If you are an event photographer the chances are you will rely on hired help when it comes to onsite printing. Unless you have a faithful and trusty sidekick you are likely to need to spend time beforehand showing your assistant how the software you use works and then hope that everything runs smoothly.
Sony has recently introduced the Super Snap Lab unit (CR20L). The lab is aimed directly at event photographers. It combines a printer with an interface that allows you to select photos to print. These two components work together to provide a simplified and integrated printing solution.
The big attraction is how easy to use the lab unit is. By combining the interface and printer a PC is not required. The interface is highly intuitive and the skills required to operate the Snap Lab can be picked up in minutes. The fact that the lab and printer are designed to work together also decreases the chances of problems occurring on the day.
A 10.4 inch LCD screen is built into the lab and is used to control the printing process. The screen is touch sensitive. This also helps with ease of use and can speed up the selection and manipulation of prints.
It has a large paper capacity and can hold a roll for 700 4 x 6 inch prints. A 4 x 6 inch print can be produced in 8 seconds speeding up the whole process and helping to improve the flow of buyers.
Another advantage is that the lab has the ability to output both a gloss and matte finish using the same role and ribbon. This increases the offers you can make to your customers with a resulting uplift in sales and profit. The ability to offer different types of print finish has proved to be very popular with photographers using the lab, as they feel it has helped to provide an additional boost to sales. As well as 4 x 6 inch prints you can also opt to produce larger 5 x 7 inch and 6 x 8 inch prints.
Images can be received via wireless transmission. This again helps to further improve workflow and allow you to handle extra orders. In addition the lab is compatible with a range of memory cards including MemoryStick, MemoryStick Pro, MemoryStick Duo, MemoryStick ProDuo, CompactFlash, xD-Picture and mini-SD. It is also capable of receiving images from USB Memory Devices, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW. There is also a Bluetooth interface.
There are a small number of photo editing tools you can take advantage of. These include cropping, red eye reduction, colour adjustment and changing to black and white or sepia. Printing options can be further enhanced by the CR20L's compatibility with the Sony DR80 for 8 x 10 inch prints or the Sony DR200.
Additional features allow you to add a logo, event name or custom designed frame to your prints. This can help to promote your brand and lead to you potentially picking up referral business at a later date.
The dimensions of the CR20L are 338 x 442 x 454mm. It weighs in at 23kg. The unit will sit happily on a table top.
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