What lab are you using for C41/E6 in 2013?

Thanks, great suggestions. Does anyone happen to know the average scan file image size from the darkroom or sfphotoworks from C41?

For example, I usually get 300k-500k jpgs from Walgreens, and 800k to 1.2MB from Costco. Just curious, the latter has often been fine for me for quick 8x10s. The former, I usually rescan myself for anything but online or 4x6s.
 
Back in 2010, I received from Photoworks SF:

6x6 "Deluxe Scan" 2079x2079 12.19 MB TIFF
35mm "Deluxe Scan" 3000x2000 17.17 MB TIFF

From their current site, it appears they rate 6x6 @ 8x8" @ 255 DPI ~ 11.5MB Tiff and 35mm @ 6.5x10" @ 300 DPI ~ 17MB Tiff. That seems to be inline with my experiences from 2010.

I've personally have also used Precision Photo and have felt the quality of scans from Velvia was much worse than Photoworks (extreme green noise in shadows)

Here's a flickr group for Photoworks SF and photos shared by users of the lab. I generally filter by a specific film, as some digital shots seem to be in the pool:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/photoworkssf/
 
Thanks

Thanks

I dug deeper, and sffphotoworks has 3 levels, low for $5, med (5x7-ish) for $10, and "deluxe" for $15

So develop + high res scans is pricey, while their dev only costs are reasonable. IMHO.

Thanks, the flickr images look good.


mgilbuena said:
Back in 2010, I received from Photoworks SF:

6x6 "Deluxe Scan" 2079x2079 12.19 MB TIFF
35mm "Deluxe Scan" 3000x2000 17.17 MB TIFF

From their current site, it appears they rate 6x6 @ 8x8" @ 255 DPI ~ 11.5MB Tiff and 35mm @ 6.5x10" @ 300 DPI ~ 17MB Tiff. That seems to be inline with my experiences from 2010.

I've personally have also used Precision Photo and have felt the quality of scans from Velvia was much worse than Photoworks (extreme green noise in shadows)

Here's a flickr group for Photoworks SF and photos shared by users of the lab. I generally filter by a specific film, as some digital shots seem to be in the pool:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/photoworkssf/
Click to expand...
 
The best lab in the US just happens to be on my way to work. Pro Photo in Irvine, CA processes film from all over the country. C41 process is $2.50. Scan is $5. It is the reason I am still happy to use Kodak Gold 100 with my M6. Since I scan it myself, each roll costs me less than $5 total. If you live in Europe, you should be jealous by now.
 
Last edited:
egil said:
The best lab in the US just happens to be on my way to work. Pro Photo in Irvine, CA processes film from all over the country. C41 process is $2.50. Scan is $5. It is the reason I am still happy to use Kodak Gold 100 with my M6. Since I scan it myself, each roll costs me less than $5 total. If you live in Europe, you should be jealous by now.
Click to expand...

Those are seriously good prices (http://stores.prophotoirvine.com/-strse-template/labservices/Page.bok).

Have you previously asked Pro Photo to do scans for Kodak Gold? Were you happy with the quality of their scans? Incidentally, the bulk of the film I sent off this round was Gold 100 -- I was really yearning for that classic film-era film stock. It's great to return back to an old friend.
 
I've been doing it all myself in my kitchen and making my own scans.. i'm getting kinda tired of all the time it takes though. I might try this 'darkroom' place for my next color roll.
 
I don't shoot that much color anymore, but I just dropped off two rolls of C-41 at Walgreens. We'll see how they do.
 
mgilbuena said:
Those are seriously good prices (http://stores.prophotoirvine.com/-strse-template/labservices/Page.bok).

Have you previously asked Pro Photo to do scans for Kodak Gold? Were you happy with the quality of their scans? Incidentally, the bulk of the film I sent off this round was Gold 100 -- I was really yearning for that classic film-era film stock. It's great to return back to an old friend.
Click to expand...

I have used their scanning service for Gold 100, and they are absolutely wonderful. They somehow manage to avoid dust altogether through some kind of magic. But I can't justify $5 extra cost per roll when I have an OK scanner at home. Cloning away the dust in post processing is a chore, though. Gold 100 is my favorite, and it is is one of the cheapest films around. I think is benefits from being a 'gold standard'....I believe someone told me that a lot of labs calibrate (whatever that means) their equipment towards Kodak Gold since that was the most common film before. True or not, it works great for me and my budget.
 
This is a great thread. If nothing else it shows there are still good labs out there processing film for reasonable prices. At the recommendation of others on this thread I'm about to mail out a batch of film to The Darkroom. I'm interested to see their scan quality.
 
Lots of good options here! I don't shoot that much color, so I don't mind the cost or the time involved in sending it off.

I got tempted into using the local Walgreens since there was a coupon for $2 off processing. Two rolls cost me only $6. One roll looks great, but the other looks like it had been handled by Freddie Kruger. It is odd because they were dropped off at the same time. Good thing my scanner has ICE.

I think that I'll try some of the other options above next time. Thanks for everyone's recommendations on good labs!
 
As promised, here's the result of a developed roll / scan from PhotoWorks SF:

8639647754_db972ff4bf_b.jpg

Photoworks SF​

And here's the same photo scanned with my V500 scanner:

8638544849_4c474c76d9_b.jpg

Epson V500 scan @ 3200dpi​

Shot on Kodak Gold 100 w/Leica M6TTL and Canon 50 f1.4 lens
 
I never understood why people who will spend $5000 on a Leica will be so cheap with their film? Seems bassackward.

Edgar Praus at http://www.4photolab.com in Rochester does professional film processing and custom printing for customers worldwide, as well as quality control work for Kodak. If you want to try the best - if only for reference against the drug store lol - send your film to Edgar's.
 
Franz Elmar said:
I never understood why people who will spend $5000 on a Leica will be so cheap with their film? Seems bassackward.
Click to expand...

For my roll, it was specifically to capture the nostalgia and essence of "that color film-look" that many are familiar with as a result of the popularity of this consumer film.

Also developed E100VS, but have not done comparative V500 scans for that roll, yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom