Guide · Choosing a booth format
Open-air vs mirror vs 360 photobooth: which should you hire in Sydney?
Hire an open-air booth if you want proper photographs, prints and room for big groups; a mirror booth if the hardware itself is the attraction; a 360 booth if you want slow-motion video for social media rather than photos. Open-air suits most weddings and milestone parties, 360 suits brand activations and dance-floor crowds, and enclosed booths suit small spaces and private venues.
Last updated: · Say Cheese Co., Sydney
What are the four common photobooth formats?
- Open-air booth: a camera and flash on a stand facing a freestanding backdrop, with no walls. Guests stand in the open, the operator stands beside the camera, and everyone at the party can see what is happening.
- Enclosed booth: the traditional curtained box. Two to four people squeeze in, the door or curtain closes, and the photos are private until they print.
- Mirror booth: a full-length two-way mirror with a camera behind it and animations on the glass. Guests pose at their own reflection and sign or stamp the screen.
- 360 booth: guests stand on a small platform while a camera on a rotating arm circles them, producing a slow-motion video clip rather than a still photograph.
How do open-air, enclosed, mirror and 360 booths compare?
| Open-air | Enclosed | Mirror | 360 video | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output | Photographs and prints, plus GIFs and boomerangs | Photographs and prints | Photographs and prints with on-screen animations | Slow-motion video clips, no prints |
| Photo quality | Highest when paired with a real camera and studio flash | Good; limited by the small space and fixed lighting | Good; the camera sits behind glass | Video only; quality depends on the venue lighting |
| Group size | Eight to fifteen people in one frame | Two to four | Four to six | One to four on the platform |
| Space needed | About 3 m by 3 m | About 2 m by 2 m | About 3 m by 3 m | 4 m by 4 m or more, plus a safety perimeter |
| Queue speed | Fast; a group is in and out in under a minute | Slow; one small group at a time | Moderate; the animations add time | Slow; each clip takes a minute or more to record and process |
| Best for | Weddings, milestone birthdays, corporate | Small venues, private events | Events where the hardware is the attraction | Brand activations, dance-floor crowds, social content |
| Typical price | $600 to $1,000 | $400 to $700 | $900 to $1,400 | $1,200 to $2,000 |
When is an open-air photobooth the right choice?
Open-air wins whenever the goal is photographs. Because there are no walls, a proper camera and an off-camera flash can be positioned the way a portrait photographer would position them, and the frame can hold the whole bridal party or a table of twelve. The queue moves quickly, the booth is visible from across the room, and the prints come out in seconds.
- Weddings, where the point is photographs of everyone who came, printed and in a guest book by the end of the night.
- Milestone birthdays, where big group shots and fast turnover matter more than a single spectacular clip.
- Corporate events, where branded prints and a live gallery are the deliverables.
- Any venue with 3 m by 3 m of clear floor and a power point, indoors or under cover.
Say Cheese Co. runs open-air only, built around a Canon EOS R100 mirrorless camera with a true off-camera studio flash, with prints out in under 9 seconds and an instant QR gallery. The Set is $1,299 for 3 hours, and the included AI Filter Suite works on whole groups, which is only practical in an open-air format.
When is a 360 booth the better choice?
A 360 booth is a video product. It wins when the event is built for social media, when the brief is a short clip rather than a print, and when the crowd is already on the dance floor and happy to wait for a turn. Product launches, brand activations, club nights and large 21sts with a strong Instagram culture are its natural home.
Its weaknesses are the same things that make it striking. There are no prints and no guest book, one to four people fit on the platform, each clip takes a minute or more, and the rotating arm needs a clear, flat floor with a perimeter the venue must sign off on. For a wedding or a family milestone, most people end up wanting the photographs.
What about mirror booths and enclosed booths?
A mirror booth is an open-air booth in a spectacular frame. The photographs are similar to a well-run open-air booth, the animations and the signing screen add theatre, and the price premium is for the hardware. Choose it when the booth itself is meant to be a feature of the room, and accept that the queue moves a little slower.
An enclosed booth is the right call for a small venue, a very private crowd or an event where the booth needs to sit in a corridor. It is the cheapest format, and it delivers exactly what the old shopping-centre booths did: two to four people, a curtain and a strip. What it cannot do is a group of ten or a flattering studio-lit portrait.
How do you decide between them?
- Decide the output first. Prints and photographs point to open-air or mirror. Video points to 360.
- Count the biggest group you want in one frame. Above six people, open-air is the only comfortable option.
- Measure the floor. Under 3 m by 3 m rules out mirror and 360 and points to enclosed or a compact open-air setup.
- Look at the run sheet. A three-hour window with two hundred guests needs a format that turns a group over in under a minute.
- Compare quotes within one format only. A 360 quote and an open-air quote are answering different questions.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I hire an open-air booth and a 360 booth for the same event?
- Yes, and some brand events do. They need separate space, separate power and usually two operators, so budget for two hires rather than one with an extra.
- Do open-air booths work outdoors?
- Under cover, yes: a marquee, a verandah or a covered courtyard is fine. Direct sun, wind and rain are a problem for the backdrop and the electronics, so an uncovered lawn is not.
- Which format has the best photo quality?
- Open-air, provided it is built around a real camera and an off-camera flash. The absence of walls is what allows studio lighting, and studio lighting is what separates a portrait from a snapshot.
- Do 360 booths print anything?
- No. The output is a video clip delivered by text, email or QR code. If prints matter, a 360 booth is not the right format on its own.
- How much space does a photobooth need?
- Roughly 3 m by 3 m for an open-air or mirror booth, about 2 m by 2 m for an enclosed booth, and 4 m by 4 m or more with a safety perimeter for a 360 booth. All of them need a standard power point within a few metres.
Check your date
Build your Set from $1299.
Three hours of unlimited prints, an instant QR gallery, a trained operator and the Say Cheese Guarantee™ are in every Set. Add only what you want.
Or call (02) 8789 3037