is too stressful. I’m going to seek out a Windows based tablet to see what these results would be. Stay tuned.