Japan Camera was the first photo retailer to open a mini-lab in North America. A mini-lab is a small version of a photo processing center equipped with a film processor (C-41 chemistry) and a paper printer/processor.
These machines must be calibrated both every morning and when a new roll of paper is used to ensure proper colour rendition and paper quality. They must also be constantly monitored & maintained during operations.
Since people use less of film and more of digital ordering kiosks, it is not uncommon that a single client can ask to have printed an order say over 500 pictures!
FYI: digital pictures are not developed, they are printed!
This is our Digital Imaging station. We use this for any digital work such as scanning a photograph or colour correcting digital images. Here you can see a passport photo being processed.
This is the C-41 Film Processor. Here film is loaded and passed through a chemical process which develops the film. This is what allows for 1-hour availability!
This is our film station. As you can see, a processed film roll is being loaded into the reader in order to be colour corrected. This needs to be done since many times cheap films are used for taking photos often resulting in dull, unappealing colours (always use a well known film!) Also, a good minilab will try to maintain a certain consistency and accuracy in the colour rendition of your photos.
This is the final step in the creation of a passport. After it has been cropped and printed, it is then cut, stamped and package accordingly. This is of course if it is a single person. All this must be done in 15 minutes!
Finally, after the pictures have been printed & priced, the negative is the last step; it is cut and packaged.
To give you an idea of how intense it can be in the lab in one hour, these are some of the things that may be requested:
As important as speed is, there is always a strong effort to ensure that a quality assurance on your photos is maintained. It is why the reputable well-maintained photo labs in the city have properly trained lab technicians and why prints there will always cost more than say *COSTCO or Walmart.
Keep in mind all that goes on in the lab (often at times) is performed BY 1 TECHNICIAN! ONE TECHNICIAN!
So the next time you have some prints to do, try to keep in mind what is happening behind the scenes and that the single technician is doing their fastest and best to get you a ONE HOUR SERVICE!
Since people use less of film and more of digital ordering kiosks, it is not uncommon that a single client can ask to have printed an order say over 500 pictures!
FYI: digital pictures are not developed, they are printed!
This is our Digital Imaging station. We use this for any digital work such as scanning a photograph or colour correcting digital images. Here you can see a passport photo being processed.
This is the C-41 Film Processor. Here film is loaded and passed through a chemical process which develops the film. This is what allows for 1-hour availability!
This is our film station. As you can see, a processed film roll is being loaded into the reader in order to be colour corrected. This needs to be done since many times cheap films are used for taking photos often resulting in dull, unappealing colours (always use a well known film!) Also, a good minilab will try to maintain a certain consistency and accuracy in the colour rendition of your photos.
This is the final step in the creation of a passport. After it has been cropped and printed, it is then cut, stamped and package accordingly. This is of course if it is a single person. All this must be done in 15 minutes!
Finally, after the pictures have been printed & priced, the negative is the last step; it is cut and packaged.
To give you an idea of how intense it can be in the lab in one hour, these are some of the things that may be requested:
- Develop, correct, print and package several rolls of film
- Colour correct and print several small digital orders and one large order
- Keep track of incoming internet orders
- Prioritize passport images
- Change paper and calibrate printer
- Quality check to ensure prints are met by lab standards
As important as speed is, there is always a strong effort to ensure that a quality assurance on your photos is maintained. It is why the reputable well-maintained photo labs in the city have properly trained lab technicians and why prints there will always cost more than say *COSTCO or Walmart.
Keep in mind all that goes on in the lab (often at times) is performed BY 1 TECHNICIAN! ONE TECHNICIAN!
So the next time you have some prints to do, try to keep in mind what is happening behind the scenes and that the single technician is doing their fastest and best to get you a ONE HOUR SERVICE!
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