Busy Darkroom! does this count as darkroom?

[ITD]

I didn't see the gizmo that puts the scratches on the negatives - do they only have those on the 1 hr minilabs?

 

[Mick Fagan]

The (late) Kodak photo finishing place in Melbourne was extremely similar to this. One of the more interesting things was to hear the flash firing for print exposure. It was so fast at times, it sounded like a sub machine gun firing. Then it would slow right down for a fraction of a second, do a real loud flash, then usually take off again firing away like nobodies business.

The major difference I can figure out with the Melbourne setup, was that the film was spliced together into 1,000 foot rolls by blind people. I believe they had a punched tape, which was actually braille, running alongside to give them directions.

This Kodak place was extremely huge and did most of the colour C41 films in Australia. At the time, 25 years ago, almost every chemist shop in the country would collect films for processing, it would be whisked off to Melbourne via road, rail, ship or aeroplane. On top of that, most camera shops were sending their envelopes as well.

When the French started exporting their newly invented mini-labs into Australia, about 25 years ago, the change was phenomenal. All of a sudden, instead of waiting two to three weeks for colour processing, you could get it within 36 hours or sometimes within 24 hours, it was only a short time later that same day processing became the norm, which eventually progressed to the 1 hour labs we are now used to seeing.

I believe that the shortest commercial C41 processing was 11 minutes dry to dry, with colour prints taking another 5 minutes. This was a special AGFA lab installed on the QE2 ocean going liner.

Kodak in Australia also had their mobile processing plant about 20 years ago. It was a semi trailer truck with a complete C41 set-up as well as E6. It was usually parked at major sporting events, pro photographers mainly used E6, whilst the rest used C41 and colour prints.

Very interesting film.

Mick.

 

[Snapshot]

Wow, a very impressive process. I was surprised at the amount of automation. I guess if I send in my film, I can't ask for my cassettes back.

 

[Lynda]

memories

My dad worked in a plant like that at least 20 years ago, I got to see the plant inside and I was just fascinated. The tanks of chemicals (I was told) were in some cases 20 feet deep because of the speed -that gave enough time in the chemistry without the tanks being longer than the building. The splicing room employed several persons who were sight impared to splice giant rolls of different films together. They had I think 8 different processes, or lines that they ran. Because of postal regs, anything that was porn could not be mailed so the customer got a note back in his envelope instead of his movie or prints telling him to come in person and pick it up. I don't know if they ever did, the film came from several states around. Awesome movie clip, thanks for posting the link!
Lynda

 

[haris]

dunno why people like them, though...

Matter of cropping, that is film size vs. papers size, If you are someone who frame and compose your photograph tihgtly edge to edge, you don't want your aunt or uncle to ask you "Why did you cut off top of my head?"

These white borders are very common in my friends photo lab when people bring images made with different ratios and want all photographs on same paper size, and don't want their photographs (image) to be cropped.

 

[Photo Engineer]

My dad worked in a plant like that at least 20 years ago, I got to see the plant inside and I was just fascinated. The tanks of chemicals (I was told) were in some cases 20 feet deep because of the speed -that gave enough time in the chemistry without the tanks being longer than the building. The splicing room employed several persons who were sight impared to splice giant rolls of different films together. They had I think 8 different processes, or lines that they ran. Because of postal regs, anything that was porn could not be mailed so the customer got a note back in his envelope instead of his movie or prints telling him to come in person and pick it up. I don't know if they ever did, the film came from several states around. Awesome movie clip, thanks for posting the link!
Lynda

Lynda;

I remember that porn postal regulation.

We had a drawer full of it in a special place and no one ever came to pick it up. This was not at Kodak, it was at the photofinisher I worked for during college. IDK what Kodak did with any porn they got.

PE

 

[haris]

Few years ago here, 3 girls came to one photographer (or "photographer")and made nude photographs. They never came back to get prints (and pay). About year after photographing, one of them won Bosnian Miss World title. Photographer sold prints of her nude to newspapers, and they publish them. She lost title.

Not good idea for those recognazeable on film not to pick up those kind of films

 

[Akki14]

Matter of cropping, that is film size vs. papers size, If you are someone who frame and compose your photograph tihgtly edge to edge, you don't want your aunt or uncle to ask you "Why did you cut off top of my head?"

These white borders are very common in my friends photo lab when people bring images made with different ratios and want all photographs on same paper size, and don't want their photographs (image) to be cropped.

Oh i don't mind white margins when they're accounting for full frame/odd sizing but if its just an even white border, I don't like it.

 

[pentaxuser]

A great little video and a real eye opener to me. The engineering skill involved in the set-up must be awesome when taken in its totality.

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[donbga]

Right now, the guy who owned that plant probably lost his shirt in the 'downsizing' of analog. I feel very sorry for the whole industry.

PE

At one time the photo finishing industry was the tenth largest industry (number of people employed in an industry).

My years in photo finishing management were some of my happiest of my work life. Computer automation was really starting to kick in and we were amazed year after year about how automated the industry was becoming, but by today's standards it was primitive.

We were a Kodak lab, I liked Pako processors but I hated Pako printers. CX packaging stations were kicking everyones butt then. The Kodak and Pako packaging machines. Kodak's printers were, IMO some of the best, though the Nord and Lucht printershad their pluses.

I would say that the quality of today's mass produced photo finishing is more consitent and the consumer has never had it so good.

 

[Photo Engineer]

At one time the photo finishing industry was the tenth largest industry (number of people employed in an industry).

My years in photo finishing management were some of my happiest of my work life. Computer automation was really starting to kick in and we were amazed year after year about how automated the industry was becoming, but by today's standards it was primitive.

We were a Kodak lab, I liked Pako processors but I hated Pako printers. CX packaging stations were kicking everyones butt then. The Kodak and Pako packaging machines. Kodak's printers were, IMO some of the best, though the Nord and Lucht printershad their pluses.

I would say that the quality of today's mass produced photo finishing is more consitent and the consumer has never had it so good.

I have a rather huge internal Kodak publication about the entire photofinishing industry published in about the mid 80s or thereabouts. It was amazing what went on to insure quality fast service.

PE

 

[Matt5791]

My guess is that it is a little bit more than 10 years old, but probably not 20.

Probably from the time when the industry was switching more to one hour photo.

If you worked in a large lab in the 1970s or 1980s, this would look quite familiar.

Too bad they don't have a similar video of an early 1970s Kodachrome line .

Matt

These people do this sort of mass processing - still now - it takes longer than the 1 hour photo labs, but is a fraction of the price.

http://www.tripleprint.com/

Have a look at the Film processing tap, and then there is a link to a page about the processing. Their website may look rather crappy, but this is misleading. Every Airport, motorway services and many other public places in the UK have a rack with their envelopes in. Obviously they are now doing a lot of printing from files.

These people are the market leading mass photo processing lab in the UK.

I've seen news footage from inside their "factory" recently when they were interviewing the Managing Director, complaining about postal costs.