Mini lab seeing increased volume

foc · Aug 12, 2018

I have a mini lab in a small town in the sticks, in a small country on the periphery of Europe. We have had the best six months film processing in the last 5 years.

We have on average a 50% increase in film processing in that time frame.

Ok the real truth is we are a digital lab that kept our film processor (and B&W tanks). To keep the through put in the processor we offered online developing, through different sites (our own, ebay, etsy). It took a while but guess what, people responded. So we went from 50 units a week to 75 (50% increase !!). Film developing is just 5% of our turnover but it's good profitable percentage and most importantly I enjoy it !!!

I know it's just a local thing, although we get film sent in from as far away as Finland, USA, Malta, Uk & EU.

B&W has gone from on average, 5 per week to 20. Instore has increased as customers travel to us.

Without industry figures to compare, this is all just a nice story. As labs close it will create a bigger pool for those left (hopefully) or this could be the death throes of commercial film developing.

What ever it is, I'm lovin it.

RattyMouse · Aug 12, 2018

Adrian Bacon said:
So things wil never be the way they were, however, they can be enough to make a living off of if you run a tight ship.

There is one lab that does C41 in the town where I live and they charge $10/roll development only. I've stock piled about 35 rolls of film for development. I think $10/roll is priced pretty high so I went to them last week and asked if it were possible that I get a discount if I bring them 35 rolls of film in one shot.

They said no, not possible; the shop makes no money on film processing. They do a single run per week so their operation is as tight as can be.

foc · Aug 12, 2018

RattyMouse said:
There is one lab that does C41 in the town where I live and they charge $10/roll development only. I've stock piled about 35 rolls of film for development. I think $10/roll is priced pretty high so I went to them last week and asked if it were possible that I get a discount if I bring them 35 rolls of film in one shot.

They said no, not possible; the shop makes no money on film processing. They do a single run per week so their operation is as tight as can be.

That sounds crazy to me. $10 = €8.75 for dev only. WOW and they say they aren't making any money.
And they only turn on the processor once a week?????

Far be it for me to tell someone how to run their business but it appears to me that they are on a film processing death wish.

Charge less, gain volume and turn on your processor more often. (it's not good for your chemistry stop/starting like that)

Bob Carnie · Aug 12, 2018

If I was 15 years younger I would get a technolab and start C41 and BW mail order business, it seems to me to be the right time, I agree with foc charge less , gain volume and keep the chems active. I would also add combine a scanner to output and a inkjet service to proof and make prints, I think this would survive with the right operator owner willing to work their ass off to give good customer service.

I personally would not use a roller transport but rather dip and dunk.

RattyMouse · Aug 12, 2018

foc said:
That sounds crazy to me. $10 = €8.75 for dev only. WOW and they say they aren't making any money.
And they only turn on the processor once a week?????

Far be it for me to tell someone how to run their business but it appears to me that they are on a film processing death wish.

Charge less, gain volume and turn on your processor more often. (it's not good for your chemistry stop/starting like that)

Even worse, I can't find another lab within 60 miles of this one. That's it.

TomNY · Aug 12, 2018

Such is the age we live in. 30 years ago I couldn't spit without hitting a minilab, camera store, video store, record store and bookstore. All gone now except for a Barnes and Noble. I personally have a small business where I used to share our small market with about 30 competitors. The computer age and financial crisis 10 years ago hit us hard, but three of us remain. The need for our services has declined but the three of us are busier than ever. There will always be a need for our personalized service even though the bulk of the business has gone to amazon-like companies. Hopefully the film market has stabilized and it'll provide enough business for those that will remain.

AgX · Aug 12, 2018

foc said:
I have a mini lab in a small town in the sticks, in a small country on the periphery of Europe. We have had the best six months film processing in the last 5 years.

We have on average a 50% increase in film processing in that time frame.

Ok the real truth is we are a digital lab that kept our film processor (and B&W tanks). To keep the through put in the processor we offered online developing, through different sites (our own, ebay, etsy). It took a while but guess what, people responded. So we went from 50 units a week to 75 (50% increase !!). Film developing is just 5% of our turnover but it's good profitable percentage and most importantly I enjoy it !!!

I know it's just a local thing, although we get film sent in from as far away as Finland, USA, Malta, Uk & EU.

B&W has gone from on average, 5 per week to 20. Instore has increased as customers travel to us.

Without industry figures to compare, this is all just a nice story. As labs close it will create a bigger pool for those left (hopefully) or this could be the death throes of commercial film developing.

What ever it is, I'm lovin it.

