Find solution
What do I need to develop my own film?

Is it more expensive to develop a roll of film than to have a digital picture printed?

  • I was looking at Walmart's photo website and they said that it costs $0.09 to print a 4" x 6" photo. Is that all they charge for someone who chooses to upload a photo onto Walmart's website and then have them print it? It seems awfully cheap compared to the cost of developing a roll of film with 36 exposures. I asked and found out that it costs about $6 to develop film and put it onto a cd. That price does not include prints either and would be $3 more. Am I understanding this correctly? It's more expensive to develop a roll of film and put the photos onto a cd then it is to print a digital photo? Is it because it costs money to develop the film versus no costs associated with developing digital photos since all you do is print the photos out and don't need to develop them first?

  • Answer:

    Film is more expensive than digital to print, but you have quite an investment in digital already, your camera, computer, hard drives for storage and memory cards for your camera, editing software, it all ads up to several 100's of £'s, if you go DSLR and Photoshop several 1000's of £'s. With digital all your costs are up front. It costs no more to take as many images as your drive can take, and printing costs are cheaper. You won't want or need to print all the images that you take. Film cameras, by comparison to digital, are cheap to buy, an SLR from the '70's or '80's are just a few 10's of £ to buy, you get a lot of camera for your money, but film, developing and printing costs are ongoing. I reckon it works out at around 0.65p per print for 35mm B&W more than double that for colour and 4 times that for medium format (120 film). That's 0.65p - £2.50 every time you press the shutter. But you do get a print of every image you take. Note that cheap print labs scan the negatives and print digitally which reduces quality. it's a lot more expensive for a genuine silver halide print from a good print lab. Chris

John at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

That is the gist more or less. Assuming this is basic Point and Shoot digital camera to some regular 35mm. The cost of developer, fixer, stopper, labor all adds up, compared to being able to just click a button and print. For higher quality digital prints, might need to go to somewhere with better dpi, costing a little more. I shoot ilford delta 400 or similar film, can't even go to these places, must be done professionally.

fearsnfate

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.