Why is Jobo equipment so expensive?

[Pawlowski6132]

Or, in other words, why are people willing to pay so much for this stuff?

Brand Cachet?
Lack of competitive substitute?
Rarity?
Utility?

I just don't get it.

And no, obviously I haven't used any Jobo products.

[Daniel Stone]

once you use Jobo's 2509N reels and a 2-reel drum, you'll understand .

for color, it really helps with consistency, especially with 4x5, 5x7 or 8x10, E-6 or c-41.

temperature control is critical if you want consistent results from run-->run.

-Dan

[Gem Singer]

Quality and German engineering---The same reason Linhof products demand high prices.

[Pawlowski6132]

How do the systems differ from, say, a Unicolor Unidrom and base?

[Pawlowski6132]

Quality and German engineering---The same reason Linhof products demand high prices.

Honest, I'm not trying to argumentative, but it's just plastic tubing right?

[Darin Boville]

The Expert Series, which is quite popular here, has been discontinued. They are easy to load and work well. Awfully expensive when new, worse used now that they are no longer made.

I'm surprised, given the prices, not to see a Chinese knock-off by now. The design seems very simple. Maybe the market is just too small?

--Darin

[theBDT]

Jobos are overpriced because they are two or three things at once. They are German-engineered (e.g. the film holes in their 4x5 tanks are slightly "barreled" to allow chemistry to reach both sides of the film). They were (as far as I know) the last best full system for processing LF negatives in small automated runs. They are lab-quality; they make it easy to control temperature, time, dilution, etc. while you work with the film.

If I knew more about materials design and manufacture I'd be the first to get out there and make a new generation of Jobo-like drums for processing 4x5. I really wish someone with the knowledge WOULD make a "competing" product. While such a product might not ever match the nice "touches" that Jobo has, it would at least be an improvement over, say, BTZS tubes.

[Drew Wiley]

Jobo wasn't all that expensive in its heyday - a bit overpriced compared to certain other high-quality options, but most of that was apparently the retail markup. It's
overpriced now because they've gone out of mfg and people can charge accordingly
for whatever is still in demand.

[Arne Croell]

The Expert Series, which is quite popular here, has been discontinued. They are easy to load and work well. Awfully expensive when new, worse used now that they are no longer made.

I'm surprised, given the prices, not to see a Chinese knock-off by now. The design seems very simple. Maybe the market is just too small?

--Darin

As mentioned above, the holes for the sheets are not cylindrical to allow solutions to reach the back side, and the inner walls are very thin to allow a fast heat transfer from the water bath to the solution in the Expert drum. The dies for making the parts are therefore not that easy to make, I assume.

[Liam:]

I have mentioned this before but if I could get my hands on one, I would cad it and get one made in SLS (3D rapid prototyping) It would cost less than used prices and could be easily modified for a user (different size films e.t.c)

How do these drums work (3005) are they literally a tube with 5 holes in them? How does the developer then move around the drum?