I'd argue with Mike's comment about there not being any steady business
in b&w, at least around here. Black and white seems to be having a bit
of a comeback (thanks probably to products like T400CN), and people seem
to be wanting to experiment with other stuff now. I know a couple of
labs in Toronto that do a great business processing nothing but black
and white film. I myself have considered it a couple of times.
Black and white is pricey because, yes, it is labor intensive. It is
possible to set up a minilab-style operation for b&w, but the results
are generally poor for a couple of reasons: 1) processing times-- in a
minilab-style operation, you will have no or next to no variation in
processing time, leading to wildly varying results from film to film
(and probably none of them great); 2) contrast control in printing--
there are machines that print using MC filters and RC papers, or at
least there were...I haven't seen any in operation in ages. The only
places I know that supply good b&w prints are making them by hand, and
by hand means expensive. My price for a single black and white print
from a negative never drops below $6, regardless of size, because I'm
going to spend that same ten or twenty minutes in the darkroom making a
1x2 inch print as I would making a 5x7, and the paper cost only varies
by 10 cents or so. It's all about the time.
I've recently found out that I'm relatively cheap when it comes to b&w
compared to the local competition, and I'm charging $5 processing for a
24 and $6 for a 36, and then another $7 for a contact on top of that.
One of the other labs is charging $7 for a 36 and $11 for the contact!
Maybe I'll raise my prices. :)
-Aaron
who spent all day in the darkroom yesterday as a bit of antidote to his
recent digital overdose
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