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PLEASE  ABOUT KODAK APEX


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Has anyone got insight ?

The apex uses the 7000. This printer is nothing more than the latest evolution of the 6 series. ( 6800,6850,605 ).

How long is it going to take before we can buy a 7000 inside an ordinary stand-alone picture kiosk ?

In fact,is it not already possible to buy a 7000 and connect it to a g4x ?

have you tried ?

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The APEX is about more than a 7000 printer, it is a whole new lab with the software being the Hub for your Kiosks,

the standard 4ft unit takes 2 printers that produce both Gloss and Matt finish, next upgrade will bring  backprinting,

2 x 4 tray sorters 1 for each printer 1000 6x4 a roll quality is better than the 6850's. There is to be a dedicated 5" printer

that will go in the 2ft cabinet above the 8" printer. General consumers who have printed through the Kiosks love

the quality and most who have sent down to the Wet Lab, are more than happy with quality off the 7000's

Poster prints are now sent through the Kiosk via the APEX to the LFP no quality problem there and the Photo-Book

upgrade will work the same.

Installing one of theses frees up more time to retail and less time worrying about your lab, its far easier to use.

Draw back is the Matt which will not at the moment produce prints to satisfy my pro customers but times change

and when the wet lab reaches the end of its life I will buy another 4Ft unit to attach to the APEX, which will then

move me to the front of the shop and allow me to cut staff levels.

Its cheaper to Buy, cheaper to run and long term cheaper on wages and anyone can operate it

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You just have to look at a 7000 to see that it is an evolution of the 6850,and that is no shame.

The manufacturer is Shinko.

It is a thermal printer of the latest generation just like the Sony updr 200,the paper price is the same.

The largest Sony dealer in Holland told me he expects a new order-taking station from Sony to debut at Photokina in a few weeks.

The obvious equivalent kodak product would be a G4x directly connected to a 7000.

That is no critic of the Apex. It is a different market.

If anyone can try connecting a 7000 and a G4x,I would be very interested to know what happens.

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IMHO Kodak have just re-packaged their existing technolgy in a fancy cabinet as a 'stop-gap' measure to help maintain position in the market. I'm not trying to be negative but this really is nothing new. In the end you have a collection of equipment that they've stuck together to do the job, yet there are new systems such as the Noritsu 701 which do everything you need in a smaller footprint, using materials that are more sustainable. Like many, I am not convinced of dye-sub and believe APEX is their way of milking this outdated technolgy for a few more years.

I have a long memory and can still remember Kodaks attempts at making their own minilabs. This system has a lot of similarities.

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Apex looks like a good way to bring your kiosks together, but you still need a Agx lab, for the time being.

I only have room in my shop for one lab and when you get customers walk in the shop like this saturday when a lady brings in 50 APS (already dev'd films) and asks us to put then on CD, its a hugely profitable job that we just would have turned away if we had only an Apex.

Yes orders like this are not common, but its highly profitable and in the current retail climate i cannot afford to turn any orders away.

We are also finding that there is a trend towards matt prints the moment and until Apex has a decent matt finish, Agx papers are still best.

At this moment in time, Apex offers me no new services, it offers me less services than my Agx lab.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

We've integrated an Apex with the QSS software on our Noritsu 2901. So we can print dye-sub instant prints or traditionally through our lab. The dye-sub prints don't look nearly as good as the lab prints (of course). Furthermore, the dye-sub prints tend to be way over-saturated. We offer glossy or satin finish for instant prints. The satin prints look awful. The glossy is acceptable but still leave a noticable pattern in the glare.

The software for the Apex and it's kiosks is user friendly and seems reliable.

Hope that helps!

--j

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