Peak Imaging Lab Closed

perkeleellinen · Oct 15, 2022

Dear All,

Pentax User mentioned this in another thread but I thought it deserved it's own.

I'm sad to say that Peak Imaging in Sheffield has closed its doors. I had used the lab for the last 15 years at least, they were brilliant - excellent quality, good price, friendly service and importantly very consistent. My negatives were so consistent year to year that I came to expect my colour filter pack to hardly change in the darkroom. My slides were always clean. Turnaround was always one day.

I read online that Peak had trouble sourcing chemistry and also filling vacancies. Sad if that's true as it suggests demand for the lab's services may have still been there. The website is now gone, their Twitter is deleted and Google states 'permanently closed'. Sad day.

Trail Images · Oct 15, 2022

perkeleellinen said:
sourcing chemistry and also filling vacancies

We hear much of this world wide. It is truly sad to say. I've noticed some labs have cut back on days of service as a sign of woes of some sort. Possibly including the aforementioned of supply shortages and lacking in personnel support. I think every business here in So Cal has a help wanted sign in the windows.......

Tom Kershaw · Oct 15, 2022

perkeleellinen said:
I read online that Peak had trouble sourcing chemistry and also filling vacancies. Sad if that's true as it suggests demand for the lab's services may have still been there.

Do you have a link to that information? Asking as I think this is an interesting subject and we don't always hear about UK business issues on this forum.

thanks,
Tom

foc · Oct 16, 2022

It is always sad to hear of a lab closing. I wonder if it will be a case of "survival of the fittest" where other labs are concerned.

Filling vacancies appears to be a problem across all retail and services, especially since covid. There is no lab training program that I know of. So to get staff and then train them is a big investment in time, and in any business, time is money.

richyd · Oct 16, 2022

That is a great great loss and seems a bit sudden without any notification or current message. Looks like I got my last order in at the end of August just in time. They processed all formats, including odd ones now like 110 and 127 and had a range of other services. Many other places don't do sheet film and in all processes.

I worry what happens to all the irreplacable machinery in these cases like dip and dunk processors. A few years ago Genie processing in South London, where I could physically go, stopped all film processing but at least continued with inkjet printing. They also had dip and dunk and an Agfa Dlab machine that produced great prints. That is when I shifted to Peak.

Tom Kershaw · Oct 16, 2022

richyd said:
A few years ago Genie processing in South London, where I could physically go, stopped all film processing but at least continued with inkjet printing. They also had dip and dunk and an Agfa Dlab machine that produced great prints. That is when I shifted to Peak.

I'm not sure how many places are left? There is Ag Photolab in Birmingham and a few others dotted about, but I have done my own colour work in a Jobo for many years so haven't needed to make use of labs for film processing.

richyd said:
I worry what happens to all the irreplacable machinery in these cases like dip and dunk processors.

Yes, lets hope the dip & dunk machines don't get scrapped, although from reading around they still seem to be available new, which hopefully bodes well for parts availability.

Trail Images · Oct 16, 2022

I just exchanged an email with a person from the UK and he mentioned using this lab.

https://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/

Lachlan Young · Oct 16, 2022

perkeleellinen said:
I read online that Peak had trouble sourcing chemistry and also filling vacancies. Sad if that's true as it suggests demand for the lab's services may have still been there.

The demand for processing isn't the problem. Believe you me, that isn't going to be the cause. Peak also had wider involvement in social/ wedding etc type of print work - and the usual range of other stuff done via digital exposure & often mounted to various substrates.

I would however point out that their processing prices were very low compared to some, & even if they had quite reasonable throughput, this may have had knock-on effects in terms of attracting and retaining employees (and to whatever extent they were reliant on part-timers too).

Tom Kershaw · Oct 16, 2022

Lachlan Young said:
The demand for processing isn't the problem. Believe you me, that isn't going to be the cause.

On my very small scale I switched to Fuji Hunt for C-41 when Kodak became unavailable, and my experience so far with Bellini for E6 (5 litre kit) has been positive, so chemistry is available in the current market place, i.e not from pre-COVID stock piles.

for anyone needing info on the Fuji products reading this page, here is a useful link:

Supporting Documents | Fujifilm [United Kingdom]

www.fujifilm.com

perkeleellinen · Oct 18, 2022

Lachlan Young said:
The demand for processing isn't the problem. Believe you me, that isn't going to be the cause. Peak also had wider involvement in social/ wedding etc type of print work - and the usual range of other stuff done via digital exposure & often mounted to various substrates.

I would however point out that their processing prices were very low compared to some, & even if they had quite reasonable throughput, this may have had knock-on effects in terms of attracting and retaining employees (and to whatever extent they were reliant on part-timers too).

Hmm, interesting. I had read that comment on another forum from a member who had seen a Facebook post from a Sheffield photo shop that was seemingly knowledgeable.

I sent my films to AG as I had a mix of C41 and E6. If I had had E6 only, I think I would have sent them to John Salim.

AgX · Oct 18, 2022

richyd said:
I worry what happens to all the irreplacable machinery in these cases like dip and dunk processors.

Tom Kershaw said:
Yes, lets hope the dip & dunk machines don't get scrapped, although from reading around they still seem to be available new, which hopefully bodes well for parts availability.

Yes indeed, hanger and roller transport processors can still be made by order in continental Europe. But of course the times of series production have gone, prices will be according. And these would have to be covered by demand for processing.

