Looking to set up a DSLR photo booth? You’ve come to the right place.
This article will tell you exactly which software to use based on your specific needs.
Other articles on this topic simply regurgitate features scraped from official websites, but we have personally downloaded and tried each DSLR photo booth software ourselves. We have described our experiences in the “how it feels to use it” sections—which you’ll find extremely valuable. They will save you time trying out these tools yourself.
We’ve assigned an ideal use case for each software, and used a 5-star scoring system to judge how these apps compare in 7 dimensions, which you can find in the table below:
Best DSLR Photo Booth Software: Comparison Matrix
| Simple Booth HALO | dslrBooth | Breeze Booth | Sparkbooth | Darkroom Booth | |
| Ideal use case: | Best for Businesses & Non-profits | Best for DIY Solutions | Best for Customization | Best for Non-techies | Best for Attended Booths |
| Marketing capabilities | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Feature-rich | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Customizable | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Stable Performance | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Ease of use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Back-end UX/UI | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ |
| Front-end UX/UI | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Pricing | 💲💲 | 💲 | 💲 | 💲💲 | 💲💲💲 |
| Final Score | 33x⭐ | 22x⭐ | 18x⭐ | 27x⭐ | 18x⭐ |
| Jump to review | Jump to review | Jump to review | Jump to review | Jump to review |
Simple Booth HALO® — Best for Businesses and Non-profits
Although it’s not a DSLR photo booth software, we would do you a disservice if we didn’t first mention our iPad photo booth app: Simple Booth HALO.
HALO has the most powerful marketing features out of any photo booth out there, as it was designed specifically for businesses and not-for-profits looking to
- Raise brand awareness,
- Enhance in-person experiences,
- Generate leads from business events.
HALO has two components: the HALO Software is an app that you install on your iOS tablet to turn it into a photo booth… while HALO Hardware is a modern, dedicated iPad enclosure that takes significantly better photos than most DSLR cameras thanks to its patented ring light technology.
Want your photo booth to generate real sales opportunities besides just being a fun experience at your events? Then give HALO a try. Keep reading to learn more or schedule a call to get a personalized demo and learn how HALO could fit your business!
Simple Booth HALO – Top 3 Unique Features & Benefits
HALO is built for businesses and not-for-profits. With that in mind, we made sure we perfected its three core functions that separate HALO from the rest:
Differentiator 3: Ability to create unforgettable experiences
HALO software for iPad has an intuitive interface, allowing users to take selfies themselves, with no attendant needed to run the booth. It’s capable of producing stunning photos, layouts, video shorts, boomerang clips, and animated GIFs—all of which can be made even more fun with drag-and-drop digital props, frames, and filters.
When combined with the HALO hardware, the experience becomes unmatched.
Harpoon Brewery
“Worth the investment! It takes such great quality photos and is so portable! We can set it up anywhere, without having to worry about moving a large, bulky ‘booth.’ It’s really interactive and our guests love having an added benefit during their event!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lauren Hammil | Manager of Events
Differentiator 2: Ability to encourage social sharing, raise brand awareness, and see the impact
Every photo from your event gets stored in your own branded online gallery, so that everyone can relive the experience, find their image, and share it on social media.
HALO also gives you the option to embed your watermarked logo on every image, allowing you to raise brand awareness whenever someone shares the image on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or anywhere else.
Every share is recorded via a unique photo URL and displayed in a robust analytics dashboard. Perfect for brand monitoring, getting immediate event feedback, and tracking the impact HALO made on your event.
W Hotels
“We found that more of our guests were engaged at our activations and that people were eager to get their photos. We also felt that for how much we’ve been using it that it was definitely worth the ROI.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lauren Travis | W Hotel Area Director of Marketing
Differentiator 1: Ability to capture leads where it was previously impossible
Finally, with HALO, you can prompt every participant to join your email or SMS marketing list. Their data is stored securely for you to access or import directly into your CRM. Now you can easily follow up with event attendees through email, text, or phone calls, and get them back in your business.
