An Introduction: XXLtd.Lab - Only Contact Positive from Negative, ECN-2 Still Lab

[Split70mm]

I hope this thread is not seen as being overly solicitous, but I have been asked by several of my customers, avid film shooters and members of these fora, to make my presence known here.

I run XXLtd. Lab, out of Cleveland, OH.

We are, to my knowledge, the only lab making positives from C-41 and ECN-2 negatives.


We're one of the few or only one left offering optical machine prints in the near future.

We offer limited 8- and 16mm processing services.



And we are avidly pro film, although we do offer limited digital services as well.

Several of you on here I have seen start threads about ECN-2 processing of still film, old Seattle Filmworks film.

We can offer ALL of the services formerly provided by the likes of Dale, SFW, Red Dot, Signature Color, etc. I personally hate to see all of the misinformation out there as to who can do what, and it is three or four years out of date.

Our thread on Photo.net was deleted as solicitation, even though SOMEONE ELSE wrote a solicitation for Dale labs almost two years out of date.


There are some movie labs that run this service, but I can tell you it is negative only, and they use staples at heads and tails which cost you 5-6 frames on each end.

We lose NO FRAMES when processing ECN-2 film, use the CORRECT ECN-2 chemistry, and offer all of the finest 500T and slow dayllight 35mm MoPic films for sale from Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm.

Despite some other misinformation on here, as well, there is NO CONTRAST MISMATCH between current C-41 professional films and ECP print stock. Portra, Pro films make beautiful slides, and the contrast is about the same, just some different base densities, turning the yellow dial a tad more on the printer :-D



Anyway, am an avid film shooter, especially for PAID WORK myself, so I hope these fora will count me as a personal friend as well


~KB
XXLtd. Lab
Cleveland, OH

 

[hpulley]

This will probably be deleted as solicitation too. I don't work for this place, I'm just a subscriber, but have you considered becoming an apug advertiser? A banner ad would probably do better than this thread anyways.

 

[MattKing]

Welcome:

In case you are wondering about advertising here, this will give you the info:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[hrst]

The film community needs people like you, providing these kind of exceptionally rare services that add new value to the standard processes.

Suggestion; provide some example scans, for example: an original C-41 negative and a slide made from that negative, an original tungsten-balanced ECN-2 negative, and a slide made from that? I guess real examples would boost the general interest to these techniques.

 

[holmburgers]

I think the contrast mismatch was in relation to RA-4 papers. What's your take on that?

 

[M.A.Longmore]

.
Welcome To APUG !

Ron
.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Yes, welcome to APUG and please consider contributing as an advertiser as I do.

 

[Athiril]

I process B&W neg & pos, C-41, E-6 and ECN-2, and soon ECP-2 specialty film in Australia.. no contact positives though, dont have that equipment.

Got Kodak 5201 50D and Vision3 500T bulk cutting for 35mm, also got Vision Print Film on the way for a high contrast, high res, fine grain, slow speed colour film, which I'll make a low contrast dev for which I hope to balance colour for daylight in dev.

 

[panchro-press]

Where are you located? I'm in Lakewood.

Dave

 

[Split70mm]

Hey Panchro!

We're towards the South. Have a facility down-town and two other smaller ones for photography work and an office/equipment storage space on the border between Medina and Cuyahoga counties. We are solely mail order, though I suppose I could give a tour (not much to see though!)



Athiri, good to see a competitor. . . safely away on another continent!



I have some hits from people in Australia, would love to chip a bone to you there. If you offer stock for sale, there is someone I'd like to send samples too if you'd be willing to cut me a break on a free roll I promised him. Will still come out cheaper than all the shipping.

Please shoot me a PM. If you need any help getting in touch with Kodak, Fuji, I know US reps granted, but could certainly put a word in for you. They will probably LOVE to hear from you at Kodak Australasia Ltd.

 

[Split70mm]

P.S. Kodak C-41 Pro and ECN-2 are almost IDENTICAL in contrast now. Literally within a couple of percent of each other. Vivid Fuji neg in ECN is more contrasty than C-41 pro. So all you need is a different filter pack; no chemistry modifications required for RA-4 or ECP-2D.

Can't say I do much optical printing of ECN-2 negs onto paper, but if the contrast is the same on the print stock. . . the contrast should be the same on paper too, right? I can't see any reason to modify anything, unless you think Portra prints too flat too on current RA-4 stocks.


It's really the problem of the PAPER SURFACES being discontinued, not any mismatch with the film. Where is a Portra Paper, Supra paper alternative? That is where flashing, pushing chemistry manipulation where be necessary for optical printing in the very near future.

All that is out there is Mitsubishi I assume high-con paper Fuji PIII Crystal archive pro and CA amateur paper and Kodak Ultra or Edge (basiically the same thing, just tighter tolerances on the Ultra). Is there any such thing as a low-contrast, optical compatible RA-4 paper?


Only near alternative I can think of is a flashed paper to bring the ocntrast down with and/or a developer tweak for the RA-4 chemistry. Maybe the contrast of hte paper can be lowered by just tweaking chemistry. Flashes have the nasty habit of eliminating true whites on prints.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Welcome to APUG! I have to keep you in mind.

Jeff

 

[frobozz]

Glad to see you pop in here! (This is the other lab I'd been emailing with regards to getting processing for still-camera lengths of movie film. Someone else has been conversing with cinelab.)

And I really am going to send you some test film Any Day Now! I've shot some tests in daylight (daylight film, and tungsten film with a correction filter) but I still need to shoot some actual tungsten-lit tests before I send in a bunch of rolls all at once.

Duncan