Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service review

The Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service is a franchise operation with branches across the country. We had photos printed at Absolute Print in Archway, London. Some members of the Fujifilm network also have online ordering systems, while others are willing to accept orders by email. Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service network members use Fuji Frontier silver halide laser exposure minilabs for standard photo printing. Quality isn’t consistent, though, as there are several models, and some produce better results than others.

If you want your prints quickly, high-street services such as this are ideal, as you don’t have to wait for your photos to be posted to you. They’re usually more expensive than their online counterparts, but local branches frequently run special offers for limited periods. Absolute Print charges 10p per 6x4in print if you order more than ten, which is particularly good by high street standards, but all other print sizes are very expensive. For example, 7x5in prints cost 70p each.

The quality of the prints we got from this branch has improved since our last test, when some photos had serious printing errors. All of the prints were good enough to display, but most of our blind-test team were unimpressed by the reproduction of pale skin tones. Other photos were unusually bright – in common with our last test, one of our colour photos was lightened so far that an azure sky was powder blue and the grass a lurid shade of green. However, the majority of our prints looked good and we liked the bold colour of most of our photos. We were also pleased to note that four months’ light exposure had hardly any impact on the colour of our test photo.

High street photo printers who are members of the Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service will offer a range of services and print types, from simple enlargements to t-shirt printing, posters, canvas prints and more. Absolute Print didn’t provide the best prints we’ve ever seen, but they’re pretty good for 24-hour photo processing and beat most of the high street at 10p each. However, it’s impossible to judge the entire network based on results from one member store, whether good, bad or average.

If you need photos in hurry and your local Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service member offers comparable prices to the one we tested, it’s certainly worth a go. To find your local branch, you can check the index at www.fisdigital.co.uk. If you have time to wait, though, we prefer online services like Bonusprint for both quality and convenience.