SPiN
“I would highly recommend HALO to any venue that is looking to engage its audience. The software itself is very easy to understand and intuitive. The amount you invest initially, you get back 10-fold due to the back-end collection of data and the number of social impressions you receive.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Greg Godfrey | Marketing Director
Despite these powerful features, HALO is easy to use. It doesn’t require complicated setups, technical expertise, or any additional clumsy equipment. Here’s a 1-minute video of us putting HALO in a Tesla on Las Vegas Channel 8!
HALO is the perfect fit if you want a dependable and effective photo booth—loved by your attendees & driven by powerful enterprise software that gets real business results.
Our customers are thriving with Simple Booth HALO in these industries:
| Hospitality | Restaurants | Retail | Supermarkets | Cosmetics |
| Libraries | Real Estate | Wireless | Recreational | Sporting |
| Art | Fitness | Casino | Beverage | Tourism |
| Leisure | Travel | Jewelry | Museums | Consumer |
| Furniture | Insurance | Law Practice | Music | Sports |
Simple Booth HALO – Pricing
As proven by 30,000 happy customers and 4.80 stars from 1,554 ratings on the App Store… Simple Booth HALO offers the best value for money out of any photo booth software on the market.
HALO’s most feature-packed license stands at $2,092 per year, with our entry-level Lite plan for business starting at $99/month.
| Plan: | Lite Plan | Standard Plan | Pro Plan |
| Notable Features: | Simple Booth branding can be removed and simple email and text message adjustments are available | This is where marketing features are first introduced. | HALO Pro includes an age gate and brand moderation tool. |
| Price: | $99/month$1,010/year | $149/month$1,520/year | $249/month$2,092/year |
| Best for: | Small businesses testing HALO | Capturing data and highlighting your branding | Organizations concerned about privacy |
| Request Demo | Request Demo | Request Demo |
Fun fact:
Following the release of the iPad Air 2, the Simple Booth app was one of the apps featured in retail store iPad displays. Soon, the Simple Booth app made its way to nearly every Apple Store in the United States.
Today, notable shows like:
- The Voice,
- Late Night With Seth Meyers,
- And The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon…
use Simple Booth so celebrities can share what’s going on behind the scenes and post content for fans. Click here to get your HALO today!
Note: Did you know you can get Simple Booth HALO as part of a hardware/software bundle? Best for businesses that want a simple and effective marketing tool for lead generation and brand awareness.
Simple Booth HALO – Hardware
The HALO software can be bundled with professional HALO hardware for the ultimate all-in-one photo booth solution.
With the HALO hardware, you won’t need any additional equipment, such as tripod stands, cables, separate lighting, DSLR camera, tablet, computer, or user interfaces… No, the HALO hardware comes equipped with:
- An iPad Enclosure with Ring Light fixes the iPad, preventing it from moving or shaking after the users tap on it to take photos. And then there’s the ring light. The soft glow of the ring light eliminates any harsh shadows and makes everyone look like movie stars on the red carpet.
- Robust Stand. The HALO stand is designed to have a very low center of gravity, preventing the setup from tipping over. It is also adjustable and has a variety of mounting options to help you get the best angle.
- Rugged Transportation Case. The HALO Event Kit comes with a sturdy, wheeled travel case that, when completely loaded, only weighs 50 lbs.
Together with the HALO software, this photo booth will take perfect photos anywhere—regardless of lighting conditions—with zero hassle.
See how fast and easy you can set it up:
Learn more about Simple Booth HALO hardware.
dslrBooth Software — Best DIY Solution
DslrBooth is photo booth software for Windows and Mac operating systems.
It’s best for creating your own DIY photo booth with a DSLR camera. Perfect for amateurs who have lots of photography equipment laying around.
dslrBooth Software — Notable Features
One of the most notable features of dslrBooth is its extensive tech support. In addition to supporting nearly every camera under the sun (Canon, Nikon, etc.), it also supports Webcams and GoPros. Unfortunately, Sony cameras have stopped developing their camera API so it’s very difficult to connect them to any external software.
The software is also available in multiple languages: German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
dslrBooth Software — How It Feels To Use It
The application you install on the computer is not large, although that doesn’t come to you as a shock when looking at an interface that was made back in 2010.
The software itself, though, looks more modern. This pop-up screen greets you when you first launch the application:
To use dslrBooth, you need to create an account. It’s free to do so, and you get unlimited access to the trial. If you want to upgrade later, you’ll have to buy the license from their site and apply it to your account.
