E6 Newbie

[froyd]

I'll be taking a roll of Provia 100F to Jamaica next week. The rest of the trip will end up on c-41 (XP2 and Superia). I'm trying slides just because it's been 10 years since I shot the last roll and I'd like to be reminded of their magic. As I read here, when all the film is developed II'll probably be kicking myself for not shooting more on Provia.

My question regards development and scanning. What's the cheapest option for somebody residing in the US? I don't have the time for developing/scanning at home, so I'm looking at lab solutions. My frame of mind is a bit skewed because 90% of my film is developed (no prints) and scanned at Costco for $6 x 24 exp roll, so I know I'm bound to spend more for E^ processing and scanning, but how much?

The places I've found online (Dwayne's, Reed, etc) all seem to come up at around $20-25 once you factor in shipping, development, and mid-quality scans (6-7mb). At that price, I'm afraid slides will remain something I use a few time a year for special projects!

Any tips?

 

[imokruok]

Unfortunately for E6 pro scans these days, that's pretty much the norm. To add a couple more names to the list, NCPS and A&I are at the high end of that range, but will do a very good job with it too.

It would be one thing if the local labs were doing the developing, as you could probably bring in a few E6 with a lot more C41 and ask for a deal. But so many places send it out to the big labs, they're basically just a middle man and are not likely to cut you a break.

Scanning really doesn't take all that long with my V700 though. Maybe 10-15 minutes to do a roll with no ICE. (Provided it's just back from the lab and relatively dust-free.) And very little post-processing needed, if any.