Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/06/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Quoth the Kenneth Frazier : > Listers, > > I have an opportunity to buy a Noritsu minilab, in full working > order, and set it up in the basement of my new church. > > The equipment is in excellent condition, but the photo shop is > closing. I've had a dozen rolls of 120 run through it and the > results are top notch. If this ain't a joke, then you're officially out of your mind, padre. That machine, new, probably cost the buyer somewhere between 20 and 50 grand. If they're willing to let you have it more or less for the cost of disconnecting it and hauling it away, that should tell you something. I like Noritsu machines, I ran one for several years, and the operating costs are going to eat you alive several times over. You'll be needing to run 30-50 rolls a day, minimum, every day, to keep the chemistry stable so you have predictable results, and then you'll have water and electric bills out the wazoo, plus the EPA regulation chemistry and effluent disposal, plus the cost of the chemistry and the paper and the maintenance time and service and parts, and then there's learning to make it work right and stay in calibration, and.... Are you getting the picture here? There's a reason the freestanding one hour photo place is kaput, and the maintenance and operating costs are a HUGE part of that reason. No Flippin' Way. -- R. Clayton McKee http://www.rcmckee.com Photojournalist rcmckee@rcmckee.com P O Box 571900 voice/fax 713/783-3502 Houston, TX 77257-1900 cell phone # on request