Once that’s done, you’re prompted to create your first “Event”. dslrBooth does this to keep your files, settings, and user statistics neatly organized (as you’ll see later).
Clicking on “Customize settings” takes you into a robust settings window. Here, you can see Stats, different Booth Modes, Options, Triggers, APIs, and a whole load of other checkboxes and sliders.
It’s not exactly a plug-and-play solution, and mastering all these settings could take quite a while. (Though, photography enthusiasts typically enjoy tinkering with settings like these. If you’re one of them, you’re in for a treat.)
Once you’re done with the settings, you’re taken to a home screen with all your events displayed on the left sidebar. The rest of the real estate is dedicated to the custom photo booth frame you can tinker with and the other features included in your plan.
To launch the photo booth, you select one of the events and press “Launch event”. If all goes well, you should see an interface like this:
(The interface doesn’t livestream the camera’s input, which is a big minus for me.)
Now, you can click one of the three buttons on the screen to take a photo, gif, or a boomerang video… Doing this and then scrambling into position for a selfie can be inconvenient, which is why dslrBooth gives you the option to scan the QR code and get these triggers on your phone. Here’s how that looks like:
I clicked “Print” and took this picture:
On the left side, I can switch between a GIF, Print (which adds frames and props), and simple Photos. On the right side, I can get the picture to my phone or email, print it (provided I have the equipment), or share it on Twitter.
Here’s the UI of the photo-taking process:
Between shots, the software also shows prompts:
- “get ready!”
- “say cheese!”
- “last one!”
dslrBooth Software — Pricing
dslrBooth is one of the more affordable DSLR photo booth softwares on the market.
The Standard Edition costs only $79 and has nearly all the features you need. The upgrade, Professional Edition, costs $199 and has the additional Video Live View and Green Screen functionalities.
dslrBooth Software — Conclusion
What I like about dslrBooth are its robust settings and options. The software is a real powerhouse and I can see a dedicated photographer making magic with it. That is, if he or she is willing to invest time learning to use it as it can be quite complex.
Regarding performance, I tested this software on a very beefy computer and found the experience to be laggy. At one point I had 4-5 warning popups appearing at once when things went wrong, 3-4 second delays between my clicks and software responses, and +10 second loading times connecting the camera to the app.
Overall dslrBooth is an amazing program for photographers who want to keep it old school. If you have a decent camera, studio light, and a laptop laying around and a wedding or a party coming up, then grabbing a copy of dslrBooth is a no-brainer.
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro — Best For Custom Solutions
Breeze Booth (aka DSLR Remote Pro) is a DSLR photo booth software for Windows PC that only supports DSLR cameras—no webcams or GoPros.
It’s best for professional photographers who want to create robust custom photo booth solutions, such as standalone photo booths that accept digital payments and offer printouts without an attendant.
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro — Notable Features
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro is a highly customizable photo booth software that can be run on a moderately powerful machine. It offers a robust DSLR camera connection, stable performance, and a plethora of add-ons such as:
- tethered shooting,
- contactless systems,
- external buttons and sensors,
- digital payment integrations.
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro — How It Feels To Use It
When I opened Remote Pro, I was greeted by this screen:
Unlike dslrBooth, this software doesn’t seem to have a clear organizational structure for me to organize or save my events. This makes me think that its primary purpose is to create traditional stand-alone photo booths that deliver prints, and not-so-much an event marketing tool.
Unfortunately, if you enjoy working with modern-looking programs, you won’t find much enjoyment here. All the settings are thrown onto the screen with lots of inputs and buttons to try to navigate on your own. It doesn’t look like much thought put into the user experience for the operator, which you can see for yourself in the “advance settings” window:
In general, it’s confusing and takes a lot of work to figure out. There are no clear categories, tabs, or visual cues to help you find what you’re looking for. It’s all jumbled together.
Since we discovered that Remote Pro is mostly for printing out photos, I’ve also explored the Print Layout settings. You can see them in this window:
If you can do the pixel math, this window has all the features you need for creating great printouts, including the ability to import a logo or QR code. You can also export and import layouts you’ve made, or pick simple presets provided by Breeze Booth.
