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Photo lab printing in Canada: Results part 1
Photo lab printing in Canada: TEST RESULTS PART 1
January 13, 2005 .................................................. 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. |
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