Buyers’ guide
Buyers’ guide
Decided to bravely take the leap and turn your love for photography and video into an opportunity to make a living from it? Our guide can give you a leg up in your newly chosen career Making the jump
days spent getting on top of tedious paperwork, paying bills and simply attending to the regular admin that’s required to run your own business. Fortunately, whether you’re first getting started on turning your hobby into your profession or have been semi-pro for a while and just need to refresh your website, update your insurance or add an e-commerce solution to your back end, our buyers’ guide can help. The companies and services listed below can undertake some heavy lifting, freeing you up to get on with the business of creating work you’ll not only be proud of, but more importantly, can utilise for commercial gain and revenue.
MOST OF US have had some cause to re-examine what we’re doing with our lives – particularly our working lives – these past few years. ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life,’ runs the well-worn adage. But it’s well-worn precisely because there’s a lot of truth in it. While money is always a concern, there’s much satisfaction to be had from quitting corporate life and going self-employed, though this also requires a lot of self-motivation. We’ll also need to acknowledge the fact that, yes, while theoretically we’ll be able to spend all day shooting exciting images, there will be other
WORDS BY GAVIN STOKER
Dye-sublimation printers
For photographers looking to get a saleable image into the hands of potential customers as quickly as possible, a portable, desktop dye-sublimation printer is essential. These hard-working, high-volume devices use a process of heat transfer to swiftly output dry-to-the-touch prints at relatively low cost, ensuring the price of printer ownership quickly pays for itself. There are several companies offering reliable dye-sub printers, as explored below.
DNP › dnpphoto.eu
Established as far back as 1876, Japanese dye-sublimation print pioneer Dai Nippon Printing currently has a variety of 6in and 8in photo printers, as well as an ultra-compact 4.5in printer in the QW410. Easy to handle and transport, the latter works off its own battery – ideal for photographers operating at events – and can print continuously for up to an hour, as well as delivering trendy square photo sizes including 4x4in and 4.5x4.5in onto glossy, matte or partial-matte finishes. It can also output more regular 4x6in and 4.5x8in prints. Step-up printers include the likes of DNP’s 6in DS620 flagship, which can handle 400 prints per hour and offers a variety of hard copy sizes from 5x15cm to 15x23cm. Alternatively, DNP’s 8in DS820 photo printer can cope with photo formats up to 8x32in. Knowing your market is ultimately key to deciding which printer option is the best fit.
HiTi › hiti.com
This Taiwan-based printer manufacturer lays claim to having two million professional photographer customers worldwide. Its innovative products include the X610 – which differs from most dye-subs in being able to offer up less run-of-the-mill sizes, including a panoramic 6x56in. If you need a heavy-duty printer for your studio that can output up to 1200 prints per hour, this is the one. A less industrial-scale, ‘plug and print’ option with a smaller footprint comes in the shape of HiTi’s M610 printer, which features a front-loading interface and can produce a 4x6in print in 14 seconds, or a 6x8in hard copy in 23 seconds. If you’re after an ultra- compact printer for professional output, also look at the P322W, which weighs less than 1kg and can print 4x6in photos in 47 seconds via mobile phones, tablets, regular camera SD cards or via wireless or USB- enabled PCs.
Issue 111 | Photography News 43
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