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro — Pricing
Pricing for their Windows software + DSLR camera combination is simple: a 15-day free trial, followed by an unlimited-use license for $275 dollars.
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro — Conclusion
Overall, Breeze DSLR Remote Pro is an affordable, customizable, and powerful photo booth software. However, it is not the most user-friendly option and is best suited for professional photographers who want to create standalone photo booths.
Sparkbooth — Best for Non-techies
Sparkbooth is a simple DSLR photo booth software for PC that supports Canon and Nikon cameras, plus webcams.
It was designed for non-techies and anyone who doesn’t want to read a textbook-thick manual before setting up their photo booth. The best place for this booth would be a party with friends & family.
If you want a great all-in-one photo booth for business events, then definitely check out Simple Booth HALO.
Sparkbooth — Notable Features
- Great camera connectivity
- Very long free trial: 30 days
- Extremely friendly for non-techies
- Great user experience right out of the box
- Very low PC requirements: 4GB ram & i3 processor recommended
Besides these, Sparkbooth has all the typical photo booth features, such as: GIFs, photo editing, green screens, mirror booths, printing photo layers, sharing to Facebook, email delivery, and so on.
Sparkbooth is available in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Deutsch, and even Taiwanese and Chinese.
A big downside, though, is that Sparkbooth ONLY runs on Windows! It does not work on Mac OS.
Sparkbooth — How It Feels To Use It
I was greeted by this screen as soon as I opened the software:
No home screen or setup page. It immediately jumps into the booth preview with an easy-to-understand interface. On the left side, there are only the essentials: settings and full-screen mode. On top of that, it detected my camera instantly and with zero hassle—which I can’t say for other DSLR booths.
After I press space (the trigger button, which is customizable in the settings), Sparkbooth, just as seamlessly as starting up, starts taking photos:
A lady’s voice guides you through the process. She gives you a countdown, makes witty remarks, and actually sounds like a real person (not a robot).
In the settings, you can replace the default voice clips with your own. That is a unique feature I did not notice in the other photo booth softwares.
Speaking of settings, if you look at the left side everything is neatly organized and stacked: you can immediately find what you’re looking for. Sparkbooth has, by far, the most organized and user-friendly settings out of any DSLR booth software that I tested.
Overall, Sparkbooth definitely has a much warmer feeling than dslrBooth or Breeze Booth.
Sparkbooth — Pricing
Sparkbooth offers a 30-day free trial, which is more than enough to try everything it has to offer.
Then, Sparkbooth offers three lifetime licenses: Personal $59, Premium $119, and DSLR $159.
The DSLR version comes with all features and is usable for commercial purposes. It also comes with “three activations.” Meaning, one license can install the software on three separate Windows PCs.
Sparkbooth — Conclusion
Sparkbooth is a great photo booth software for your next party with friends and family. It supports Canon and Nikon cameras, as well as webcams, and is very user-friendly for those who don’t want to read a lengthy manual before setting up their photo booth. The best part is that Sparkbooth offers a 30-day free trial, so you have more than enough time to try it out before committing to anything.
Darkroom Booth — Best for Attended Photo Booths
Darkroom booth is a DSLR photo booth software for Windows OS that is packed with features and supports a wide variety of DSLR cameras, including webcams and GoPros.
It’s best for photography professionals who want to operate attended photo booths (that is, where you have an attendant helping people through each session) with Nikon or Canon cameras.
Darkroom Booth — Notable Features
Besides all the standard photo booth features, it also has some unique ones:
- Slow motion, pose detection, and voice activation.
- Can run quizzes and contests to engage people and then pick winners
- Facebook-ready VR 180 & 360 images
- 10-day license for $35, if you have a one-time event.
- Coin-op, arcade buttons, bill acceptors, external control
- Lots of support for photographers.
Darkroom also offers a lot of support to photographers setting up the booth. Their Darkroom Help Center is the best DSLR photo booth self-help section on the market. And they keep you in the loop with short developer updates every three months or so, where they explain changes they’ve recently made.
It also has some data collection capabilities, making it decent for marketing and business. However, we still feel that Simple Booth HALO blows it out of the water as a marketing tool.
