November 24, 2010: Fujifilm has reverted to in-house manufacture of minilabs after several years in which Frontier equipment was manufactured by competitor Noritsu.
Although not widely reported, Don Franz (Photo Imaging News International) has noted that both the new Frontier LP5500R and LP5700R silver halide labs and the Frontier DL600 inkjet minilab (pictured right) are manufactured by Fujifilm itself.
The 2000-print-per-hour silver halide machines have been positioned as a high volume alternative to dry labs, and according to Franz, have won praise from European retail chains. Maximum print size is 12×18-inches.
The Frontier DL600 Dry Minilab features a 5-colour (C/M/Y/LB/K) dual mode Epson inkjet print engine, providing 720 dpi resolution for normal printing and 1440 dpi resolution in high quality mode. Output is 650 prints per hour.
Print sizes range up to 12×48-inch using roll paper, with a throughput of 650 prints per hour at 720 dpi.
Noritsu has a competing high-resolution machine based on an Epson print engine, the D1005 HR (soon for Australia) , which outputs up to 950 prints per hour at standard resolution.
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