how much do you pay for photo developing?

[hazzayoungn]

i ask because ive been going to drug stores, and about half the times, the prints have come back with weird marks from the printer. ink or something. definately not consistent enough for my liking. im not confrontational enough to ask for reprints

i might make the jump to a more professional lab that charges ~$10 for a roll of 35mm color. however, im scared. its 1.5 times what im used to paying, so i wanted to know what you guys usually pay when you shoot film

thanks

 

[JIP]

Well likr they always say you get what you pay for. Got to a drug store you get cheap prints by some drone who just got promoted from being the cashier got to a custom lab get quality prints made by someone who knows what they are doing and from well maintained machines. I think where you get your prints made depends on how important your photography is to you you don't really have to pay tons more just go to the right place.

 

[Big Mike]

im not confrontational enough to ask for reprints

You never know until you try...

 

[emogirl]

A pro lab will be consistent...especially when they get to know your style of shooting and what you like. (dont be afriad to tell them you prefer prints on the light or dark side, or if you are shooting something special ie..night shots etc...) They will reprint for you at no extra charge. Expect to pay about $10 for a 24 exp. and at least 50c per print/digital.

Drug/department stores can yield excellent results.....but not consistently!!! The photo labs in those stores are used as loss leaders, to pull people into their store....for the average consumer, it is fine, but for more refined tastes, you have to step it up to a pro lab, and to the pro dollar!!!

I used to manage a department store lab and we had an excellent reputation - honestly, it was because I was a photographer and I knew what to expect from customers work and all the problems. EVery once in a while you get someone (like me) at drug store etc...that will do a great job for you, and you can request them only to do your work....but that sort of experience is few and far between.

 

[Mike_E]

Have you considered sending your film through the mail?

There are several places that do good work or so I hear.

If you have a full service camera store near you you might want to try them first. If nothing else, you will meet people who share a comman interest with you.

mike

 

[hazzayoungn]

mike - i havent considered the mail thing yet, but its the same thing, im not sure who ill be giving my film to, but id be up to try it

emogirl - i agree, theres a girl at the walgreens down the street that does a pretty good job with my pictures, but she never seems to be around when i need developing

the camera shops nearby dont have developing. i guess ill try the pro lab, and see how it turns out

 

[Mike_E]

hazzayoungn, I hope you do not mind, I am going to invite someone whom I believe is affiliated with a pro lab in Witchata Kansas. I do not know her personally but from reading her posts on another site I feel that she is both honest and caring about her craft.

So stay tuned and perhaps she'll join us on this thread and be able to answer all your questions.

mike eubanks

 

[ksmattfish]

I was a big fan of Douglas Photographic Imaging in Wichita, KS when I shot color film. They really know what they are doing. www.douglasphoto.com

If you only need 35mm processing www.mpix.com is good too.

 

[Linda G]

hazzayoungn, I hope you do not mind, I am going to invite someone whom I believe is affiliated with a pro lab in Witchata Kansas. I do not know her personally but from reading her posts on another site I feel that she is both honest and caring about her craft.

So stay tuned and perhaps she'll join us on this thread and be able to answer all your questions.

mike eubanks

Thank you for the invitation, Mike. I do think emogirl got it right, though. I own a pro lab after working at one for 6 years and having it close. Out of a job, I bought the stuff, moved it, sold off bunches of it and opened my own. Before I got up and running, I again was sent spinning trying to find a place to have MY stuff printed. We have two Sams Clubs and 6 Wal-Marts. I tried them all and the results were so inconsistent. I did find one person at one of the Sams that took an interest in what she was doing and talked to me about their machine (same as I was going to have but not the pro software) and actually cared about what left her area.

I've also seen inconsistent results from pro labs but not as often.

We use a higher grade paper than the consumer labs, ours is balanced for the type of contrast and saturation you need for portraits. Honestly, unless we have a poorly exposed file/neg, the difference is negligible. The paper is slightly thinner but not horribly so.

What sets a pro lab apart right off the bat is customer service. A pro lab will find out your preferences ( we have one customer who prefers their people printed so warm, they glow and others who like them so cool they look dead!) and walk you through any problems you're having. They can be a great resource for you. We also offer finishing services you can't get at a drug store such as mounting, spraying and texturing your prints. I have many customers who have us texture all their proofs to limit the quality if their customer tries to scan them.

Whoa! I feel like someone put a soapbox under my feet! What was the original question?

Oh, yeah. Sorry. :blushing: If you get back prints that you can't use, you can't sell. You must factor that in with your costs. If you have to continually get them reprinted (and you should!!), you must factor in the extra time in your costs.


I'm not sure if this helps you at all but no matter where you go, if you're not happy with the results, you need to either work with them to get the right results or find a place that will.

 

[Mike_E]

Thanks Linda, but you forgot to leave your personal web site.

http://www.exais.com/

Yes friends, she does good work.

mike

 

[cherrymoose]

I think Michael (cal_gundert05) said that you can get them developed at Walgreens for 19 cents per photo.