Lachlan Young · Oct 18, 2022

perkeleellinen said:
Hmm, interesting. I had read that comment on another forum from a member who had seen a Facebook post from a Sheffield photo shop that was seemingly knowledgeable.

I sent my films to AG as I had a mix of C41 and E6. If I had had E6 only, I think I would have sent them to John Salim.

To the best of my knowledge, they (Peak) were latterly running a 4-day/ week operation, but still nominally employing somewhere in the range of 12 people - dip/ dunk machines really only need a couple of people to run them, it's more likely that it was the other (probably previously more profitable but more demanding in terms of workforce need and capital equipment costs - and bigger victims of Covid/ post-Covid changes) sections of the business that didn't help. It would not massively surprise me if a dramatically slimmed down & more film-process focused operation emerged.

GLS · Oct 21, 2022

Terrible news. I used them for years. I just tried to check their website today to order some processing and found it wouldn't load

I guess Ag might be the next best option then, but I've never used them before... would be a bit reluctant to commit a lot of film all at once.

edit: Ag are a no go, as they don't process sheet film!

Sirius Glass · Oct 21, 2022

Sadly another one bites the dust.

GLS · Oct 21, 2022

The only other reputable UK lab I can find that will process C41 and E6 sheet film is Metro Imaging. Those bloody London prices though.... 50 to 100% more than Peak charged!

I might just have to eat the cost for this batch of film (fifteen sheets of 4x5, and three rolls of 120), but going forward I think I'll need to look into developing everything myself, otherwise I'm not sure continuing to shoot colour is tenable.

richyd · Oct 21, 2022

GLS said:
The only other reputable UK lab I can find that will process C41 and E6 sheet film is Metro Imaging. Those bloody London prices though.... 50 to 100% more than Peak charged!

Try the-darkroom.co.uk they process sheet in E6 but unfortunately for you not C41. For C41 you could try Rapideye www.rapideye.uk.com in London . I do my own processing for sheets as it so expensive otherwise and works well with a Jobo.

Metro stopped all in house wet processing including B&W prints some years ago but still advertised services so don't know to whom that was farmed out to or whether they mothballed their machines and have now re-started them.

GLS · Oct 21, 2022

richyd said:
Try the-darkroom.co.uk they process sheet in E6 but unfortunately for you not C41. For C41 you could try Rapideye www.rapideye.uk.com in London . I do my own processing for sheets as it so expensive otherwise and works well with a Jobo.

Metro stopped all in house wet processing including B&W prints some years ago but still advertised services so don't know to whom that was farmed out to or whether they mothballed their machines and have now re-started them.

Thanks for the info. I found The Darkroom before and saw they only did E6. Wasn't aware of Rapideye, but see they have the opposite problem. Sending away to multiple labs is one solution, but with all the added postage costs it makes less sense.

I don't have a Jobo. It's something I've considered in the past but I develop in a bathroom where space is very limited. I might have to look into just using a simple water bath setup with tanks (Paterson spiral, or SP-445). I've recently started using a Paterson Orbital for developing 4x5 B&W, but that might prove tricky in a water bath unless it was kept shallow enough to stop the tank floating.

Lachlan Young · Oct 22, 2022

Two bigger labs that immediately spring to mind are Bayeaux and A&M - both do dip/dunk E-6/C-41/B&W.

Labyrinth and the Artful Dodgers both run C-41 dip/dunk - and do optical (i.e. enlarger) RA-4 printing.

GLS · Oct 22, 2022

Lachlan Young said:
Two bigger labs that immediately spring to mind are Bayeaux and A&M - both do dip/dunk E-6/C-41/B&W.

Many thanks for the info. Bayeux is even more expensive than Metro, but A&M is significantly cheaper.

Can you vouch for the service from A&M?

Cheers again.

Tom Kershaw · Oct 22, 2022

GLS said:
I don't have a Jobo. It's something I've considered in the past but I develop in a bathroom where space is very limited.

I can vouch that a Jobo with ExpertDrums does work well for colour sheet film. However the purchase price of the machines and tanks / accessories has gone up substantially in recent years so I would look carefully at the options if starting from scratch.

ronnies · Oct 22, 2022

GLS said:
Many thanks for the info. Bayeux is even more expensive than Metro, but A&M is significantly cheaper.

Can you vouch for the service from A&M?

Cheers again.

A&M have always been good for me.

Ronnie

GLS · Oct 22, 2022

ronnies said:
A&M have always been good for me.

Ronnie

OK thanks Ronnie. I'll give them a go.

Sirius Glass · Oct 22, 2022

Tom Kershaw said:
I can vouch that a Jobo with ExpertDrums does work well for colour sheet film. However the purchase price of the machines and tanks / accessories has gone up substantially in recent years so I would look carefully at the options if starting from scratch.

A Jobo Expert Drum will be used for decades for may sheets of film, so just like I did, just suck up to cost for longevity and consistently better processed film.

Tom Kershaw · Oct 23, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
A Jobo Expert Drum will be used for decades for may sheets of film, so just like I did, just suck up to cost for longevity and consistently better processed film.

this may be worth looking at if not already invested in Jobo, although I don't have personal experience of the dev.a machine.

dev.a - Automatic film processing - UK Sole Suppliers

dev.a - A brand new, fully automatic, film developing machine. No more dealing with old, fragile, used equipment

ntphotoworks.com

GLS · Oct 23, 2022

Looks pretty swish! About the same price as a new CPP-3 too.

Peak Imaging Lab Closed

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