I have to get this of my chest and I'm posting it here cause it falls into the same category: extraordinary high prices for specific goods.
Been to the optician this afternoon to get a quote for contact lenses. In NL, I payed 260CHF for two lenses and taking the measurements.
In Lausanne, one optician quoted me 650CHF, the second one 480CHF!!! For EXACTLY the same lenses!
Not sure what to do now. I prefer buying sensitive items like contact lenses from an optician and not from a website because that makes me feel more safe.
Why? If it was glasses, and they were being made in-house, I could understand this rationale. But the contact lenses are manufactured centrally -- they're exactly the same regardless of who supplies them (and at what price)
You're probably right and the lenses are fine from whoever I order. As said above it's just that it feels safer to order them via an optician. Because when it comes to my eyes, I'm picky and don't take chances. And I'm willing to pay extra for this but 200-400 CHF is too much.
Most likely I'll do that. But I have difficulties to accept that items like glasses and contact lenses are so horribly expensive. I need them. Without, I'm literally blind. And this is the same for many others.
Basic medical devices like glasses and hearing aids should be available at affordable prices imo. I think the same way about dentists. To quote a german politician "you shouldn't be able to find out the social status of somebody by looking at their set of teeth."
the optician of my schoolfriend of me back in 1969, when the usual black+white became out-dated told us to to go to Migros. He, as aged 67 was to give up anyway. You have to forget about opticians and opt for the big companies like Migros and Mediamarkt anyway
the old chap developed our b/w films hilmself and could give give his personal comment on any single photo, but that was before the colour photographs
I'd guess this was already asked and answered somewhere in the forum, but I couldn't find anything... Apologies in advance if it is a duplicate.
Recently I've taken an interest in digital photography, and now I'd like to have a go at film photography. The cameras are cheap, but I'm not so sure about film development - after all, it's Switzerland...
Does anyone know of any (at least decent, preferably good) places in Zurich that still develop regular 35mm rolls? And how much developing a regular 36 shots color roll would cost, including the cost of the roll itself?
Depending what you are doing with your prints, i belive it is much better to beginn photography with an digital SLR. The costs and hassle developing film and getting prints or digital data from film is not worth what you belive saving on a digital camera.
are you talking about a "normal old" film roll? I believe they can be developed everywhere (i.e. Coop / Migros) but I am not so sure if you can still buy them! Coop used to work with Fujifilm (I believe) and they were always good. Check http://en.ifolor.ch/photos_from_film...?ActiveID=1357 as well. You can drop the films directly at the Coop or Mirgros and you can also pick it up there later. Good memories Always a surprise after developing... have fun!
Thanks for all the tips, advice and pointers so far! I haven't yet had time to go over the other thread, but just to shed some light on what I'm trying to do...
I already have a digital SLR, and throughly enjoy it. I've spent countless afternoons taking photos, walking around, trying different settings... in one word, experimenting.
I now a little bit better what I'm doing, and would like to give film a try - partly for fun and "just because", partly to make me think a *lot* harder before taking each shot. I've tried that with digital, but... it's not really the same thing
But efore buying a camera (a Canon EOS, so I can reuse the EF lenses from my DSLR) on eBay, I wanted to check the prices. For me it wouldn't make sense to buy a ~20 GBP camera if it'd cost 50 CHF per roll...