Photo lab printing in Canada: Results part 1
 

Photo lab printing in Canada: TEST RESULTS PART 1
January 13, 2005
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Many people ask which photo lab produces the best prints at the best
cost. Like others, I too want to know the answer. So I decided send the
same five photos to three photo labs in Canada:

- Future Photo (Future Shop's photo lab)
- Wal-Mart
- Photo Service (a good photography store in Old Montreal)

All photos were taken with the same 3 megapixel camera (Canon S230).



Summary conclusions
....................

I am not a professional photographer and my conclusions are based on my
own personal preferences. Also, I know that results will change based
on which store location the photos were processed and which technician
was on duty at the time. So, take these results with a grain of salt.


Future Photo
www.futurephoto.ca
$0.39 (4x6, Canadian prices)

These prints were done at the St. Catherine Street downtown store.
Future Photo produced the most vivid colours. The blue seemed more blue
than the others. But the resolution didn't seem as good. For instance,
in one photo a white diagonal line (from a boat sail) looks jagged.




Photo Service
www.photoservice.ca
$0.49 (4x6, Canadian prices, $0.41 on larger orders)

Located on Notre Dame St. in Old Montreal, Photo Service sells to
photographers. They did the best job. The colours were almost as good
as Future Photo. And that diagonal line (from a boat sail) looks
pefectly straight.





Wal-mart
www.walmartphotocentre.ca
$0.25 (4x6, Canadian prices)

These photos were done at their central location, probably in Toronto.
I was hoping that the Wal-mart photos would be good. They are the
cheapest of these three... But also the worst. The contrast was too
high on the photos and this darkended our skin too much. Everything was
darker in these photos. But Wal-mart did a better job with the diagnoal
line that Future Photo (but not as good as Photo Service).





WINNER: Photo Service

Of these three, Photo Service produced the best results. I suspect that
any small professional photography store in Canada will usually produce
better photos than the big chain stores. Unless you really study the
photos carefully, you won't notice a difference between Photo Service
and Future Photo.

As for price, Photo Service is $0.10 more than Future Photo. But it
offers doubles at $0.25. I'm not sure if that is $0.25 for each for
$0.49 + $0.25. Either way, Photo Service may actually be cheaper than
Future Photo if you order doubles.

I encourage folks to conduct their own tests and post the results here.