DSLRUsers.com

Just to let you guys know,

if you have an AMEX card then you are entitle to a 20% discount on photo processing.



American Express

Hmmmm, I'm not sure i see a benefit there.

Steve,

I was thinking that second prize might have been a 40% discount.

don't they charge like 70$+ for a 16x20 print

redline wrote:don't they charge like 70$+ for a 16x20 print

Their website says $29.95 for 16x20.
http://harveynorman.fujicolor.com.au/brand/content/order_digital_photo_prints_online.asp

I take it people don't like HN for prints?


Daniel

I'm not a huge fan of HN. Only time I've used them was for quick and dirty small print jobs where no-one needed to keep the photo.

What is the main complaint with HN?
I've done 6x4 prints there and they seem OK.

Daniel

That's exactly it for me...it's "ok", not great I'm not too keen on the paper quality, even tho it IS using fuji stuff.

I'm too pedantic with my images, so I want them to be of high quality, etc. That's why for me, the paper counts as well.

DanielA wrote:What is the main complaint with HN?
I've done 6x4 prints there and they seem OK.

Daniel

There is nothing wrong with HN for 6x4 prints. I'd be hard pressed spotting any difference between prints at HN and prints done at my pro lab for digital prints.

Crystal archive paper is the same no matter where you go, there is no difference in the paper quality from one vendor to another. Unless you are talking about the pro version of the crystal archive paper.

I've got a 12" x 18" print done there and the quality it came out was amazing. Very clear and bright and very detailed. That was using the fuji machine. I also got a 11" x 14" which isn't a standard size and they used a big epson thing, the quality sucked in comparison to the fuji. Also have had a lot of 6x4's done, and they turned out great too. I'd recommend them.

I've had some stunning 8x12 prints at harvey norman, Chatswood. They were clear and sharp.

For those of you who live in the North Shore in Sydney. Harvey Norman express store is Chatswood is currentlly having promo. To print a 4*6 it cost wait for it 15c per shot. There is no minimum or maximum. Print out 1 or at they price print of 100.

I think they are running the promo cause jb hifi have just opened and also have the 15c deal

I must admit to using HN for a lot of my prints. Only problems is when they were weird colours once during a Friday the 13th deal when they were 13 cents per 6x4.
Not all of the prints, just some of them.

Also had a chat to the frontier guy when he was teaching the staff how to use the printers new features.

Apparently, no matter what the file format is, it gets converted to Fuji's own RAW format before being printed.
I was told everything gets converted to jpeg, but this was not the case.

I only have the word of the Fuji frontier technician on this, so I'll go with it unless someone has differing information and a higher credibility level.

FYI. Looks like Harvey Norman is doing 15 cent instore 6x4 prints until 26/Feb/06.

Daniel

For my money HN is great for the Fuji range of prints but they can't drive their Epson (Lismore store)

I've only used Harvey Norman once for printing photographs. In about November 2005.

Apart from the bad service (or they were too busy?), I wasn't very happy with the results.
The edge of every photograph I got had a green line.

So, do all the stores use different machines? The one I used, the pictures magically appeared in the cupboard underneath the computer I was using. Maybe I was slow, but there was no instruction telling me that it would appear there, I walked around the shop looking for someone to help me.

 AFAIK HN are franchises, and the quality of one store doesn't necessarily reflect on the others.

I've had some prints done in Chatswood (on the Fuji machines) that were quick and excellent, so each to their own

I have made good friends with the ppl at my local HN - service is terrific and the prints are almost ALWAYS fantastic, and if they're not, the girl I know will print them again for me, at no charge. Can't get better than that.

I just got back 2 lots of 20 free 6x4 from Hardley Normal @ Balgowlah last night.

I wasn't very impressed with the results. About 15 out of each lot of 20 have come out dark or very high contrast, the rest are fine. Compare this with QFL who I usually use and I have great reults every time I use them.

Cheers,

Wocka wrote:I just got back 2 lots of 20 free 6x4 from Hardley Normal @ Balgowlah last night.

I wasn't very impressed with the results. About 15 out of each lot of 20 have come out dark or very high contrast, the rest are fine. Compare this with QFL who I usually use and I have great reults every time I use them.

Cheers,

That's no good Wocka - i'm sure if you could be bothered (and granted you shouldn't need to be bothered) but if you took them back and said something they'd re-print for you.

I get my 16x18 done at the castle hill one in the hills center for $14.95. If I go in the morning the girl always has in ready to go in 10minutes. I dont have a prob using them...saying that wouldn't use my amex the interest rate is 17.something isn't it wow a whole 3% savings

Geoff,

I have some more free prints to have processed there. Lets hope the next batch come out better.

I also have a voucher for free 6x8. If these don't come out nice, it's not a huge issue as I'm not paying for them ( other than fuel/ time ).

Cheers,

Ok, despite my not-so-good experience, some of the good reports here have helped me think that I should go try it out again some day I'll see how it goes

rooboy wrote:AFAIK HN are franchises, and the quality of one store doesn't necessarily reflect on the others.

