I have a small business adventure that I need a Digital Camera suite that will allow me to print quality 3X5 or smaller pictures on-site for the customer. I have seen everything from desktop to laptop suites to cameras that print. Are there any suggestions for a total solution? The requirement is a mobile application so the setup/tear down needs to be quick and the equipment/suite small/compact.

-- G. A. H. (nortelfone@aol.com), July 12, 2000

Answers

Sony makes a printer called a FVP that accepts the floppy disk from the camera and prints approx 4x6 prints without the need for a computer. I believe Olympus makes a similar unit, using the same mechanism that accepts camera flash cards and produces the same kind of print. The Sony unit also has a video output that will display the photos from the disk on a monitor. Dont know if the Oly has the same or not. Might check with their manufacturers web sites.

-- Tony Brent (ajbrent@mich.com), July 12, 2000.

I recently sold a rig for just that purpose, it was a Toshiba 1625 Laptop, Sony FD 90, and Epson 900, and photoshop LE. The Sony with the Floppy was simple and the resolution is decent enough to make 3x5's. With two battery packs he can charge while shooting, switch back and forth... The disk goes in the laptop, is brought into photoshop LE, resized, and printed. The Epson 900 is not an archival printer but its very durable, fast, and capable of high quality work. In his case the clients were not concerned about 10 year print life or framing the postcards. Its larger cartridges are a more cost effective alternative to running a Photosmart or Epson 870. The Epson 900 has a 5000 page per month duty cycle so volume really isn't an issue. Its really the perfect printer for the job and very reliable. He also used an adapter so that he can run the whole rig in his van off the vehicle power. All in all, it works very smoothly and the setup is less than 10 minutes. Thats one solution...

-- Cris Daniels (danfla@gte.net), July 12, 2000.

You may want to consider Sony's Digital-8 TRV-820 camcorder that features a built-in printer and still-image capability. It costs a bit more than a high-end digicams and considerably less than a professional camera but also offers video.

-- Henry (tolbert9@aol.com), July 19, 2000.