I've seen 4x6 printers made by Olympus, which do not even require a computer. Just connect the card directly to the printer and you get acceptable quality without fuss. I 've never seen actual results, so I don't know how well they work, but they might be fine for a certain part of the market. Depending on what the paper costs, these printers might still be more expensive than the typical $0.39 or so charged by conventional photofinishers. But then you save on no need for film or film developing. I think the public wants a little more than that, and in particular, the capability to crop the image. As for larger prints, I find that prints up to 8x10 on photo quality inkjet paper (much cheaper than imitation photo paper) are decent enough, making these larger size prints really cheap in comparison with conventional 8x10 enlargements.
Estimating the cost of an 8x10 on photo quality inkjet paper, I get something around $0.30, compared with at least $8 for a conventional enlargement. If I go to a photo type paper instead of the thinner inkjet stock, the price differential begins to drop, but it's still pretty good. |
