DRY LABS DEBUT AT FOCUS!

• Dry Labs Debut at FOCUS ! – The FOCUS on Imaging show is in full swing right now at the NEC, and one of the themes this year seems to be dry lab. Noritsu and Fujifilm have hardware-identical models on show, and Kodak is showing its Apex system. Apex is based on what Kodak have always called thermal technology (dye sub to the rest of us), while the Noritsu and Fujifilm systems are industrial inkjets. [expand story >>>]

"Our new Frontier DryLab 400 is an inkjet lab", John Grayston of Fujifilm tells PhotoWeek! "It prints up to 10"x36", it's very quick, and it's a very easy process. The price is expected to be about £15.5K and we're aiming for a cost-per-print that's closer to wet lab costs than dye sub ones."



Lewis Martindale, Managing Director of www.photomart.co.uk (on stand M-2 at the show) told us his company would supply both the Fujifilm and the Kodak solutions: "Whether the future is wet or dry, inkjet or thermal", he said, "that future will be delivered by www.photomart.co.uk"

Graham Hill of Kodak assured us that his corporation's new Apex lab, although the technology is thermal, should deliver a cost-per-print comparable to wet lab. The media used in the new Apex lab is different to that used in dye sub instant print kiosks, and presumably costs less to produce. [add comment]