Darkbooth has a complex product line. You may be left confused about which product would best fit your needs even after extensive reading. It is also more expensive, which isn’t a surprise since they position themselves as premium photo booth software—and their marketing does its best to support that claim. Yet, as we’ll soon see, you don’t get that feeling when you actually use the software…
Darkroom Booth — How It Feels To Use It
When you open Darkroom, you’re greeted with this screen:
It doesn’t look like any typical software interface that I’m familiar with. The button text is hard to understand (Settings & Global Settings—what does this mean?) and doesn’t clearly communicate where it will lead you.
Once you click around and get more comfortable with the unique interface, you’ll find that the booth is extremely customizable, and that all features are available even with the free trial. Clicking on Settings gives you a dropdown menu with categories that are more neatly organized.
For me, the experience quickly became frustrating as the settings interface kept breaking:
I’ve had to reset the software several times before I could adjust all the settings I wanted. At this point, the experience of using Darkroom was the most frustrating out of all the DSLR booths mentioned in the article. With the amount of effort they’ve put into marketing and website design, I expected the opposite.
At least the photo booth experience is clean and functional for the end user:
“All over the place,” is how I would describe this software.
The design looks outdated, which shouldn’t be a big deal since that’s the case with most DSLR photo booth software. However, for a product positioned at a premium price point, it should provide a more pleasant and thoughtful user experience.
Darkroom Booth — Pricing
Darkroom Booth has the most generous free trial offer on the market: an unlimited free trial with pro features unlocked. The catch is that images are watermarked and commercial use is prohibited until you upgrade.
The license for Darkroom Booth costs $295, and they give you the chance to buy a 10-day license for $35: perfect if you want to use the software for one event only.
The rest of their product line is complex; besides Darkroom Booth they offer DarkroomCore, DarkroomPro, Hotfolder App, Event Gallery, Booth for iPad, and Assembly Edition. And the product descriptions under each are so similar and vague that you’re left confused about their differences.
Tip: Sign up for the free trial even if you were planning to buy Darkroom right away. Upon signing you’ll get a $25-off coupon code in your email.
Darkroom Booth — Conclusion
Their marketing and website are more comprehensive and generally better than dslrBooth and Sparkbooth. With a vast library of self-help content and videos explaining every feature and use case, it gives you expectations that the software will be of superb technical quality. You’re left disappointed. They should have invested a portion of the marketing budget into design and quality control to made sure their software is fit for 2022—especially at the premium price point.
My Final Verdict on the best DSLR Photo Booth Software
| Simple Booth HALO | dslrBooth | Breeze Booth | Sparkbooth | Darkroom Booth | |
| Best For | Best for Businesses & Non-profits | Best for DIY Solutions | Best for Customization | Best for Non-techies | Best for Manned Booths |
| Marketing capabilities | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Feature-rich | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Customizable | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Stable | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Ease of use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Back-end UX/UI | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ |
| Front-end UX/UI | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Pricing | 💲💲 | 💲 | 💲 | 💲💲 | 💲💲💲 |
| Final Score | 33x⭐ | 22x⭐ | 18x⭐ | 27x⭐ | 18x⭐ |
| Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
My 1st Choice: Simple Booth HALO (33x⭐)
Although it’s not compatible with DSLRs, Simple Booth HALO is the most powerful and intuitive software available if you’re looking to use your photo booth as a marketing tool for lead generation. It can collect phone numbers, email addresses, and encourage social sharing, while also providing robust analytics. Additionally, it features a beautiful front-end design and patented lighting technology that will leave users impressed and create an unforgettable experience.
Click here to buy Simple Booth HALO or check out our plans for businesses.
My 2nd Choice: Sparkbooth (27x⭐)
If you’re looking for an easy-to-use photo booth software that doesn’t require a lot of technical know-how, Sparkbooth is a great option. It has superb connectivity with most webcams and DSLR cameras, and is highly customizable with a sleek, user-friendly interface. Best of all, it’s very affordable at just $159 for a three-computer license.
Click here to buy Sparkbooth.
My 3rd Choice: dslrBooth (22x⭐)
This software is for advanced photographers who carry their own equipment and attend many different events. The software has all features you could possibly hope for, including a clear way to separate custom preset settings and statistics for your locations. The license is a bit more expensive at $199.
Click here to buy dslrBooth.