Mailorder Film Processing - FTP delivery?

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Ryan1938

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Hopefully, I've placed this in the right forum... I have a question that I hope you guys can help me with.

I want to shoot film again, but I live in the country and don't have access to quick processing. The obvious solution is mail-order processing and scanning. Here's my question:

Does anyone know of a company that takes mail orders and rather than sending you a CD or DVD back with your files, shoots you an email to an FTP site allowing you to download your files immediately? I think something like this would be perfect for my needs, but haven't found anyone that offers such a service.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated... I'm in the US.

Thanks,

Ryan
 
The difficulty with FTP and other online services is bandwidth and storage. The mini-lab prints or burns to CD as they have limited hard drive capacity given the scanning volumes. And the labs are not really set up to have a small server farm loaded with terabytes of images.

Some labs may have teamed up with photo websites to upload your images, but I don't know of any offhand. I have found the CD option just fine as it comes back with the negatives in any case.
 
Online picture service Farbglanz offers this service here in Germany. You put the film in the mail and 48 hours later you can download the scans (2200x1500 pix/jpg) from their web server and select the ones you want to have printed. Another day later or two the film is back in your postbox together with the prints.
So given that it works here in Germany, I think that something comparable at least for medium size jpeg files should exist in the US?
 
joeswe said:
Online picture service Farbglanz offers this service here in Germany. You put the film in the mail and 48 hours later you can download the scans (2200x1500 pix/jpg) from their web server and select the ones you want to have printed. Another day later or two the film is back in your postbox together with the prints.
So given that it works here in Germany, I think that something comparable at least for medium size jpeg files should exist in the US?
Click to expand...

That would be PERFECT! If only we had such a thing in the US.
 
Send it to Blow Up Fotofachlabor in Munich. I will develop it and my colleague will do the scans and FTP delivery. Negativ can be stored until you request them.
www.sw-foto.de
We have a client from US, but he brings the films personaly.
Best
 
Ryan1938 said:
I would think shipping to Germany would be both time consuming and really expensive from the US?
Click to expand...

Either, or - slow mail is not that expensive. But mailing exposed film overseas is not for the faint of heart - not all of it will be treated with a film-destroying checked baggage x-ray, but since the 2010 attempted cargo plane bombings, at least some will get zapped.
 
I am about to do a trial run with Indie Film Lab in the USA. They look quite promising; reasonable prices which include high quality scans, FTP, great customer service. I live in a remote part of Canada, but it's looking like it would still be worth my while. They will even hang onto your film (if you prefer) until they total 40 rolls, then ship them back all at once to keep the costs down. I will let you know how I make out.

Glen
 
AZSunGod said:
That's great to hear because their prices and turn around time look very appealing.as well as the ability to download the scans!
Click to expand...

The FTP download is new, as in the last few months. I used them last Fall and they did not have that service. So good on them for improving.

Between Precision and The Darkroom I saw little difference in processing and scans. What I like about The Darkroom is for the occasional B&W I do or would like to do, they process and print on real B&W paper. It's extra, but again, for the occasional roll, a nice offering.
 
Indie Film Lab
Pro Photo Connection
Richard Photo Lab

All of these are in the US and offer ftp. Bear in mind, lots of wedding shooters use these labs, so they can get somewhat backed up. On the other hand their quality is excellent.

My preference is Indie, they offer the same resolution as Precision and NCPS for for a better price, and the ftp is very convenient, save much on return postage as someone posted above. Also, no up charge for B&W, unlike Precision.
 
Looks like The Darkroom offers a good service but their resolution is a lot lower even on their 'enhanced' scans.

For example, the Indie scans of my 645 negs are 3533x4824, compared to 2048×3072.
 
I was looking at the Indie Film Lab FAQs, and I saw this about optimal print sizes:
The recommended dpi of prints is between 180 and 300.
Medium Format
At 180 dpi, the optimal print size on our Standard and Large scans is 11″ x 14″, and at 300 it is 8″ x 10″.
At 180 dpi, the optimal print size on our Ex-Large scans is 20″ x 27″, and at 300 it is 12″ x 16″
35mm
At 180 dpi, Standard and Large scans is 11″ x 17″, and at 300 it is 8″ x 12″. ( i have done 16×20′s that look fine )
At 180 dpi, XL scans can print 25″ x 38″ and at 300 it is 15″ x 23″
Click to expand...

It seems counterintuitive that 180 dots per inch would be optimal for a large print (e.g., 11"x14"), while 300 dots per inch would be optimal for a smaller print (e.g., 8"x10"). What am I missing?
 
loquax ludens said:
It seems counterintuitive that 180 dots per inch would be optimal for a large print (e.g., 11"x14"), while 300 dots per inch would be optimal for a smaller print (e.g., 8"x10"). What am I missing?
Click to expand...

I'd guess viewing distances, where the 8x10 could sit framed on a mantle or table the 11x14 is going to be hanging somewhere. Like I said, just a guess.
 
loquax ludens said:
I was looking at the Indie Film Lab FAQs, and I saw this about optimal print sizes:


It seems counterintuitive that 180 dots per inch would be optimal for a large print (e.g., 11"x14"), while 300 dots per inch would be optimal for a smaller print (e.g., 8"x10"). What am I missing?
Click to expand...

They have some issues with their website organization and communication (typos), so they may not be editing very well. That does bring up concerns about technical competency.

I used them and 1 roll was not good, the rest very good. I may try them again because they were the first with an FTP service and I like the small, boutique suppliers. Keeps the bigger guys honest.

I wish they had an option to do prints at time of processing. They use Noritsu's and Frontier's so this should not be a problem. I guess it has to do with their 'wait and mail' system vis-a-vis negatives.
 
loquax ludens said:
I was looking at the Indie Film Lab FAQs, and I saw this about optimal print sizes:

The recommended dpi of prints is between 180 and 300.
Medium Format
At 180 dpi, the optimal print size on our Standard and Large scans is 11″ x 14″, and at 300 it is 8″ x 10″.
At 180 dpi, the optimal print size on our Ex-Large scans is 20″ x 27″, and at 300 it is 12″ x 16″
35mm
At 180 dpi, Standard and Large scans is 11″ x 17″, and at 300 it is 8″ x 12″. ( i have done 16×20′s that look fine )
At 180 dpi, XL scans can print 25″ x 38″ and at 300 it is 15″ x 23″


It seems counterintuitive that 180 dots per inch would be optimal for a large print (e.g., 11"x14"), while 300 dots per inch would be optimal for a smaller print (e.g., 8"x10"). What am I missing?
Click to expand...

I think they mean:
35mm
For Standard and Large scans, you can get 180dpi prints up to 11x17 or 16x20 and 300dpi prints up to 8x12.
For XL scans, 180dpi print to 25x38 and 300dpi prints to 15x23.
 
Thanks Christian (Guaranteed), Aristophanes (son of Philippus), and Colonel Moran (the second most dangerous man in London).

But I guess I'm still not getting it. If you can get a 180 dpi print up to 16x20, why couldn't you get a 300 dpi print even larger? You've got greater resolution to work with, so it seems you should be able to go larger. Why would a higher resolution print limit you to a smaller print size?

I might just email them the question and see what they say. Maybe it's a limitation of their printers?
 
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