One-hour-processing, monochrome c41 film, and film differences

[jonasv]

I'm thinking of taking a photography workshop in Spain, at the beginning of february. I'd have to shoot pictures every day and present them the next day.

Two choices:

Borrow/hire a DSLR... Bring laptop (I'd have to borrow that as well)... Batteries... Cards... Shoot digital (not used to it and no fan of it).

Or: take leica, one lens, and film. Use one-hour-processing and printing.

In favor of digital: quicker, more versatile as I wouldn't be dependent on film labs, and cheaper if I can borrow (not hire) a DSLR. In favor of the leica: more fun, I'm used to it, less to pack (have to take a plane and maybe I'd like to travel 'round Spain a bit after the workshop), probably better pictures. It would be more expensive though...



Now the relevant questions for this forum: is one-hour-processing (plus prints) with the monochrome c41-films (Kodak CN, Ilford XP2, ...) possible everywhere where they can do regular one-hour-processing? Or will they not do this at every cheap drugstore that does one-hour-processing?

If it is, would you pick one film over the other for cheap one-hour-prints?

(I seem to remember one film's prints would be toned and the other would be b&w... because they use color paper vs b&w paper... Am I wrong?)



Thanks in advance, cheers!

Jonas

 

[jgeenen]

Can't tell on the quality of one-hour processing labs. In general I would assume that they take your monochrome C-41 but the results might be below-average (especially tonality of prints, as the lab might not have specific B&W profiles).

For one-hour lab processing (which is always based on C-41 and color prints) the Kodak BW400 is preferred as the brown masked negatives are well-"understood" by the printing machine. The XP2 (gray masking like regular B&W films) will increase the risk of colored prints, but they are easy to print in any B&W home or pro darkroom.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

How about the Leica and decent C41 film (Fuji Reala?) and minilab for dev and CD only, then edit on a notebook computer.

In Portugal the shops advertise thirty minute processing but tell you that you need to give them three hours. Things may be swifter in Spain.

I've been using Fuji Neopan CN (C41 B&W) recently and handed it in at my local minilab and they've deved and scanned with no problems.

The light here is good already and will be even better next month, especially dawn and dusk honey light most days. But the sun is low in the sky all day so plan ahead for big shadows and lots of contrast.

 

[rxmd]

Hi Jonas,

it should not be a problem.

In a drugstore you can more or less expect your prints to have a color hue, especially when you use XP2. Reason #1 is that XP2 uses a violet film base instead of an orange one. The advantage is that XP2 can be printed on B&W paper without trouble with filtering, the disadvantage is that cheap minilabs get confused when the operator doesn't have a clue. With Kodak film you can avoid the hue, but at least I do my own B&W printing as well and hence find XP2 easier to use, and I don't like the tonality of the Kodak. Reason #2 is that cheap minilabs tend to be somewhat miscalibrated for non-black blacks, and with a B&W print this looks like a hue over the whole picture. That will happen with any film.

I would get a CD burned along with your prints. The scans won't be great, but good enough for Powerpoint, the Web or digital contact print type overviews, and usually it shouldn't cost a significant amount.

Try to check if there is an instant photo development and printing service somewhere that caters to professionals. I have one here in Berlin that will do C41 and E6 development in twenty minutes and produce good scans on a Fuji Frontier minilab, all for six EUR, and then cut the film in nice 6-frame strips, by hand, and give me a free archival pouch that I can put in my archive folder right away. Staff tends to be more knowledgeable, and you can have interesting discussions and meet great people.

Philipp

 

[jonasv]

Thanks for the input Philipp, Jon and Johannes. Part of the trouble is I'm not sure if there will be any photo labs let alone a pro lab - it's a relatively small town (Mieres, in Asturias) and with the whole digital revolution thingamajing nowadays...

I'm not really concerned about top printing quality though, the workshop's focus is on documentary photography and photo-essays; technical imperfections in post-processing won't be such a big deal, I think.

Jon, your suggestion makes sense and I had thought about it too, but I'm not really looking forward to lugging around a notebook computer...

I'm gonna think about it some more. Thanks for the input folks!

Jonas

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Does the photo school not recommend a photo lab and not have computers for you to use?

 

[distagon]

i think you should with what ever you are comfortable with.

i attend a workshop in mexico and used c41 (ilford xp2) all the way.
good enough for anything and leave you undistracted to focus on shooting instead of looking at the preview.

just missed a very important shot 2 days back for looking at the preview. =C