E6 processing and scans

froyd

froyd

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I've been looking for a while for a service to develop and scan slides at a reasonable price and with reasonable quality.

I define reasonable price as: anything under $20 for 36 frames, with film either mounted or sleeved.

I define reasonable quality as: no consistent damage/dust/marks on the slides and scans that result in images at least 3000 pixel wide.


So far, the best option I found is North Coast Photographic Services, as recommended by a fellow RFF'er. However, I live in the East Coast (near Philadelphia) and I'd rather find comparable service nearer to me.

What are some of the alternatives?

Dwayne is inexpensive but their scans generate images smaller than what I require.

Coopers offer higher resolution scans but it's expensive.
 
Bump.

Just got off the phone to Dwayne, and there's no way to pay for an upgraded scanning service.

If I don't hear any suggestions, I'll be shipping my roll to NCPS...$27 for development and scan (no mount, no prints)!!! OUCH! I can buy an M8 with the money saved from two years of shooting (I average 1 roll a week)
 
I did north coast for a long while and hated the cost but loved the quality. Now I do E6 at home for about $1.50 a roll and proof scan on a cheap Cannon canoscan. If I need hi end scans I send them out as needed. I am abotu to buy a V750 to avoid the sending out as well.
 
There is no such thing as 'reasonable' quality at the prices you are talking about. Pro-quality E6 is not cheap, and good quality scans will cost you $20 each, not $20/roll. I back David 100% -- and I have a dedicated 35mm scanner.

Cheers,

R.
 
I live in Philly too but send my film to NCPS. It's about $10-11/roll with the budget scans. The budget scans are 2000x3000. I don't think the enhanced scans are worth it.

Philadelphia photographics is a good lab that I've used a couple times. The scans aren't as good of a deal though - I don't know how much they cost for larger sizes. You might be able to work something out with them though...
 
froyd said:
I can buy an M8 with the money saved from two years of shooting (I average 1 roll a week)
Click to expand...

An M8 or a Coolscan and still have a good chunk of change left to pay for film and processing. (I'm guessing that you can get good E-6 processing in Philadelphia if not scanning).
 
Try Precision Camera in Austin, TX. :) We have the same exact equipment as NCPS, and do C41 and E6 in-house. Several customers have done side by side tests between us and NCPS and were quite pleased.

We are about to launch a special to RFF members -- with every scanning order, get the processing free...that saves $4 for C41 and $7 for slides.

Pricing for the highest res scans is $12 for a roll, the next highest res is $8.

http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php/scanning

-Robert
 
Now that's a good deal- I've about finished a roll of C41 and was debating what to do- now I know :). Please let me/us know when the special is offered!

Rick



PrecisionCamera said:
Try Precision Camera in Austin, TX. :) We have the same exact equipment as NCPS, and do C41 and E6 in-house. Several customers have done side by side tests between us and NCPS and were quite pleased.

We are about to launch a special to RFF members -- with every scanning order, get the processing free...that saves $4 for C41 and $7 for slides.

Pricing for the highest res scans is $12 for a roll, the next highest res is $8.

http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php/scanning

-Robert
Click to expand...
 
PrecisionCamera said:
Try Precision Camera in Austin, TX. :) We have the same exact equipment as NCPS, and do C41 and E6 in-house. Several customers have done side by side tests between us and NCPS and were quite pleased.

We are about to launch a special to RFF members -- with every scanning order, get the processing free...that saves $4 for C41 and $7 for slides.

Pricing for the highest res scans is $12 for a roll, the next highest res is $8.

http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php/scanning

-Robert
Click to expand...

That's great to know. I pay $16 for develop only E-6 here in Hawaii and do the scanning myself. With postage, I'll probably pay the same but not have to do the scanning.

Also, I purchased some of the new Portra 400 from the Precision Camera website today. Look forward to receiving it.
 
PrecisionCamera said:
Try Precision Camera in Austin, TX. :) We have the same exact equipment as NCPS, and do C41 and E6 in-house. Several customers have done side by side tests between us and NCPS and were quite pleased.

We are about to launch a special to RFF members -- with every scanning order, get the processing free...that saves $4 for C41 and $7 for slides.

