Events, Gear, Methods and Workflow?

[Biomech]

I'm supposed to be Christmas shopping right now but the whole Splash page thread got me :P

Anyway, I'll be shooting onsite event photography after christmas. Shoot on location, print out, sell. I need fast turnaround times. But I'm not exactly sure how to go about this. I've found some £2,000 event printers but not exactly sure on the workflow for them.

Money is an issue right now and I have a second plan, which goes like this:

I shoot using Eye-fi wireless SD cards that immediately, wirelessly, dump the image onto a laptop. The laptop is hardwired to a high speed dye-sub printer (maybe £500). The operator then prints out the photos the client requests on demand. Client pays, job done.

Any advice on this kind of thing would be most greatful. I don't have a laptop right now so this method would kill 2 birds with one stone and work out cheaper initially - laptop for maybe £600, printer around £500.

TIA

Infact: I could get this second system up and running faster and start getting bookings in for next year sooner...there was something else to add, but I forgot :P

[Jim Poor]

What's the range of the wireless card?

Can you rely on it?

Will there be anything in the area that interferes with it?

What sort of event and what sort of pace does the event have?

Personally, I'd opt for multiple cards that you get to your assistant at the laptop rather than a wireless solution. There are too many "gotchas" with wireless tethering or transfer, especially for a fast paced event. The wireless transfer takes time and slows down your shooting, which may or may not be an issue depending on what you're doing.

Shinko printers are great. Their fast, built like tanks and the prints look great.

[Biomech]

I have more details incoming this week, but I envisage a static shoot where people come over and and get infront of the camera. I shoot 1-3 shots, they move onto the printer operator next to me to pay and collect. I'd like to get people in the background instead of a blank backdrop as it's a university leavers ball and I think the photos should reflect that. The card details are here: Eye-Fi Pro X2 8GB Wireless SDHC Card - simply the most powerful memory card yet | Eye-Fi UK and should be around the 100m mark.

Having never done one before I'm not sure of the pace, but we're looking at around 150 people total at a grad ball. I'm quite literally looking at a production line workflow to maximise sales, then maybe a candid relaxed walk around shoot after where people can view the images maybe on a 32" TV and select anymore they want. Further sales can be made online after the event.

[Jim Poor]

Sounds like some sort of tethering (wired, wireless, etc) might actually be the way to go, but I'd definitely have a backup plan.

The Shinko printers would also be ideal because they are lightening fast. I have the 8x10 model and am going to add the 5x7 model as well.

[BK553]

Yeah, Jim's right. Wireless will just cause problems, especially in a heavily commercial area with a bunch of interference. I would just go wired. you can pick up a 15-25 ft. USB cable for like $15. It's faster, and more reliable. That is, if you can do this with Sony cameras, I don't really know much about them.

[Jim Bryant]

Should work, but make sure it has the range. We have a router with another 100-ft cable running to the computer.