photominilab 15cts per 4r prints

[studiolabmaster]

i used to own a lab ,now was thinking of `setting up a digital lab again in tampines.
4r @ only $0.15 good or not.[images will be auto print]
delivery n pickup service provided also ,but addition $8 per trip.
iam not using the fuji frontier,just a light source digital minilab.
any supporters.........................like to hear more options.cos i myself seldom print photos for clients.
i would only give this $0.15 4r for only fellow Clubsnap people.walk in will be 0.30ct above.
any advice will be much appreciated.
i had a small mini cafe at tampines hdb area.was thinking of using the back to do this lab printing.but was worried cos no shop front for this.people may not know inside is a digital lab

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by studiolabmaster i used to own a lab ,now was thinking of `setting up a digital lab again in tampines. 4r @ only $0.15 good or not.[images will be auto print] delivery n pickup service provided also ,but addition $8 per trip. iam not using the fuji frontier,just a light source digital minilab. any supporters.........................like to hear more options.cos i myself seldom print photos for clients. i would only give this $0.15 4r for only fellow Clubsnap people.walk in will be 0.30ct above. any advice will be much appreciated. i had a small mini cafe at tampines hdb area.was thinking of using the back to do this lab printing.but was worried cos no shop front for this.people may not know inside is a digital lab

How do you print digital if you're not using a frontier or a digital capable machine?

To be honest, if profiling is done properly and your output is good, people will even pay $0.20-$0.30 per 4R print.

I am looking for a lab which allows me to upload my files in and receive my prints by mail. The quality should be like what ColourLab at Adelphi is offering. I don't mind paying 0.50 per print including postage.

[snowspeeder]

Agreed. To me output quality is most important, as my clients pay decent money for my prints. Hence, money is not an issue when it comes to printing costs.

[LittleWolf]

Originally Posted by studiolabmaster i had a small mini cafe at tampines hdb area.was thinking of using the back to do this lab printing.but was worried cos no shop front for this.people may not know inside is a digital lab

As a customer, I would be concerned if my food/beverage was handled right next to a machine using nasty photochemistry.

[qing02051981]

Do drop your address here if you start your printing biz. I am interested.

[NoMoney]

I would prefer better quality over cheaper prices. I believe if there we print in bulk, the price can be lowered?

To be frank, if the frequency of printing is lesser, surely people would like to print @ a better quality rather than saving a few dollars.

Hope my opinion helps and good luck.

[catchlights]

when talk about photo printing, quality come into my mind first.

to be frank, if you want to ran low price high volume photo printing business, you will be better off set up the shop at little India, you get more business from the friendly foreign talents there than selling to photographers.

[ckuang]

For my side, don't think we've made a 4R print for what like close to 3 years! Problem on a business side is that it's very hard to justify the markup on a 4R print and nowadays people aren't into printing hundreds of images in this digital era. Personally if I was to go into it now, i'd either do small scale super high quality, like archival inkjet on hihg end paper or really really big scale, ie industrial space with a few fuji fontier machines running 24hrs servicing existing store fronts. The in between i think is really hard to turn a profit. Not sure, but just my observation.

[studiolabmaster]

thanks for all e input....more advice............................pls post for the polls thanks.
quality of the print is from digital carrier,it use light source crt rather than the frontier which use laser to print which is of higher cost.
also to be frank,doing photographers business in printing is never easy....why?
cos there r thousand or even millions of photographer who claim they r just becasue they have cameras.....but the original images produced by each photographers r very different.
profile of mini lab machines r standardise. to be really fair.if all the print out of the photos r really running on the standard mode[meaning no exposure or color correction are made] the output will scared the photographers off.
Many photographers does not know when they send their photos for printing,most of the images are corrected.
For few years of minilab experience, lousy printout meaning lousy lab...but this is not the real fact.
if your images are bad n u expect miricale,its never possible.