Pricing for the highest res scans is $12 for a roll, the next highest res is $8.

http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php/scanning

-Robert
Click to expand...


I'll give you a try also. I'm assuming you can scan to Tiff also? 12 X 8 300DPI?
 
PrecisionCamera said:
Try Precision Camera in Austin, TX. :) We have the same exact equipment as NCPS, and do C41 and E6 in-house. Several customers have done side by side tests between us and NCPS and were quite pleased.

We are about to launch a special to RFF members -- with every scanning order, get the processing free...that saves $4 for C41 and $7 for slides.

Pricing for the highest res scans is $12 for a roll, the next highest res is $8.

http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php/scanning

-Robert
Click to expand...

That is a nice deal and it sounds like good quality scans. With the free developing and $12 hi res scans count me in :)

I might be able to slow down the meth lab a bit!
 
PrecisionCamera said:
Try Precision Camera in Austin, TX. :) We have the same exact equipment as NCPS, and do C41 and E6 in-house. Several customers have done side by side tests between us and NCPS and were quite pleased.

We are about to launch a special to RFF members -- with every scanning order, get the processing free...that saves $4 for C41 and $7 for slides.

Pricing for the highest res scans is $12 for a roll, the next highest res is $8.

http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php/scanning

-Robert
Click to expand...

Great deal. I looked but could not find an order form with info on shipping charges.

Thanks for the post and keep us updated with the RFF special!
 
atlcruiser said:
I did north coast for a long while and hated the cost but loved the quality. Now I do E6 at home for about $1.50 a roll and proof scan on a cheap Cannon canoscan. If I need hi end scans I send them out as needed. I am abotu to buy a V750 to avoid the sending out as well.
Click to expand...

David (and Roger), thanks for the suggestion, but scanning is not an area of photography I want to get into. While I enjoy printing both digitally and in the darkroom, I can barely tolerate wet development and the prospect of scanning makes me cringe!
 
Roger Hicks said:
There is no such thing as 'reasonable' quality at the prices you are talking about. [...]

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think NCPS is right in my ideal ballpark of price and quality, but $6+ for shipping tips the value equation unfavorably (yes, I know, I have a very sensitive "value-meter" ;))

I'll just have to stock up 4 rolls at the time and send them in that way... or try Precision Camera.


Oops! Three posts in a row. A bit obnoxious. Sorry everyone!
 
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When I was sending stuff out....and as i will do again with the guys in Austin.... I would wait until I had a months worth of stuff. usually 10-15 rolls and send it all at once.

Really helped on overall shipping costs.

On scanning:
Yeah it does sorta suck but 35mm is dead easy to scan and E6 is about the easiest of them all. You might not get exhibition quality scans but you can get some very good images cheap and fast.

MF scanning kicks my ass evey week :)



froyd said:
Actually, I think NCPS is right in my ideal ballpark of price and quality, but $6+ for shipping tips the value equation unfavorably (yes, I know, I have a very sensitive "value-meter" ;))

I'll just have to stock up 4 rolls at the time and send them in that way... or try Precision Camera.


Oops! Three posts in a row. A bit obnoxious. Sorry everyone!
Click to expand...
 
We can ship however you prefer, and don't mark up the shipping. First class with tracking (same type of tracking you get with priority, generally arrives just as fast as priority) is reasonable, or priority mail if it's a larger package with multiple rolls.
 
And they have the new portra! I've been looking for it and this is the first place that I know of that has it in stock.

Do let us know the details of the RFF deal. I could knock a couple bucks off my scanning costs. What kind dev machine do you have? Dip and dunk?
 
I'd totally be open to trying Precision dev & scanning, but without that offer your prices aren't as cheap as NCPS. $7.99/roll vs $5.49/roll for 2048x3072 pixels.

As for NCPS, I've been using them for over a year. They take great care of me, have very competitive pricing and don't charge much for shipping. I'd never send them only a few rolls of film. I generally send about 20 rolls at a time.
 
Chelsea Photographic in NYC is supposed to be very good with reasonable prices for development and high resolution scanning. I have not tried them yet.
 
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