You hit the nail on the head. From such single experience it is hard to make good assumptions.

Nodda Duma · Aug 12, 2018

Sirius Glass said:
Samys in Culver City regularly tells me that film processing and sales has been increases over a number of years and that they have been adding darkroom staff.

Funny. That same Samys told me 12 years ago that film was dead and never coming back.

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 12, 2018

Paul Howell said:
I dropped off a roll of Fujicolor 100 at Wilson's Camera here in Scottsdale AZ, The tech told they are up to 50 + rolls a week, mostly from 20 to 30 shooters using vintage all mechanical cameras. They still carry used gear, biggest sellers are Minolta 100 and 200s along with assortment of Canon FTBs. Don't know if Tempe Camera has seen the increase.

That must be a small-town mini-lab. In the Big Smoke here in Australia, something like 6,000 rolls a week (35mm, 120 but virtually no LF processing) are going through DnD or roller processors from just 3 labs working 6 days each week.

Sirius Glass · Aug 12, 2018

Nodda Duma said:
Funny. That same Samys told me 12 years ago that film was dead and never coming back.

That was then, this is now.

Cholentpot · Aug 12, 2018

Or maybe things pick up in the summer.

I shoot on average 2 rolls a week in the summer but maybe 2 a month in the winter.

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 12, 2018

Cholentpot said:
Or maybe things pick up in the summer.

I shoot on average 2 rolls a week in the summer but maybe 2 a month in the winter.

Most of us here in the Southern Hemisphere would be lucky to finish a single roll of 120 or 35mm over winter, and sometimes for a lot of us, not even that. Winter (we are in the last 3 weeks of it here) is usually spent restocking, printing and framing and planning the next 9 months' of shooting over the enticingly warmer Spring-Summer-Autumn period. The big volumes of lab processing are coming from the tertiary institutions, students, clubs, groups and tourists wandering the city streets and cafe nooks and crannies.

Adrian Bacon · Aug 12, 2018

RattyMouse said:
There is one lab that does C41 in the town where I live and they charge $10/roll development only. I've stock piled about 35 rolls of film for development. I think $10/roll is priced pretty high so I went to them last week and asked if it were possible that I get a discount if I bring them 35 rolls of film in one shot.

They said no, not possible; the shop makes no money on film processing. They do a single run per week so their operation is as tight as can be.

Well, then, they haven’t downsized. I charge $10 a roll for C-41 development only via mail order, but don’t charge return shipping. For a single roll it costs me $3-4 dollars to return the developed film and my chemical costs are about a dollar per roll, which leaves me ~$5 per roll before taxes and paying to maintain the facilities to process film, not to mention my time to spool up for one roll. Where I make my money is in providing high quality scans (btw, most customers want the film scanned, as they don’t have a scanner, or don’t want to have to scan it), and more recently, prints. The break even for me for develop only is 4 rolls at a time. That would be $40 gross for roughly an hour including spool up. If everything is already up to temp, then that would be $40 for 20-30 minutes from the time it came through the door to the time it’s hanging to dry.

That being said, if a local asked me for a volume discount on 30-40 rolls to develop only and was going to drop off and pick up the film, if it was a 1 time deal, I’d probably say no, but if was for an ongoing thing, like a pro who shoots 30-40 rolls every week, I’d immediately chop the price to $5-6 a roll, but won’t go much lower than that because I’m not running a charity, and my time is not free. Anybody who thinks that $10 is outrageous for a single roll via mail order hasn’t sat down and figured out how much it really costs to get a roll of film through the door, process, and send it back to the customer.

Adrian Bacon · Aug 12, 2018

Bob Carnie said:
If I was 15 years younger I would get a technolab and start C41 and BW mail order business, it seems to me to be the right time, I agree with foc charge less , gain volume and keep the chems active. I would also add combine a scanner to output and a inkjet service to proof and make prints, I think this would survive with the right operator owner willing to work their ass off to give good customer service.

I personally would not use a roller transport but rather dip and dunk.

That’s what I’m doing. Almost nobody wants develop only. 99 out of 100 rolls is develop and at least a basic scan, then a few days later before the film goes back to them, they’ll order inkjet prints of at least some of the images.

Chan Tran · Aug 12, 2018

chriscrawfordphoto said:
Sad that 50 rolls a week is cause for excitement. When I was in college 20 yrs ago, I worked at a one hour lab, and we considered it a bad day if we got fewer than 100 rolls A DAY!

I managed a 1 hour lab back in the early 80's and there was bad days with about 50 roll and on those days I sent everyone home and I worked alone. Most days we had more than 100 rolls.