Trust me,u got print the same images in 10 outlet n do it the same the next day will never ever get 100% same.cos the chemical everyday is not 100% the same.
Just my experience n 2 cents
need advice ....further

[hacknet]

i've been studying the these machines for awhile and i think the principle behind a good print is the chemical. put aside all that "correction" and like you said, results will vary due to chemicals. firstly how fresh the chemicals are and secondly how diluted the chemcials are. are you going to use replenishers instead of replacing the whole tank?

on a side note, the laser on the fuji frontier machines are really good, if you choose to go the route of the lesser machine, it might not actually save you in the long run as volume is essential no matter the price simply because consumables are the same, be it rent, wages or chemicals.


miracles aside, i believe the machine and its operator have a huge part to play in the process.

[ronny]

i can't vote but i can tell you that i wld be very happy to be your client if the prints are of good quality and at a good price.

[contaxable]

..............

[studiolabmaster]

Originally Posted by LittleWolf As a customer, I would be concerned if my food/beverage was handled right next to a machine using nasty photochemistry.

ya!!!i had also think of that!cos the chemical for this photo is toxic!!!it may kill if consume!!!

[studiolabmaster]

any opinion???

[NoMoney]

I would feel uneasy even if the chemical is not toxic.

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by studiolabmaster Trust me,u got print the same images in 10 outlet n do it the same the next day will never ever get 100% same.cos the chemical everyday is not 100% the same. Just my experience n 2 cents need advice ....further

That's what's needed to be controlled. Chemicals needs to be replenished every certain amount of photographic paper area developed and blixed. Temperature control and dev time is critical otherwise same correction factor will never get you the same colour even with the same batch of paper.

Every batch of paper needs to be profiled. If you think it's possible to maintain such stringent quality from volume processing, then I think it's definitely welcome to be able to get good prints cheaper. The problem arises when you find you do not have time to do quality control when you get the volume. Eventually, quality will go because you try to push prices down.

[CreaXion]

Originally Posted by studiolabmaster For few years of minilab experience, lousy printout meaning lousy lab...but this is not the real fact. if your images are bad n u expect miricale,its never possible. Trust me,u got print the same images in 10 outlet n do it the same the next day will never ever get 100% same.cos the chemical everyday is not 100% the same. Just my experience n 2 cents

I have seen with my own eyes how lousy images can become quite good photos due to the skill of the lab. Lousy images can be corrected to a certain extent. May not be as good but it is possible to become acceptable. If u have not seen one, I can introduce u. Some of the photographers jump ship to another developer because of the skill level of the developer. Hence quality is very impt.

[Priscilia]

Originally Posted by ckuang For my side, don't think we've made a 4R print for what like close to 3 years! Problem on a business side is that it's very hard to justify the markup on a 4R print and nowadays people aren't into printing hundreds of images in this digital era. Personally if I was to go into it now, i'd either do small scale super high quality, like archival inkjet on hihg end paper or really really big scale, ie industrial space with a few fuji fontier machines running 24hrs servicing existing store fronts. The in between i think is really hard to turn a profit. Not sure, but just my observation.

Hi ckuang,

Juz digress a bit.... :P Hope u don't mind me asking...

is it true that these days, couples no longer develop group-shot prints for their friends and family? And they prefer the coffee table sort of album compared to the traditional 200-300 slip-in prints in album?

I'm juz curious.... if that's the case, what do they do with those family/friends posed shots, eg at wedding dinner tables? Juz store the images away in digital format?

Thanx!

[hanqiang1011]

To me, output is very impt. My clients are happy to my services partly due to the output of my prints. To be honest, when they increase their price from S$0.25 for each 100 4R prints to S$0.30 for each 100 4R prints, I am willing to pay for their good services and quality. The printers are using Fuji machines.

I have tried the Konica Minolta lab at S$0.15 each, and the colours are very disappointing... In the past, I had always been printing at KM labs due to the colour vibrant and print quality when they were charging at S$0.20 per 100 4R prints. I was quite disappointed with the results of the S$0.15 per 4R prints. I dont think I will ever try again, unless its a printer I know very well.

Just my 2 cents opinion...

But diff ppl have diff tastes, but I am not going to compromise my prints for price.

[kandinsky]

Originally Posted by Priscilia I'm juz curious.... if that's the case, what do they do with those family/friends posed shots, eg at wedding dinner tables? Juz store the images away in digital format? Thanx!

Upload to an online album for relatives to download?