Cost of Jobo Processing?

[TheFlyingCamera]

Catlabs was going to sell the processor and supplies in the US, but as it seems there were some problems.
Actually there was a thread about this: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/your-darkroom-gear-dreams-come-true.138113/#post-1805238

After testing the processor, Catlabs withdrew from the deal and - totally unrelated of course - there were some statements about the quality of reels from China.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/china-copies-of-jobo-products.142251/page-5#post-1864889 (posts 110 & 113)

It seems that now the website still exists, but they have nothing about how to order, or pricing information, even for home-market customers. So it looks like this was another "good idea" that died on the vine. What a shame.

 

[darkroommike]

Enjoy your hobby and stop trying to factor the cost of your processing equipment into your price per roll when processing color. You will probably (unless buying new) get back every penny you invest into a Jobo machine, someone will come by and buy it off you when you are done, the only exception would be if all processing chemicals and silver based films disappear. It's like buying a Mercedes or a Hasselblad.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Enjoy your hobby and stop trying to factor the cost of your processing equipment into your price per roll when processing color. You will probably (unless buying new) get back every penny you invest into a Jobo machine, someone will come by and buy it off you when you are done, the only exception would be if all processing chemicals and silver based films disappear. It's like buying a Mercedes or a Hasselblad.

Mike-

actually, even with buying a NEW CPP3 (which goes for around $3500, IIRC) and a set of new tanks and reels (call it $4K as a nice round number for everything), at today's prices for custom lab work, shooting 100 rolls of b/w 120 a year (lab price $12/roll, my cost under $2/roll), the Jobo would pay for itself in 4 years. If it were 100 rolls of color, it would be between 3 to 5 1/2 years, depending on your chemistry usage scheme. And the life expectancy on a new Jobo is well north of 20 years. So yes, you can figure a cost factor into the purchase decision. And that goes a long way toward justifying the purchase, even as a hobbyist.

 

[pbromaghin]

I use one of these and it works real well. EBay completed listings has them ranging $35-90.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Enjoy your hobby and stop trying to factor the cost of your processing equipment into your price per roll when processing color. You will probably (unless buying new) get back every penny you invest into a Jobo machine, someone will come by and buy it off you when you are done, the only exception would be if all processing chemicals and silver based films disappear. It's like buying a Mercedes or a Hasselblad.

+1

 

[darkroommike]

I use one of these and it works real well. EBay completed listings has them ranging $35-90.

I do this, use the Uniroller. Film Drum II for roll and 35mm film, but I prefer to use an Omega "Chromega" drum for sheet film, it has ribs on the drum surface so the film can "clear" on both sides in the drum. The Omega drum is a Simmard drum in other parts of the world, mikes sense since it was made by Simmard. And the Omega drum does not need a gasket.

 

[JWMster]

+ 1 for the Uniroller base and a Jobo 2500 tank.
+ 1 for not making it all about cost, too. Cost is one thing... but not to the exclusion of control, quality, and other factors.

 

[wiltw]

I am wanting to shoot much more color film these days and so am considering buying a Jobo CPE-3 processor....I'm wondering what is the chemical cost to run this device? !

The cost to process on a Jobo is not too dissimilar to the cost of processing yourself in conventional processing tanks! The Jobo merely helps regulate agitation and temperature, for better consistency.
I cannot think of a significant difference that results in the reason to compute an ROI period against the expense of purchase.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Some commercial processors use the Jobo and do it at a profit so it must be economical.

PE

 

[mshchem]

Enjoy your hobby and stop trying to factor the cost of your processing equipment into your price per roll when processing color. You will probably (unless buying new) get back every penny you invest into a Jobo machine, someone will come by and buy it off you when you are done, the only exception would be if all processing chemicals and silver based films disappear. It's like buying a Mercedes or a Hasselblad.

I agree 100%. If you are buying Fujichrome you have money to find a used or new Jobo. The CPP3 is an amazing machine, built like a tank with modern electronics. If all you do is develop roll film you can do it in a SS tank and a waterbath. This equipment is fun. I love darkroom work. If it's about money most people use the "filmless cameras" YIKES!
Mike

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The cost to process on a Jobo is not too dissimilar to the cost of processing yourself in conventional processing tanks! The Jobo merely helps regulate agitation and temperature, for better consistency.
I cannot think of a significant difference that results in the reason to compute an ROI period against the expense of purchase.

The chemical cost is a real factor. If you do roll film in a stainless steel tank, for example, you can get two rolls of 120 in a liter of chemistry. With a Jobo, you can do ten rolls in that same liter of chemistry. Theoretically you can get the same ten rolls out of the liter before it exhausts whichever way you process, but doing it in small lots over time, you'll probably not get ten rolls out of the same batch doing it in stainless, only 8. So that's a 20% savings on chemistry.

And while you'll use up the liter at the same chemical rate (see above for caveat), it will take you five times longer to develop those ten rolls in SS tanks. That's two-plus extra hours of time that could be spent printing, or shooting more film, rather than staring at a timer.

If you do b/w film, the savings is even more dramatic because your chemistry is always one-shot. So two rolls of b/w vs ten. You've cut your chemistry cost by 80%. So compound a time savings and a cost savings, and that's just comparing it against doing it yourself without the Jobo. Compare it to the cost of having that work done by a lab, and the justification is very easy.