San Miguel Announces Closing

<p>I'm bummed. Darn good lab.</p>

<p>http://www.bestlab.com/</p>

<p> That's what is going to put film away in the end is the closing of the labs. Without a profit margin the services will stop...</p>

<p>Sad but this is what's happening everywhere since the big film consumers (i.e. the press, insurance agents, ... people shooting day in day out) moved to digital. I consider myself lucky because here the good labs are still alive and thriving. If they will shut down, I will trash my equipment and find another hobby. Or just enjoy my 30+ years of past shoots.</p>

<p>is it possible to diversify for a small business like that?</p>

<p>No, actually it is possible to increase the business. The professional lab I bring my stuff to, actually does more work today than they used to five years ago. This is because many 1-hour labs have folded. The difference is that five years ago their customers were almost only professionals, while now most of their film work is from advanced hobbysts. The key for them was to make themselves known to the general public, the ones that would had gone digital if they didn't knew that there still was a very good lab doing wet chemistry for a reasonable price. On parallel, of course, they went digital to meet the current demand of professional shooters.</p>

<p>The costs are going to drive whatever film users are left to digital. I finally gave up on slide film last november - it was over $10/roll for development and it took 2-3 weeks to get the slides back. I still have a fondness for kodachrome and looking through slides, but the price is too high now. Reality bites!</p>