35mm negatives

samnc0 · Jun 29, 2009

I know the print quality for 35mm varies widely from store to store, and obviously a professional printer does better than the one-hour shops at costco. I know for prints the 1-hour places have lots of variations in colors, exposures etc...

If I just want the negatives developed, can I get it done good if I go to Costco or Sams Club, or will that give me bad quality or tremendous variation from negative to negative? Once I get the negs back, I plan on scanning it on a system like the primefilm 7520 (any comments on that system) and doing any edits on computer before taking it to a lab to print whatever I want printed.
Can this work well?

Sirius Glass · Jun 29, 2009

I have gotten consistent and good 35mm film development at Costco. I get good print making there too. It helps to get to know the supervisor and talk to him about what you want done.

Steve

mrladewig · Jun 29, 2009

If you're going to do develop only, why not use a high quality professional lab rather than risk the minilab. Yes, the mini lab can do a good job, but they are also likely to cause one of the following problems. First, they may not keep their roll processors cleaned correctly, which can cause serious scratching in your film. Second, they may not maintain their chemistry correctly, which can cause a number of other issues that make your life difficult down the road. You might get lucky with a mini lab that does take care of their equipment. But they may change staff one day and you wont know.

For develop only, its only a couple bucks more to use a pro-lab and I think that is money well spent.

Jeff Kubach · Jun 29, 2009

In the past I've gotten good results from Costco.

Jeff

BetterSense · Jun 29, 2009

I think modern minilab developer machines are probably perfectly fine for developing C41. The risks you run are in scratches and/or dust from handling. I get all my C41 done at Target. It's not that important to me and the price is only $1. I've had great luck with Walmart send-out service for everything from slides to medium-format C41 to movie film.

samnc0 · Jun 29, 2009

slide film

what about slide film...who can develop slide film? I am assuming it has to be mailed out, unless you are in a big city with a dedicated pro film lab there.

BetterSense · Jun 29, 2009

You can develop slide film yourself, if you are prepared for the hassle and expense. I don't think any department-store-scale labs do slide film, but most can send it out to a lab.

PhotoJim · Jun 29, 2009

Most decent-sized cities will have an E6 lab. Mine does (population 200,000 and isolated). We may have more than one for all I know, but the lab I have used for the last decade and a half is still running so I still go there. Mail order is possible too; there are lots of good labs that will do mail order processing.

ntenny · Jun 29, 2009

I asked this same question (about C-41) a month or two ago, and while people were busily pointing out to me all the ways in which it's possible to screw up, the minilab was busily demonstrating all of them.

Theoretically, yeah, C-41 processing is standard. If whoever runs the minilab has it together to keep things clean and well maintained, use fresh chemicals, and not turn the negatives over to Edward Scissorhands at any point during the procedure, you should get consistent quality. Some places do, some don't. I switched from one CVS pharmacy that was butchering my film to another one a few minutes away that's been exemplary so far---the new one's lab is managed by a guy who seems like he could well be one of us.

-NT

removed account4 · Jun 29, 2009

if you do the " send out " option for sams club
it goes to fuji labs ... it is worth a test roll ...
for 9 years i have had most of my personal
c41 sent there ... no real problems to report ...

Jeff L · Jun 29, 2009

MY Costco are very careful with my film and the cleanliness of the machines and chemical quality. Like Sirius Glass says, it's a good idea to get to know the people that work there. Sadly the Costco that's local to me is getting rid of the C41 machine in March and will only be doing printing.

geauxpez · Jun 30, 2009

I just paid $11 at Wolf (which previously did quality work) for prints that are decidedly blue...as though they were shot through a blue filter. The film was Ektar 100. I will have to scan the negatives to see if the problem is mine or theirs, then I'm going back to have them re-printed. If Costco does decent work for a few bucks, by all means, go for it.

Christopher Walrath · Jun 30, 2009

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

And of course, if you're shooting non-C41 black and white you could get started for around $200 and join the dark side. It easy to do and very self-satisfying.

cmo · Jun 30, 2009

If you want to get a film scanner be aware that a "primefilm 7520" or similar are the least-cost versions, scanning results are far below average. You might ask at www.hybridphoto.com for alternatives (they all cost a lot more money) or ask your lab whether they create Kodak Photo CDs. Price and quality are very acceptable, and you get the CD back with your negatives, no work at all.

SoSideways · Jun 30, 2009

Well, I decided to give the picture CD a try from the local CVS with my last roll of film, and what I got back was basically scans done at 72dpi and sized for 4x6 prints.

The scans that my buddy did for me with his Epson V500 set to 300dpi was much higher resolution and looks much better than the 72dpi scans from the CVS, so from now on I'll probably only use that CVS to develop my film, then send the negatives to my friend to scan instead.

BetterSense · Jun 30, 2009

The quality of CDs provided by minilabs varies widely. They are usually of low quality. I personally wonder if genuine Kodak picture CDs are any better than the usual fare, but I wouldn't know.

Sirius Glass · Jun 30, 2009

Kodak Photo CDs were much higher resolution. No one else used that as a standard and Kodak moved to the jpeg for the Kodak Picture CDs. Remember that the public and market forces chose VHS over Beta and PC over Mac.

Steve

35mm negatives

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