 

[AprilRamone]

Why pay $6.00 for crappy prints that look terrible when you can pay just a few dollars more for prints that look the way they are supposed to? Go to a place like Wolf or Mikes Camera (actually don't know if Mike's is a national store or not). Or try sending them to MPix. I won't even take my snapshots to Walgreens or Walmart. The quality just doesn't cut it for me. Printing is a very importaint part of the photographic process imo. And, since you are shy about asking for reprints, it might be in your best interest to just get them done by a more professional place the first time.

 

[Mike_E]

Wolf does good work but if you ever take a shot or series of shots that really excites you, treat yourself to a pro lab! Be sure to write down your vision (what you saw/what you want out of your photos) while it's fresh in your mind to send along with you files/film.

Taking the photo is only part of the job of producing a Great print so you need a lab that can be as great as your vision to succeed. I'm not suggesting that anyone send every shot to a pro lab (they are not set up for that) and a pro lab is not for everyone (if your Main camera is a disposable you might want to think about some place less expensive).

mike

 

[Jeremy Z]

I used to work at a Ritz Camera. The difference is huge. The main thing is quality control. Do pay the extra for one hour service. The quality is better because the people are actually there and are accountable for their work. Once they know that if they don't do it right, they will do it over, they do get better.

At the first Ritz I worked at, we had a very good team of lab girls. They took pride in their prints, and did not hesitate to reprint due to bad color or dust. One girl printed, another girl did quality checks.

People used to ask how much a roll cost to develop, and we would say: "$7.99 for double prints on 24 exposure rolls" Their jaw would drop and they would quote Wal*Mart's $3 price, single prints, 3 1/2 x 5 vs. our 4x6. X-( We would unapologetically say: "We'll match our quality against anyone's." and "You get what you pay for."

Some people would leave and go to Wal*Mart. Good riddance, cheapskate. Others would give us a try and pay the money one time, just to find out. People could AlWAYS tell the difference. There were no technical flaws and the color & exposure were corrected better.

Even my mom, who can barely operate a point & shoot, and can't remember how to cancel or force flash noticed the difference when I was dating the lab girls. They raised her standards, and all of a sudden, even the deluxe Walgreens wasn't good enough, hehehe.

As for sye-sub digital, there isn't a real difference, except the paper and how well the machines are maintained.

A couple weeks ago, I had some prints made at my local pharmacy. They are walking distance from my house, so I consider it worth the time to get them trained. 4 of the prints had light scratches on them because something in the machine was dirty. I found the lab girl and said I would like her to clean the machine so I could reprint the 4 that had the scratch or whatever right on the person's face. She cleaned it, and the prints came out very nicely.

The way I see it, if I get prints that are technically good, I will take them. If they're bad because of ME, OK. If their people or their machine screwed them up, that is unacceptable. I am a photographer, and this is my product. I won't settle because some kid is too lazy to do it right. I'll MAKE him or her do it right. Worst-case, I talk to the manager, and if that doesn't work, I leave and never go back. Vote with your wallet, my friend.

One time, when I was having prints made in Krakow, Poland for my vacation, I dropped the film off at a one-hour lab. Their prices were high, about $9 a roll. I asked my wife to warn them that I am picky and that I won't take sub-par prints. I think she was a bit embarassed, as they apparently aren't such demanding customers there. That, or she was too diplomatic.

A couple hours later, I came back for the prints and about 3 per roll had dust on the negative. Only one print out of 6 rolls was mis-printed. The guy was upset. He went over the prints with a loupe, to make sure they were dust and not a reflection. (A couple of them were reflections) But they reprinted the ones that weren't done right. My wife was embarassed, the staff were a bit angry because I slowed them down, and all the other customers were staring at this American with his Polish wife who was making trouble. Tough luck for them. At my workplace, if we miss something or do it badly, we do it over, so it doesen't save time to do sloppy work.

Sorry for the rant.

If you want to save money, have them printed at a Pharmacy or Wal*Mart, but be ready to make them reprint. (maybe for snapshot-type stuff, this is a good option)

If you want quality stuff, go to a photo specialist. It isn't THAT much more, and they usually have a Frequent Photo club or something with good benefits, if you keep going back. At Ritz, we used to give free Agfa film or free double prints to members. We even did the math as to how many rolls they would have to have developed for the membership to pay for itself.

 

[JIP]

One thing I have found out also being a Ritz employee is that quality control has suffered since the advent of digital. In the past when printing was done while looking at just the negative all the prints were looked at and then the bad ones were removed and replaced with properly printed ones. Now with video displays for printing images are looked at alot less and the quality control has gone way down hill now granted, this is at the store that I used to work at until I was recently injured and I have gotten several sets of prints done and had density and color problems and even had a whole set of prints with roller marks on them. I guess the only thing I am saying with all this is if you need local work done fast and you do not have local pro labs you can depend on Ritz/Wolf to do good work better than any other minilab but the best way to go is a good pro lab either online or local.