Big-W stopping film processing.

[Colin D]

What!? Do you mean the QV Centre in Swanston or Russell Street?? That's interesting. $5.00!? That's cheap!!

Yep, that's the one, not that I am an expert, but they appear to do a reasonable job for 100 and 200 ASA.

 

[Yamaotoko]

Yep, that's the one, not that I am an expert, but they appear to do a reasonable job for 100 and 200 ASA.

I'm a bit excited, I'm planning on heading up to town tomorrow afternoon. Is it an hour service, or overnight? ...or more?

 

[eclarke]

I'm not familiar with Texas. I don't think we have those in Australia

HaHa..funny, everybody here in the US thinks we are the center of the universe..Texas thinks it's the center of the US...

 

[Colin D]

I'm a bit excited, I'm planning on heading up to town tomorrow afternoon. Is it an hour service, or overnight? ...or more?

Steve, I normally pick mine up the next day, although once they did it the same day, if you dropped it in early enough and depending on how busy they are they may be able to do quick turn around.

 

[polyglot]

Hahaha, funny man, if only I could afford to lug the Linhof up there and back, and keep my marriage in tact, so unfortunately I had the Pentax MZ-5n with the exceptionally crappy Sigma 28-80mm lens.

BTW LHJ, I am about to self develop C-41 4x5 film, feeling a tad nervous about the prospect. Do you know where I can get some cheap storage bottles for the chems, I have tried a couple of op shops but no cigar.

Be not trepid, C41 is very forgiving. I store my chemicals in PETE bottles bought from the supermarket with drinking water in them. Dev will keep for 4months at least in the fridge with NO air in the bottle; bleach+fix will last years as long as it's not a blix.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

All very good, but ... Do they have a pigeon hole where they drop completed jobs etc. for collection after hours?
I've got a pigeon hole at PRISM and it works a treat as I can stick my hand in and grab proofs, invoices, completed E6 jobs, bad jokes, plastic spoyders and maybe even put a cheque in there any time I'm up in the City of Sin, often on weekends. Quality control of E6 is very important. Have any problems been noticed, such as frames accidently cut when loading?

 

[Colin D]

Be not trepid, C41 is very forgiving. I store my chemicals in PETE bottles bought from the supermarket with drinking water in them. Dev will keep for 4months at least in the fridge with NO air in the bottle; bleach+fix will last years as long as it's not a blix.

Thanks pg, but I'm a bit clueless on what PETE stands for???? :confused:

 

[LJH]

Thanks pg, but I'm a bit clueless on what PETE stands for???? :confused:

"Polyethylene terephthalate"

Recyclable plastic. Think soft drink bottles.

Another really good way to store liquids is in dark green/brown wine bottles, and use a "Vacu Vin" style pump to remove air.

 

[polyglot]

Like LJH says - softdrink / water bottles. The clear stuff, not the soft milky stuff. Look for a triangular "recyclable" imprint in the plastic of the bottle near the bottom, it should have a 1 in it and say PETE below. At least this coke bottle I'm looking at now does. PETE is used for softdrink bottles because its gas permeability is quite low, so the drinks don't go flat on the shelf and it's great for keeping the oxygen out of your developer.

I use butane lighter-refill to exclude the oxygen. You must get it ALL out or the colour dev will die, even refrigerated.

 

[Colin D]

"Polyethylene terephthalate"

Recyclable plastic. Think soft drink bottles.

Another really good way to store liquids is in dark green/brown wine bottles, and use a "Vacu Vin" style pump to remove air.

Thanks LJH, this weekend could be it if I can scrounge some bottles from the bin .

 

[Colin D]

Like LJH says - softdrink / water bottles. The clear stuff, not the soft milky stuff. Look for a triangular "recyclable" imprint in the plastic of the bottle near the bottom, it should have a 1 in it and say PETE below. At least this coke bottle I'm looking at now does. PETE is used for softdrink bottles because its gas permeability is quite low, so the drinks don't go flat on the shelf and it's great for keeping the oxygen out of your developer.

