egpj
50 Summilux is da DEVIL!
Erl said:
I'll raise a pint in agreement to that Erl!
keithslater
Established
I take my B&W to Wal-mart and use their send out service. Not to bad, but maybe my standards are low. For the price I am willing to take a risk. I went to our local family pharmacy the other day and they had a 1/2 price sale on film developing. I asked who they use and they said qualex. (Spelling?) They called for me, and they can develop 120 so I send out 7 rolls. Its going to be about $6 a roll for doubles. (12 to a roll) Can't beat that anywere. 2 week turn around. I looked at their service card, and they can also do half-frame, 126, and just about anything else.
Keith
Keith
hoot
green behind the ears
Color film is dead. Nowadays, going through the hassle of using film only makes sense when you're shooting black and white... unless, of course, you're William Eggleston.
dmr
Registered Abuser
keithslater said:
If I'm correct, Qualex is actually a division of Kodak. Lots of places around here use Qualex for things like send-out 2-day service. (I want that semi-instant gratification of same day.)
Honestly, I can't imagine that Qualex does anything special, and I'm sure they use something automated as much as the in-store mini-labs, just on a larger scale. {>>SCREAM<<} LOL! I don't think I could stand to wait that long! The 5-day turnaround for Kodachrome (mail it Sunday, get it back Friday) is about the limit of my patience.
I'm addicted to that semi-instant gratification! keithslater
Established
It is a long wait, but my only other options are mail order, or the pro shop 20 miles away, and its going to cost $20 for one roll of 120.
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
I don't have a lot of respect for color print film, and the few times I've used it I went to Walmart or Walgreens. Now... Wallyworld's service may not be the best, but they do a good work. In my Walgreens the last time I brought some negs (asked for prints and scans in a CD), they butchered the negatives in the most atrocious way. My grocery shop does a decent job... but all the objects that are green color in my prints have turned out consistently unrealistic: grass and tree leaves look weird, like oversaturated.
My favorite film is slide... but my university lab is going to stop their developing service in December. I think I'll switch to Dwayne's then for Kodachrome, and Happy-D for everything else. But there's no return to the grocery shop for me.
My favorite film is slide... but my university lab is going to stop their developing service in December. I think I'll switch to Dwayne's then for Kodachrome, and Happy-D for everything else. But there's no return to the grocery shop for me.
dmr
Registered Abuser
SolaresLarrave said:
Does your university lab actually do Kodachrome?
sf
Veteran
who processes at a grocery store?
who processes at a grocery store?
No one that cares about the material. I used to work at a drug store camera department. A major chain. I would say that the actual development of the film is very sketchy - no care taken to really ensure proper development, and the machines do damage the film on a regular basis. The machines are poorly cleaned, most of the time (at least in comparison to how you would clean them if they were your own), the chemicals are never perfectly balanced, and the rollers are never free of grit. Really a sort of suicide trip for the negatives. if cost is the deciding factor, go for it, but it is like Russian Roulett.
The printing machines are scanners nowadays, but I did it the old way (chemical and three stage printing), and I would say that efficiency came before quality - always. No printer has the time to examine each frame and properly expose each frame individually.
Bottom line - find a shop that will dip 'n' dunk, custom develop, and hang dry your negatives - and print or scan them yourself. Or have them custom printed. The machines they use are clumsy and often destructive.
If you do B&W only, it is really easy to develop your negs yourself - and lots cheaper. And you can get quality from the negs that no shop will offer.
who processes at a grocery store?
No one that cares about the material. I used to work at a drug store camera department. A major chain. I would say that the actual development of the film is very sketchy - no care taken to really ensure proper development, and the machines do damage the film on a regular basis. The machines are poorly cleaned, most of the time (at least in comparison to how you would clean them if they were your own), the chemicals are never perfectly balanced, and the rollers are never free of grit. Really a sort of suicide trip for the negatives. if cost is the deciding factor, go for it, but it is like Russian Roulett.
The printing machines are scanners nowadays, but I did it the old way (chemical and three stage printing), and I would say that efficiency came before quality - always. No printer has the time to examine each frame and properly expose each frame individually.
Bottom line - find a shop that will dip 'n' dunk, custom develop, and hang dry your negatives - and print or scan them yourself. Or have them custom printed. The machines they use are clumsy and often destructive.
If you do B&W only, it is really easy to develop your negs yourself - and lots cheaper. And you can get quality from the negs that no shop will offer.
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
DMR436... I wish my lab did Kodachrome! Alas, they only do E-6, but they also do push-processing at no additional cost. Up to two stops sometimes, and it used to be processed the same day. Now, the bean-counters placed restrictions and they only process film twice a week. All of theml have BAs or MAs in fine arts, and they're all very knowledgeable. In fact, a staff photographer just won two prices (first and second) in a photo contest organized by the Association of University Photographers.
See... I'm sad to see them close!
Alas, they only do E-6, but they also do push-processing at no additional cost. Up to two stops sometimes, and it used to be processed the same day. Now, the bean-counters placed restrictions and they only process film twice a week. All of theml have BAs or MAs in fine arts, and they're all very knowledgeable. In fact, a staff photographer just won two prices (first and second) in a photo contest organized by the Association of University Photographers. See... I'm sad to see them close!
Graybeard
Longtime IIIf User
phototone said:
I must be missing something here.
Why go to the additional bother of processing chromogenic film at home when you will obtain equivalent or better results shooting and home processing a black and white emulsion?
My limited experience with chromogenic film is that the negative produced by Kodak's product are noticeably less sharp than any B&W film (same camera, outdoor shots at small aperture and high shutter speed).
Erl
Established
Graybeard said:
I don't think you are missing anything!
I have heard it claimed that chromogenic film is "grain free"; that is supposed to be an attraction. I would have thought that digital is a better alternative for "grain haters". Some also claim it scans better than true B/W, but my experience with B/W scanning is very positive, dependent on good software and operator skill, of course.
To my perception, chromogenic is simply a convenient device for labs that can't/won't process B/W.