BACKGROUND
More than half of the folks that call me to ask about pricing for developing and scanning are turned off by my price. As of February 24, 2021, I charge $33.25 + tax for developing and scanning 35mm or 120 films. Regardless of whether it is color or BW or 24 exposures or 35 exposures.
The typical caller is a newbie photographer that is just looking for the cheapest price. So, I decided to do this post to show a side-by-side comparison of what a typical home scanned negative looks like and what a professional photo lab scan looks like. I shot color and a BW film and developed it myself and then, scanned it using my Epson V600. After that, I sent the negatives to my vendor who uses a Noritsu scanner. Below are the results. On a smaller screen such as a phone or a tablet, you may see minimal differences between the scans. However, on a larger monitor or when you print, the difference stands out. I adjusted both sets for contrast and brightness.
Conclusion
So, if you are just starting out in photography, go with someone that offers a $15-20 deal to develop and scan. But, if you shoot professionally and are spending money on buying professional-grade films, your Customers will appreciate the superior quality of the Noritsu scanner. That will result in repeat business. Your Customers will be willing to pay the premium price for the finer scans and prints.
One more thing – no matter how good someone is with scanning at home on an Epson V600 type scanner setup, it is hard to keep dust or other imperfections out of the scans. And, it really is not a fair comparison. The Noritsu scanner with accessories is a $10,000+ scanner (for 120 films) and the Epson V600 is about $175-250 with accessories. Now, there are folks – check YouTube – that do wonders with the Epson V600 or the V850 but, it takes time & effort that would not make sense from a business perspective for me to pursue while trying to compete in the sub-$20 price range. So, I have chosen to pursue the business model of offering superior quality scans for a higher price to those Customers that can appreciate the difference in how their work is rendered as demonstrated below.
BLACK & WHITE – Ilford HP5 400 ISO
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1614192205042_5641 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -20px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1614192205042_5641 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; }
COLOR – Fuji C 100 ISO
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1614192205042_14024 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -20px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1614192205042_14024 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; }