[Leica] Film Processing

[mstoesz at wyoming.com (Mike Stoesz)]

"Its not buying film that is difficult, its trying to get it processed."
Cheers
Jayanand

How true.

I own a photo lab, retail store, digital imaging center, portrait/commercial 
studio.
Two years ago we were processing 30-80 rolls of C-41 per day with peaks of 
100+ some days in the summer.  We also processed 10-20 rolls of E-6 per day.

Now I am processing about 10 rolls of C-41/WEEK (three this week), and I 
parted out the E-6 machine in March since I could not keep the chemistry in 
balance on fewer than 10 rolls each WEEK--the chemistry needed at least 5-10 
rolls per day.

It is a decreasing spiral of demand and available services.  If the services 
are not utilized then they are not efficient to provide.  When it costs the 
producer (the one providing the service) more in labor costs (time)than the 
return then the producer searches for other ways to achieve a better return 
on the time investment.  It takes me about 1-3 hours to set up and process 
1-10 rolls of C-41 film.  This includes setting up the processor, the 
printer, calibration, time preparing the films, mixing chemistry if needed, 
cleaning racks, processing and printing the orders, packaging the orders.  
At an average return of $10.00 per roll and competing with W**-M*** at less 
than $5.00/roll do you think I can justify this service.  I am currently 
processing only about one or two days per week.  Some clients are not 
satisfied with this but I have little choice.  I even had someone in last 
week that wanted one-hour service on a day I did not have the equipment even 
turned on.  They were a bit upset and disappointed until I explained the 
problem and then they were understanding at least.

What this gets down to is the fact that the services cannot be provided 
unless there is an economic benefit to the provider to offer the service.  I 
am in a position to offer this on a limited basis for a long time but I will 
not be processing every day.  I can receive a much better return on my labor 
(I am the sole employee)(at one time we had 3 full-time and 3 part-time 
employees) by doing copy and restoration, large format prints, slide 
scanning to CD, and portrait/commercial photography.

I am applying for my Social Security benefits as a hedge against the further 
decline as I am rebuilding/remaking the business.  I will be changing my 
marketing stratagies, providing new products and services, reinventing the 
business for the demise of film and domination of digital.  

End of rant.

Best wishes to all in the holiday season
Mike Stoesz
Laramie Digital Photo Center  (formerly Rainbow Photography, Inc)
Laramie, Wyoming, USA