fotokabine.ch

A photographer's photo booth, built in-house

fotokabine.ch rents photo booths, video booths and a hashtag printer, and it has built all of its own equipment since it started in 2008. The about page tells the story in the first person: as a wedding and event photographer, the founder noticed guests' wish for glamorous group selfies, and began with a remote trigger, a flash unit and a backdrop, a system simple enough to run in self-service from day one. The photos from the first event, he writes, were already studio quality. The same operator also rents the booths under the Posebox name, with the same phone number, 079 378 54 08. The Posebox pages give the business address as Roman Virdi, Bäumlisächerstrasse 6, 8907 Wettswil, and describe collection in Wettswil near Zurich. The fotokabine.ch pages are in German; the Posebox site has a menu link to an English version.

The Aarau page listed here is one of a series of local pages (Zurich, Zug, Baden, Bern, Lucerne, Winterthur, Aarau, Olten, St. Gallen, Schwyz and "Fotobox ganze Schweiz"), written in a playful tone about props turning a quiet neighbor into a pirate and an aunt into the queen of grimaces, with prints to take away at once for the guest book or as a souvenir.

How the booths work

The about page sets out the principles: an entertaining experience and child's-play operation for guests, the best image quality in digital and print, very fast throughput from shutter release to print and phone download, high reliability, and constant technical innovation. Because the company builds every booth itself, it says, ideas and customer wishes can be put into practice quickly. In 2021 it launched what it calls the smallest shippable greenscreen photo booth with a high-quality interchangeable-lens camera, smaller even than common iPad solutions with a ring light, and it says even these small booths are built for continuous use at large events.

The Posebox pages describe the booth from a guest's side: quick and simple to use, instant prints, and instant copying to a phone for sharing without typing in an email address or social media details. They list greenscreen technology with many selectable backgrounds, an unlimited number of shots, fully automatic operation, borderless 10x15 cm professional prints on glossy roll paper, all images stored digitally, and quick setup and dismantling of an easily transported booth. The booth can run on its own or with a host or hostess.

The approach

The Posebox homepage sums up the philosophy as a maximum of fun for guests with a minimum of frills ("Schnickschnack"), and lists "Keine Schnickschnackfunktionen" (no gimmick functions) among the features. The point is speed: everyone gathers round the booth because it is fast and simple, prints at once and puts the photo on a phone without any typing. It lists the variants plainly: digital only, with a professional printer, with greenscreen or with conventional bright fixed backdrops, with quality props such as hats and wigs, or as a complete package, run on its own or with a host.

For couples who want more than a booth, the Posebox page also points to fotomiete.ch for further party equipment: instant cameras (Fuji Instax and Polaroid), PA speakers, projectors and screens, laptops and hotspots, GoPro and other cameras, lighting, drones, streaming desks, microphones and camera gear. The page's link does not say how the two are connected, so treat it as a separate rental to ask about.

Prices

The Posebox price page publishes set prices:

• Fotobox Set Digital Only, 340 Fr. A flat rate for 24 hours (with generous return times on Sundays): the booth with touchscreen and instructions in a case, needing only a power socket; instant sharing to Instagram, WhatsApp, email and Facebook; instant download to a phone; vintage filters; fully automatic operation; an interchangeable-lens camera and flash system ("keine Webcam, kein Dauerlicht", no webcam, no continuous light); and unlimited digital photos as a cloud download.
• PARTY Fotobox-Komplettset, 540 Fr., described as the most popular set. On top of the above it adds greenscreen with many backgrounds for guests to choose from, a professional printer at 8 seconds per photo, a pack of 100 prints at 10x15cm (more at 45 Fr. per 100), and a premium props set of about 30 wigs, hats, glasses and so on.

A custom set can also be built from priced items: a professional instant printer with 100 prints, 80; fun props, 40; greenscreen, 80; a fabric backdrop system in bright colors, 40; your own logo or line on every photo, 80; a passport-photo box in color or black and white, 50; a prize-ticket pack, 50; and a slideshow projected on a 2-meter screen, 120. Larger print formats (13x18cm or 15x23cm) and a host or hostess are on request.

Delivery and booking

The booth can be collected in Wettswil, or delivered with setup and instruction, then dismantled and taken back, for a flat fixed price quoted on request. Bookings go to info@posebox.ch with the chosen set and the date and time of pickup and return; the fotokabine.ch contact is info@fotokabine.ch. Each booking is subject to the Posebox terms. The Posebox page adds that because the booths are designed and built in-house, special requests can be met: "Nichts ist unmöglich!" (nothing is impossible).

What the site leaves open

The delivery price is quoted per booking rather than published. The pages do not describe the videobox or the hashtag printer in any detail, and they do not say whether a wedding layout (names and date) is included; the logo-or-line option at 80 is the nearest item. They say nothing about outdoor use in rain. The Posebox site links to an English version; check that it carries the same offer and prices.

Who it suits

fotokabine.ch suits couples who want a well-engineered booth at a published, moderate price, and who like to collect it themselves or have it delivered for a quoted fee. The PARTY set at 540 Fr. covers most weddings, with greenscreen, prints and props included, and the 24-hour flat rate removes any worry about the party running late. For a couple from abroad, the English menu on the Posebox site and direct email booking make the first contact easy, and the priced custom-set list lets them add a slideshow or a logo line without guessing at the cost.