Dublin was not on my list of places to shoot until a client with an Irish customer base asked me to fly over for two days of product and lifestyle work. I booked a studio near Grand Canal Dock based on listing photos and a short email exchange with the owner. The rate was about €65 an hour. For reference, the studio I normally use in East London for the same kind of shoot costs me £95.

I went back six months later for a different client and booked a different space, this one in Smithfield on the north side of the river. Same story. Good gear, reasonable price, a few surprises I did not expect. This post is what I would tell someone who asked me about shooting in Dublin before they booked anything.

The studio scene is smaller than you think

Dublin is not London. That sounds obvious but it matters when you are looking for a studio. London has hundreds of rentable spaces across dozens of neighbourhoods and you can usually find something within 48 hours. Dublin has maybe thirty to forty proper studios across the whole city, depending on how loosely you define the word. The good ones fill up faster because there is less competition and fewer backup options if your first choice is taken.

What Dublin does have is a growing film and television industry that has pulled money and infrastructure into the studio market. Some of the spaces I looked at had equipment you would associate with a London facility twice the price. Arri fixtures, professional grip gear, sound treatment that actually works. The film industry needs this gear and the studios that serve it keep it maintained. Photographers booking those same spaces get the benefit.

Where the studios actually are

Most of what I found clusters in two areas. The Docklands and Grand Canal Dock area on the south side has the newer purpose-built spaces and the tech-company-adjacent studios. The north side around Smithfield and Stoneybatter has more of the converted warehouse and industrial spaces. Both are within about fifteen minutes of the city centre by car, closer by tram.

There are a handful of studios further out in places like Sandyford and Dun Laoghaire, and I have seen a couple listed in the suburbs north of the river around Glasnevin. I have not used any of those so I cannot comment on them honestly.

If your shoot involves a model or a client who needs to get there by public transport, the Docklands studios are easier to reach. The Luas tram stops right there. Smithfield is walkable from the centre but lugging equipment on foot is not my idea of a good start to a shoot day. I drove both times and regretted it both times, which brings me to the parking situation.

Parking will test your patience

The Docklands studio I used had no dedicated parking. The nearest public car park was about a seven minute walk and charged €3.50 per hour. Loading in meant double parking on a one way street with the hazards on while I carried gear inside, then moving the car before I got clamped. Dublin clamping is efficient and it is not cheap.

The Smithfield studio was better. It was a ground floor warehouse unit with a roller door wide enough to back a van up to. I unloaded directly into the space and then parked around the corner for free. If I were booking regularly in Dublin I would make load-in access my first filter, not price.

Ask the studio specifically about loading. Not just "is there parking" but "can I pull a vehicle to the door for twenty minutes while I carry things in." Those are different questions with different answers.

The weather problem is real

Dublin gets more overcast days than London. That is a statistical fact, not a complaint. If you are booking a daylight studio, this matters. My first Dublin shoot was in a south-facing space with big warehouse windows and the listing photos showed gorgeous hard light cutting across the floor. What I got was a flat grey blanket for five of the six hours I was there. The last hour the sun came through and I shot faster than I have ever shot in my life.

For my second trip I booked a studio with a proper lighting rig and treated the windows as a bonus, not a plan. That went much better. Unless you are specifically after natural light for a particular reason, I would default to a studio with its own lighting when shooting in Dublin. You can always turn the artificial lights off if the sun cooperates, but you cannot summon the sun if it does not.

What the pricing looks like

Both studios I used were in the €55 to €75 per hour range. The Docklands space was €65 and the Smithfield one was €55. For context, both were about 80 to 100 square metres with painted cyc walls, professional lighting, and basic grip equipment included. Equivalent spaces in East London run £85 to £110.

I looked at a few higher-end options while I was researching. The most expensive Dublin studio I came across was €120 per hour and it was a full film stage with a drive-in loading bay, green screen, and a separate audio suite. That kind of facility in London would be £200 or more without blinking. Half-day and full-day rates follow the same pattern as everywhere else. I wrote about how to think about hourly versus day rates in a previous post and the logic applies the same way in Dublin.

One thing I noticed: Dublin studios were more willing to negotiate on price than London studios, especially for midweek bookings. I asked both times and got a small discount both times. Maybe I was lucky. Maybe the smaller market means they work harder to fill quiet days.

Would I go back

Yes, and not just because a client is paying for the flight. The quality to cost ratio in Dublin is genuinely good right now. The studios are well maintained, the people running them are engaged and responsive, and the city itself is easy to work in once you solve the parking. I suspect the prices will climb as more of the film industry moves in, so the current rates might not last.

If you are looking for Dublin studios, there are a handful on Creative Studio Hire already and the number keeps growing. Filter by city and check the equipment lists. The ones that mention grip gear and sound treatment are the ones that serve the film crowd, and in my experience those are the best all-rounders.

FAQs

How far in advance should I book a studio in Dublin?

Further ahead than you would in London. I tried to book a specific Docklands studio with five days notice and it was gone for the entire week. The second time I booked three weeks out and had my pick of days. Weekends fill up fastest. If you can shoot midweek you will have a much easier time and probably pay less.

Is it worth flying to Dublin just for cheaper studio rates?

On its own, no. A return flight from London is about £80 to £120 and you lose half a day to travel each way. But if the client is Irish, if the talent is local, or if you are combining it with other work in the city, then the savings add up fast. I saved about £400 across two days on my first trip compared to what I would have spent in London, which more than covered the flight.

Do Dublin studios accept payment in sterling?

Not usually. Both studios I used invoiced in euros. My bank converted automatically and the exchange rate difference was maybe €3 over two bookings. Not worth thinking about. If you are invoicing a UK client for the expense, just put the GBP equivalent on your invoice and move on.