Arklatexian · Aug 13, 2018

TomNY said:
Such is the age we live in. 30 years ago I couldn't spit without hitting a minilab, camera store, video store, record store and bookstore. All gone now except for a Barnes and Noble. I personally have a small business where I used to share our small market with about 30 competitors. The computer age and financial crisis 10 years ago hit us hard, but three of us remain. The need for our services has declined but the three of us are busier than ever. There will always be a need for our personalized service even though the bulk of the business has gone to amazon-like companies. Hopefully the film market has stabilized and it'll provide enough business for those that will remain.

Well, it is not 30 years ago or 10 years ago, it is now and given today's market (not 30 or 10 years ago), people, IN THE BUSINESS, are showing increases over last year and maybe the year before that. That friends is called PROGRESS, NOW. Like many businesses, not just photography, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel of the future. Lets us, who have made a commitment to that future with film quit trying tp put that light out!..............Regards!

TomNY · Aug 13, 2018

Arklatexian said:
Well, it is not 30 years ago or 10 years ago, it is now and given today's market (not 30 or 10 years ago), people, IN THE BUSINESS, are showing increases over last year and maybe the year before that. That friends is called PROGRESS, NOW. Like many businesses, not just photography, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel of the future. Lets us, who have made a commitment to that future with film quit trying tp put that light out!..............Regards!

I wasn't looking to be negative, apologies if it came off that way. The point I was making is that markets have and will continue to change. Those who adjust appropriately can be successful. Believe me, I hope the film business and labs see year over year growth every year going forward.

Cholentpot · Aug 13, 2018

Poisson Du Jour said:
Most of us here in the Southern Hemisphere would be lucky to finish a single roll of 120 or 35mm over winter, and sometimes for a lot of us, not even that. Winter (we are in the last 3 weeks of it here) is usually spent restocking, printing and framing and planning the next 9 months' of shooting over the enticingly warmer Spring-Summer-Autumn period. The big volumes of lab processing are coming from the tertiary institutions, students, clubs, groups and tourists wandering the city streets and cafe nooks and crannies.

It's more or less the same here, end of November until mid April it's a frigid wasteland.

RalphLambrecht · Aug 13, 2018

Berkeley Mike said:
Yup; last man standing.

You and Ilford;good on You.

Paul Manuell · Aug 13, 2018

Always great to read positive news on anything film related

MattKing · Aug 13, 2018

What would be really heartening is to learn that those who market photo chemistry are experiencing a growth in sales and numbers of customers.
I still am happy though to learn of labs that are doing well, and customers who are happy with their labs.

redstarjedi · Aug 15, 2018

I live in Glendale, CA a small city tucked into the greater Los Angeles area, you'd never be able to tell that you crossed into Los Angeles from Glendale and vice versa. My local lab in glendale has had their business expand so much that they actually lowered their prices for processing+scanning. It used to be that Mike the owner, and i would chat for 20 mins and he'd show off his noritsu LS-1800 to me and talk about photography. Gone are those days, we hardly talk anymore because he is so busy. His wife an daughter now work there full time, and he's looking to expand into a larger space and start E6 and open a small darkroom rental.

Yes, labs have closed. However, i think they are now matching current demand and not demand from 20+ years ago. I have the luxury of living in a massive metropolitan area, so downsizing really hasn't affected me. I feel for those mid-sized cities and small towns that lost there labs and may never get another one. But film is doing great in big cities.

Brady Eklund · Aug 15, 2018

I was in a room about a month ago with people from about 20 other mini labs with a couple of representatives from Kodak Alaris and Fujifilm. All the labs were seeing an increase in film developing and sales. The guy from Kodak estimated demand for their film had increased around 15% in 2017 and another 20% this year. It was a very interesting discussion. One of the problems is that most of the processing equipment was manufactured in the 90's to early 00's and it's hard to keep the old beasts running. Noritsu had apparently run some numbers exploring the possibility of restarting production of their C41 processors, but determined they would need to sell far more than the market could sustain. It seems like the executives in Japan are having a hard time believing this is anything more than a passing fad, but the guy from Fujifilm was very interested in what we had to say.

AgX · Aug 15, 2018

Why then does this stated increase in use of film does not show up at one of the worlds largest labs (150million prints a month), which has a very averaging effect due to their spread over several countries, and which sees an ongoing decline instead ?

Chan Tran · Aug 15, 2018

I am thinking of buying one of those Noritsu C41 machine and put it in my garage. Someday I may offer processing on the web just C41 processing only.

Mini lab seeing increased volume

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