I've had some prints done in Chatswood (on the Fuji machines) that were quick and excellent, so each to their own

Spot on Patrick, most aren't aware of that fact

After queerying some colours in a recent print run from HN, I was told that the little workstations you use to read your CD or card do some "minor colour correction". This stuffed the colours I wanted. When I complained they said, "for you professional photographers, you really need to hand the CD over to us and we'll read it on the Fuji console PC directly". I don't know where they got the idea I was a professional photographer from, but anyway, when I gave him the CD and he read it directly from the console PC, the colours were perfect. The moral of the story is that those little booth workstation thingies screw around with your colours and if you've spend hours getting everything right with PS, you don't want this to happen. Now, I just hand the CD over and give the tech the instructions directly and I'm a lot happier with th results.


Cheers
John

johnd wrote:After queerying some colours in a recent print run from HN, I was told that the little workstations you use to read your CD or card do some "minor colour correction". This stuffed the colours I wanted. When I complained they said, "for you professional photographers, you really need to hand the CD over to us and we'll read it on the Fuji console PC directly". I don't know where they got the idea I was a professional photographer from, but anyway, when I gave him the CD and he read it directly from the console PC, the colours were perfect. The moral of the story is that those little booth workstation thingies screw around with your colours and if you've spend hours getting everything right with PS, you don't want this to happen. Now, I just hand the CD over and give the tech the instructions directly and I'm a lot happier with th results.


Cheers
John

EXCELLENT advice John, and this is always what I do - she even lets me go on the 'other side' of the counter, VIP-ish?!

I've had good and bad experiences with HN when printing photos. The bad experiences involved very dark prints on two occasions and a shocking sepia cast in images on another. When I queried the problems, the staff member admitted their equipment hadn't been calibrated since it was installed, some six months prior! The Fuji printers apparently run thier own calibrations each morning but his monitors and Epson printer had never been done. I was incredulous that a photo centre could be so lax in this regard.

The other store was spot on colour-wise.

johnd wrote:After queerying some colours in a recent print run from HN, I was told that the little workstations you use to read your CD or card do some "minor colour correction". This stuffed the colours I wanted. When I complained they said, "for you professional photographers, you really need to hand the CD over to us and we'll read it on the Fuji console PC directly". I don't know where they got the idea I was a professional photographer from, but anyway, when I gave him the CD and he read it directly from the console PC, the colours were perfect. The moral of the story is that those little booth workstation thingies screw around with your colours and if you've spend hours getting everything right with PS, you don't want this to happen. Now, I just hand the CD over and give the tech the instructions directly and I'm a lot happier with th results.


Cheers
John

Another issue I had with those little machines was that they didn't recognise aRGB colour space, so I had a heap of prints come out all hazy and brown. The solution was the same as above - hand the CD to the operator and read them in directly. The second run came out fine.

Cheers

Justin

I think regardless of the Lab you take/send your photos to, if you're monitor is not calibrated to their printing machines output, it will potentially be hit & miss anyway.

What you see on your monitor might look great, but if it's not what the printer will see, the photos will look quite different. This can lead you to think that the Lab have stuffed your images up.

Of course, this isn't always the case but in my experience, I've found that mixed results can be had when going to varying Labs.

I generally have all my 6x4's/8x12's printed at Camera House and as long as I PP them properly, they turn out great.....considering the price of course.

I'd think HN would be the same, although it will also depend on the upkeep of their machine and what they do with your images once received.

The only time I had problems with the prints at Harvey Norman was when I once used their counter machines just to see how they worked. The resulting colours in the images were unsatisfactory, and when I took them back to the store they reprinted them all, including enlagements for no addtional cost.....now I just hand them straight over to the operators.......I get some strange looks, but my images come out the way I want.

jberth1 wrote:
Another issue I had with those little machines was that they didn't recognise aRGB colour space, so I had a heap of prints come out all hazy and brown. The solution was the same as above - hand the CD to the operator and read them in directly. The second run came out fine.

Cheers

Justin

So if you give the cd to the lady in the white coat behind the counter you can use aRGB?

I was just coming in here to post about HN when I found this thread.

For the black and white shots that I do I find them to be great for keeping printed copies of my work. I print 5x7's with tiny black bars to fill space and the price is reasonable and quality excellent! Not to mention the quick turn around as against sending them off online.

I had a small problem with one of the prints and the guy was more than happy to redo it for me.

Manta wrote: When I queried the problems, the staff member admitted their equipment hadn't been calibrated since it was installed, some six months prior! The Fuji printers apparently run thier own calibrations each morning but his monitors and Epson printer had never been done. I was incredulous that a photo centre could be so lax in this regard.

Sorry for quoting an old post

I guess it does depend on where you go. I've had some prints done (but basic stuff) and I think on Wednesdays at the HN store I went to, the machine calibration stuff happens for about an hour or so.

You're right about the store you speak of being lax - that's just slack