Photographic Processing Laboratories

1. ProAm Imaging.

Secondary Research:

Website

ProAm Imaging is a photographic processing laboratory that offers many services. They can process film, and print on photographic paper for both film and digital photography. Here are some of the additional services they specialise in:

- A range of different personalised albums and books/storybooks. 

- Slides and negatives to a CD

- Cine/Video to DVD

- Posters and Canvas Prints

- Photo Art

and Restoration.

Winter Sale

This is a winter sale screenshot from their website. It's for printing digital images on to photographic paper at very cheap prices. The more images you can print, the lower the cost for an individual image. The starting price ranges from 4p and increases. They also do delivery which in my opinion is quite high and pricey. Luckily, this shop is close to us so it's great if you can do a collection instead.

For film processing without any prints, it's £1.99. This includes XP-2 and similar films. 

Primary Research:

I've decided to get some primary research and make a visit to ProAm to find out more. Then I found their leaflet with pricing which I've scanned below. I also found out more about timing through having a conversation with the staff. They mentioned that they can print, enlarge and develop images in 1 hour. This depends on how busy they are and how much jobs they've got to do. 

One of the services that has appealed to me was their soft cover photo books. They are A5 sized and you can get either 8 or 16 pages. They cost £6.99 and £9.99 with free delivery. I thought this was a service that could be used by professional photographers to present their imagery in a professional way. 

Softcover Book

2. Max Spielmann
Secondary Research:

Here is another photographic processing laboratory. They are quite similar to ProAm but they have stores nationwide so they have a higher reputation. Along with the known branding, they also have high pricing. Here's some of the services they provide:

- Passport/ID photo

- Portrait Photography Studios

- Instant Photo Printing

- Photo gifts

- Posters

- VHS to DVD

- Film Processing

and also Photo Restoration

One of the services that I thought was unique for the Christmas period was this personalised wrapping paper that is made in store for £2.99. In differ, they also specialise in more personalised gifts compared to ProAm. These includes calenders, mugs, coasters, place mats and mouse mats. From their website, I also found that they process any film within a 1 hour service just like ProAm. However, there was no pricing on their website in regards to processing or printing film. Here are their instant prints for digital, from either mobile or computer.

Quantity:	1-99 per print	100-499 per print	500+ per print
6x4”	15p	10p	5p
5x7”	20p	15p	10p
8x6”	25p	20p	15p

Primary Research:

Having call my local store, I've found out that film processing with no prints starts from £6 for 24 exposures. £7 for 36 exposures. *All depending on which film you use too.

In comparison to ProAm, the prices are very much higher and that's due to being a nationwide company with a reputation. The offer pretty much the same services but Max Spielmann has a few extras that comes under gifts and the studio. They don't offer any books that I found interesting in ProAm. In terms of timing, they are both a 1 hour service unless you have a lot of work to be done, then they need to know in advance.