how much does a commercial developer cost?

[ampguy]

C41, 35mm only, with capability to do CDR's??

Anyone have their own drugstore type processor?

 

[jon_flanders]

These days, some places, like the photo shop I get negatives done, are getting processors for free. In fact, Quality Foto, in Glenmont, NY, was giving their old one away.

 

[bmattock]

I have the local Walgreen's do my C41. Process only, then cut and sleeve. No CD, no prints. A bit less than $2.00.

I never have an index print made, or a CD-ROM, or prints. They all just scratch the negs. I scan them myself.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[ampguy]

clarification

clarification

Bill,

I mean the machine that Walgreens is using. I shoot a lot of film, so it adds up, + friends and family and being able to tweak the JPG sizes.

I have the local Walgreen's do my C41. Process only, then cut and sleeve. No CD, no prints. A bit less than $2.00.

I never have an index print made, or a CD-ROM, or prints. They all just scratch the negs. I scan them myself.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[matt fury]

I think the trick is just finding a deal. I've seen them given away for free to anyone who will haul them away and I've also seen them sold for many many thousands of dollars.

 

[bmattock]

Bill,

I mean the machine that Walgreens is using. I shoot a lot of film, so it adds up, + friends and family and being able to tweak the JPG sizes.

Ah, I totally misunderstood. You want to buy your own Fuji Frontier or similar. Gotcha. They are called 'minilabs' in the trade.

50,000 USD plus. Used can cost a lot less, but you have to buy a maint contract. They break quite a bit. And the chemistry goes bad quickly, whether you use it or not - in fact, not using is hurts it more than using it.

I don't think the costs would be justified unless your 'quite a bit' of shooting were something on the order of 20 to 50 rolls of film a day, every day. If so - wow!

I get the 'photo retailer' magazines, as they see me as an 'importer' of photo-related goods. LOL. So I see the ads and read the stories about the minilabs.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Socke]

Just looked it up but had no luck. A store in Hamburg often has used minilab equipment but today only a Fuji Pictrography 3500 printer for some 1500 Euro, that would be only a part of a lab.

A search for minilab on ebay turned up a used Kodak Sytem 88 minilab for 8999 Euro with 0 bids at the moment.

The problem with the minilabs is a) energy and b) chemistry.

When the small analoge minilab closed I and a friend thought about buying the Noritsu enlarger/processor and the neg developer. It would have been ours for a song. But the price for chemistry and the power consumption stopped us from doing that. The shop owner told us that he had to process some 20 films a day just to recoup the cost of powerconsumption. The mashine had to be under power 24/7 or the chemistry turns bad and that means replacing gallons of that stuff!

If you get batches of some 200 films it may be sensible to power up the mashine and run it for a day or two.

For a smaller volume I'd get a Jobo Processor for the negs, a drying cabinet, a good scanner and a Kodak 1400 thermoprinter.

 

[ampguy]

thanks all

thanks all

Any idea on the weight of these, and if they're modular?

For example, I would want the main developer unit with the bellows bag, and a CD burner, but would not need the printing part.

The Jobo is too small, I want an automated thing I can hire a part time person to run. I shoot as much as I can, not 200 rolls a day, but I could do that in a week or two, not including friends and family.

Just looked it up but had no luck. A store in Hamburg often has used minilab equipment but today only a Fuji Pictrography 3500 printer for some 1500 Euro, that would be only a part of a lab.

A search for minilab on ebay turned up a used Kodak Sytem 88 minilab for 8999 Euro with 0 bids at the moment.

The problem with the minilabs is a) energy and b) chemistry.

When the small analoge minilab closed I and a friend thought about buying the Noritsu enlarger/processor and the neg developer. It would have been ours for a song. But the price for chemistry and the power consumption stopped us from doing that. The shop owner told us that he had to process some 20 films a day just to recoup the cost of powerconsumption. The mashine had to be under power 24/7 or the chemistry turns bad and that means replacing gallons of that stuff!

If you get batches of some 200 films it may be sensible to power up the mashine and run it for a day or two.

For a smaller volume I'd get a Jobo Processor for the negs, a drying cabinet, a good scanner and a Kodak 1400 thermoprinter.

 

[jan normandale]

Any idea on the weight of these, and if they're modular?

For example, I would want the main developer unit with the bellows bag, and a CD burner, but would not need the printing part.

The Jobo is too small, I want an automated thing I can hire a part time person to run. I shoot as much as I can, not 200 rolls a day, but I could do that in a week or two, not including friends and family.

200 rolls in 2 weeks... wow!