Our Recommended Hardware

We think the characteristics of great hardware are reliability over time, value for money, good support, broad compatibility, and speed.

In this article we'll list out what hardware we recommend for an ideal setup. We don't recommend a specific booth / shell because this is largely an aesthetic choice. However we do recommend that when purchasing a booth / shell you look carefully at the support & warranty being offered, and read reviews from other professional boothers. One place to find such reviews is the Photo Booth Community group on Facebook.

We do not (at the time of writing) receive any payment or consideration for these recommendations, and we do not use affiliate links when we link to Amazon.

iPad / iPhone

Minimum requirement: Our app can run on any iPad or iPhone that is running iOS 17.2 or newer.

To check your version, open the Settings App —> General —> About.

Here are instructions from Apple on how to update your iOS version.

Just looking for a fast recommendation?

The iPad 13" Pro.

Slightly cheaper: the iPad 13" Air.

We recommend any iPad that:

has an M-series processor (recommended because it means your iPad will last longer as Apple continually updates iOS)
is at least 11 inches in size - bigger is better!
has USB-C
has 4 GB of RAM (memory) or more - this iosref page shows you memory + processor for each iPad
has a 12 MP front camera - see this iosref page to determine which models have it
has Face ID (not required, but recommended for SceneSelect precision)

While iOS 17.2 is supported, we recommend iOS 18 at this time. We support iOS 26 as well, but make sure you update from 26.0 to 26.1 or newer, as 26.0 has many problems.

USB-C ensures you can use a USB-C hub to add on important connectivity options like ethernet (wired networking) for printing, while connecting a USB camera and keeping the iPad powered.

At the time of writing, Face ID is only available on the iPad Pro line.

Storage space isn't as important as you think. If you're just using the iPad for Booth.Events, we recommend 128GB or more, but 64GB storage will work too.

We do not recommend the iPad 9th gen. It has only 3 GB of RAM which can cause issues & slowness. Do not use this iPad.

We are not going to release an Android or Windows app. It's not worth trying to convince us: we know a lot about building software.

USB-C hub

We recommend the Dockteck 7-in-1 hub. It has ethernet (wired networking), HDMI (to connect the iPad's display to a huge TV), 2 USB ports (one for the camera, one for the printer), the ability to charge the iPad via USB-C power in, and a few other things you might use like an SD card reader.

iPads are picky about USB-C hubs. The Dockteck works well.

We've purchased several of these hubs and although they sometimes run warm while the iPad is charging, we've never had a problem with them. USB & ethernet connections stay connected without any hiccups.

Charger

Do not use the charger that comes with the iPad when using a USB-C hub, it won't be enough. The iPad will not charge. Use a charger that's at least 40W, we recommend 65W. The Anker chargers (easily available on Amazon) are our favorite.

Printer

We recommend the DNP QW410 paired with a cheap mini-PC from Amazong running Print.Events. Check out the video on the Print.Events page.

For the PC, you can go with any cheap mini PC that suits your needs, but we recommend getting one with at least 8 GB of RAM. We have seen an interesting mini PC that has a small touchscreen built right into the computer itself, which is really handy: you can easily see what's going on with the PC and even just touch the screen if Windows suddenly asks you about OneDrive again etc. We don't have one, but this is the one we saw in the field.

We love the QW410 because of how lightweight and portable it is, and how fast its prints are. One drawback is that it cannot print two 2x6 strips from a 4x6 print, but that doesn't bother us. If you want 2x6 strips the most popular printer is the DNP DS620.

You need to connect the printer to the iPad via networking, and we recommend the wired networking method. Read more about how that works here: Connecting your Printer, iPad, and internet all together

Camera

We recommend the Canon R100. If you can still find it the Canon M50 is also very good.

The R100 & M50 are extremely fast for tethered operations (which is what all photo booth apps use to control the camera), have fast & accurate auto-focus, have good image quality for a photo booth, have a hot-shoe for flash sync, and are great value for money.

Not all USB cameras support high framerate video while tethered, which apps like Booth.Events use for slow-mos and boomerangs. Even if a camera supports high framerate video, that does not imply that it can do so while tethered to an app. The R100 and M50 do support high framerate video while tethered.

Microphone (for Video Testimonials)

When you're using a connected camera, you must connect the microphone to the camera's mic input. For this setup we recommend the SYNCO Wireless Lavalier Microphone G2(A2), available from Amazon. It's a cheaper version of the more popular Rode wireless mic setup - the Rode is even better.

When you're not using a connected camera, you can connect the microphone to the iPad via bluetooth.

Photo booth (Shell)

We always recommend getting the one that looks the best to you, and pay attention to:

how easy is it to take down / set up?
how heavy is it?
how easy is it to pop out the iPad when you need it?

Our favorites are (no particular order):