I first discovered the Fuji Frontier
370 printer at Costco’s in January 2002. It changed the way I had my
prints made in that it they are conventionally produced “C” type
prints using Fuji chemistry and Crystal Archive paper but capable of
being printed from my prepared digital files. In fact, we’ve had such
a good experience with the printer that we wrote an
article on the Frontier printer for
eDigitalPhoto Magazine and Fuji quoted us on a wall display over the
Frontier printer in their booth at PMA 2003.
I’ve been selling my photography for over 30 years
and have tried all methods of print process, from using a custom lab
to printing my own in a chemical darkroom. In all those years I’ve
never been able to match the consistency of quality output as I can
now by doing my darkroom work on the computer and creating the digital
negative from which my prints get made.
Admittedly, I’ve only worked with the Winter Park
Fl. and Cranberry Pa. Costco, but it all comes down to how
meticulously you prepare your digital files as to the quality you get.
If you’re not getting the results you expect, color profiles for any
Frontier or Noritsu processor can be downloaded from
DryCreekPhoto.com.
If they don’t have the profile for the machine you’re working with,
download the kit and have a print made to be profiled and add it to
their database. Costco has been paying to have profiling done for all
the processors in the chain. But first you need to start with a
color-calibrated monitor to make sure that what you see is what you
get. Another issue that might cause inconsistent results is that Sam’s
and Wal-Mart’s are using Kodak paper and chemistry while Costco is
using Fuji Crystal Archive paper and Fuji chemistry, which I feel is
superior. Wal-Mart could be also be a problem as they guarantee the
one-hour aspect of their business and put enlargements off until later
in the day as filler to keep the employees busy. Investigate how your
local lab runs its business and figure out how to tweak your needs to
fit their business model.
I’ve never experienced a difference in quality
because of the person running the mini lab as long as they don’t try
to tweak what’s on the CD that I bring in. What most people don’t
realize is that the custom Professional labs use the same processor
but charge four to five times the price for the exact same print. If
you prepare the file properly, the exact same quality print is
available at both price points, no matter who runs the machine. In
fact, my local Costco used to carry the larger Crystal Archive paper
in luster finish for all the wedding labs that use them for proofs.
Occasionally someone will try and state the case for
the professional custom lab that we, as professionals, shouldn't be
using such inexpensively produced prints in our business. What if we
needed larger prints, or had professional shooting assignments and
needed to work with a pro lab. It seems to me that maybe the pro lab
should change their business model so I can make a profit and not go
out of business keeping them alive. With advances in technology, the
educated (photographer) consumer can now get the same quality output
at a fraction of the cost.