I use butane lighter-refill to exclude the oxygen. You must get it ALL out or the colour dev will die, even refrigerated.

Thanks pg, I knew there had to be a good reason for coke existing. Last weekend I came across a device used to expel air from opened wine bottles and replace it with an inert gas, I assume this would work with the c-41 chems like the butane gas. It was in a pressurised cyclinder and cost about $15 I think, might have to look into it a bit further.

 

[Michael W]

Vacu vin looks pretty simple. Are there any comments regarding pros and cons of this method vs butane?

 

[BrianShaw]

Vacu vin looks pretty simple. Are there any comments regarding pros and cons of this method vs butane?

I've never use butane to preserve a bottle of wine, but have used VacuVin constantly for about 6 years. It is easy to operate and works well. Only possible con is the proprietery stoppers -- not always available, or at least I can't always find them. So buy "too many". I can't remember the cost of a VacuVin system but it is quite affordable.

 

[Michael W]

They're about $20 with two stoppers.

 

[Colin D]

I use butane lighter-refill to exclude the oxygen. You must get it ALL out or the colour dev will die, even refrigerated.

What is your process for getting the butane in the bottle then sealing it? I've bought a spray can of the stuff, cost $8, is it simply spraying into the vacant top part then sealing the bottle?

 

[polyglot]

I spray lots into the top so that fog billows out and then get some more onto the inside neck of the bottle - it will form a little icy crust. Put the cap on and the bottle will inflate to fairly high pressure. At that point the butane has displaced (I'm guessing) maybe 3/4 of the oxygen/nitrogen mix. Place your hand on the bottle to warm it (evaporate that little crust) and the pressure will shoot up to several atmospheres (about 105psig = 8bar absolute). Now you release the pressure from the lid gently so that it comes down to just over 1 atm, and that will release 7/8 of the remaining oxygen. What remains is about 1/32 of what was in there before.

 

[TonyR]

G'Day everyone

I live quite close to a Fuji minilab in southern Sydney. They have survived, and thrived after so many minilabs have gone out of business. They supply a complete service to amateurs as well as the commercial wedding photographers. They process 35mm, 120 and print on Fuji machines as well as having a full digital kiosk for self service. Also, a lot of their work is handled through their website.

Their quality is fantastic - all printing is fully colour corrected, and customers generally always return after seeing the results of the 'cheap 9 cent prints' from the large chain stores.

I help them out with traditional black and white film processing (which is becoming more popular with some of their customers) which is then prinnted digitally.

About the C-41 (and any other chemical process) solution storage - try wine cask bladders (the foil type, not the cheaper clear plastic types) - they can be washed and filled to the spout so oxidation is no problem. I have kept black and white film and paper developers for around two years is wine casks...they're great!

Cheers
Tony

 

[quickbrownfox]

well dont keep us in suspense? where is this fuji wonderland?? im in southern sydney and if you didnt know there is also http://www.rgphotography.com.au/index.html
who do 35mm 120 in b and w c41 and e6! his prices are also reasonable, so definately check em out!

 

[JamesR]

my local Big W [Morwell, Vic] stopped as well.
i dont shoot much 35mm c-41, but when i did, it was handy!

 

[patpat]

Just got another film processed at Roydhouse Cameras, and it was not cut and sleeved. It was just rolled up and put in a zip-loc bag, and not cut. It also had scratches this time! I guess I have to start sending out my C41 now.

 

[Karl T]

Just to add,

the local Big W where I go (Kingston, just outside of hobart) still does C-41.


It costs about $4.95 for a roll of 36 sleeved. The film comes out decent but there is normaly a few scratches on the end and it's not super clean.

When I got a roll done on my PEN-EE half frame they told me my camera was broken because it was only giving half shots!.