Photography Thailand Forum

[Loso]

Yes, take the MRT to Phaholyothin station. Go out through Exit #4 of the station. When you come out of the station and onto the street, turn right and Chakraval will be the first lab you see. Walk about 3 block lengths straight past Chakraval and Master Lab will be the last lab at the end of stretch of labs. Hope that helps...

Thanks Marc.  Okay, I know where it is, right across from Central Ladprao.

[epixx]

Dave--they are dual voltage, 110-240. I got hard drive sticker shock the other day here in BKK. Had bought another traveling HD in USA back in February, a  500 GB and it was about US $140 US (4900 baht). Saw it the other day and it was 19,600 baht or thereabouts. I might be off a tad but I do remember it was over 4 times as much.

I pay much less than THB 4900 for 500GB hard drives in Bangkok. That's without housing, but a standard USB housing isn't more than 1100 to 1200 baht, and there are cheaper ones available as well. Try Fortune Tower or Pantip. Avoid places like IT-City. They only have the most expensive solutions.

Prices can vary a lot between Thailand and the rest of the world. In my experience, Epson is expensive here. I buy HP and Canon printers, which are reasonably priced in Thailand. They mostly also have better ink economy and their most recent models have a print quality that is more or less on par with Epson.

I agree with Marc that the ink and paper costs are what makes it difficult to print at home as cheap as you'll get from they guys at Lad Prao. Many of the printers are virtually free nowadays when you consider the ink that comes with them, but testing and calibration easily runs up into the thousands before you get acceptable results, and even then, you'll hardly ever be able to compete with the willingness to spend time experimenting that a typical Thai printer nerd is willing to invest.

If I only lived closer to Lad Prao... 

[Loso]

Hi Marc,

How secure are your photos at these labs?  Have they ever "borrowed" yours without obtaining your permission?

[David Salmanowitz]

Epixx--The price you mentioned is a lot cheaper than what I saw, but still cheaper back in USA--but not worth getting a ticket as only about 1400 baht more. Granted, I saw the HD in an Apple store where everything is pricier than USA--same goes for Europe, much pricier there than US as well. BTW, for backing up stuff when I am home here in BKK I will plug the Drobo again, a wonderful unit.  http://www.datarobotics.com/

[Marc Schultz]

Hi Marc,

How secure are your photos at these labs?  Have they ever "borrowed" yours without obtaining your permission?

That is a good question. I have always been concerned about that too, but so far haven't seen any of my photos being used anywhere that they shouldn't, knock on wood.

I did once have one image scanned from film at Photo City in Lad Prao and over the Thai new year I saw the image going around as an e-card with some Thai language imposed onto it being circulated amongst the locals. I can't be sure they were the source of the image as it also might have been someone within the ad agency that I sold the photo to who decided to use it. Anyway, no real harm done and I try and take it in stride.

[Loso]

I had some prints made at Master Lab during my recent Thailand trip.  The quality was consistently inconsistent - some just right, some too bright, and some too cool.  What I learned was they use different printers for different print sizes so quality varies from one size to another.  Even repeated orders of the same size at different times came out darker or brighter than the prior order.  Still for the price, I can't complain. 

[ruchos]

I have tried a Chakrawal digital lab in my area (Prawet), and all the smaller prints are usually really flat and the contrast is way overdone. Their larger prints are usually decent, except they consistently leave a white strip at the top or bottom of the large prints. There is a local lab that I usually use, that is run by a local prop photographer, and although prints cost a bit more, they are consistently top quality and look great.

[Marc Schultz]

I have tried a Chakrawal digital lab in my area (Prawet), and all the smaller prints are usually really flat and the contrast is way overdone. Their larger prints are usually decent, except they consistently leave a white strip at the top or bottom of the large prints. There is a local lab that I usually use, that is run by a local prop photographer, and although prints cost a bit more, they are consistently top quality and look great.

Interesting. I dont do many small prints myself, but often the larger prints above a certain size (I forget what size that is, but I think it is above 20") then the printing goes to a different machine. So different machines can give different results obviously. Different brands, different settings, and sometimes even different papers.

Is the white strip you are referring to a border? If you choose a size which does not match with the native aspect ratio of your original photo, and assuming you have not resized the photo to match the exact print size you are printing at, then you could end up with a border. Possibly the other local lab is adjusting the image size for you to better match the size of the paper you are printing on.

What camera are you shooting with and what paper size were you printing on at Chakrawal where you had the border problem and I will try and advise further?

Also, in general, the results in Lad Prao in their branch there might be different. I have never used the Prawet lab. 

[tonyk]

It's worth remembering that minilab printers are not inkjet, but dye-sub. The Fuji and Kodak machines use three colours (no separate black). I always include a standard colour test control file with my orders - that way I can tell from the black steps whether the machine is lined up OK.  I've never had decent B&W prints from these machines, there's always been a colour cast.  I prefer to print these at home on my Epson 2400 (which I brought over from UK with a small stock of paper which is dwindling fast). I agree with other posters who say it just isn't worth getting involved in home colour photo printing here - not when Bangkok minilab prices are so low.

[Marc Schultz]

Welcome Tony and thanks for your good input on this.

[zeitgeist]

I noticed that there was no mention of IQLAB on Ekamai. They do the Durst Lambda prints and I have had good luck with them and learned a lot about interpolation.
Has anyone had any experience with them?

[Marc Schultz]

I noticed that there was no mention of IQLAB on Ekamai. They do the Durst Lambda prints and I have had good luck with them and learned a lot about interpolation.
Has anyone had any experience with them?

Yes, quality of IQ Lab prints is very good. They will give you sample prints up front to check colors and so forth on large prints, but prices much much higher than all the lost cost print labs in Lad Prao that we are discussing here. Also, I have gotten equal quality of prints from Master Lab for a fraction of the cost of IQ Lab.

[Paul Whitehead]

I agree with Mark, they (IQlab) seem to niche on commercial printing these days, their prices for prints and Giclee prints in particular are insane.

[tonyk]

Has anyone tried Bloom's in the Silom Galleria, Silom Road. Their prices seem reasonable.

[epixx]

Marc,
I assume that the low cost printers at Lad Prao use 3rd party inks, since that's probably the only way to keep prices as low as they do. What is your experience with regards to fade resistance of the prints?