Inexpensive way to get prints from slides

[wdemere]

I've been shooting some Fuji Provia on 120 lately and I really love the way that the slides look, but I was horrified when I discovered the cost to get an 8x10 print from a slide. The lab I use had to make a 35mm interneg to get a 35mm neg to print from. The whole thing wound up costing around $20 for one 8x10 color print. I do now have the 35mm negative so I can print more which would lower the cost ultimately.

Is there a better way to get a print from a 120 slide or a 4x5 slide? And is it always going to be around $20? Is this a case where scanning to digital might be better when looking to keep cost down?

Thanks,

William

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

For good results, digital or conventional, $20 isn't too unusual for a custom print. It's actually not a bad price. Check out Clone-A-Chrome, which does Cibas and digital (including digital Cibas!):

Dead Link Removed

or www.westcoastimaging.com, which does digital, either high-end inkjet or Chromira.

 

[Ian Grant]

Any modern digital minilab will usually print direct from 35mm and 120 slides and give excellent results, the price should be no different from a similar print from C41 films. After all they are scanning all the negs before printing anyway.

However if the minilab is analog (still using an interal enlarger ) then an interneg is needed.

Unfortunately larger format s can't be scanned yet by digital minilabs, but they can print from CD etc if you can get the slides scanned.

 

[roteague]

www.westcoastimaging.com, which does digital, either high-end inkjet or Chromira.

I use West Coast Imaging exclusively for my printing. With shipping, it costs me around $200 for an initial Exhibition quality 11x14 Chromira print (subsequent prints are much cheaper). They simply do outstanding work.

 

[Robert Kennedy]

I hate to say this here, but the CHEAPEST, would be to get a cheap Epson Perfection XXXX scanner (they have had 4 models so you should be able to get a cheap older on....in fact I am selling one that is in o.k. shape if interested), scan the slide, and then save it to CD for output on Frontier machine. You get Crystal Archive paper. Real photo paper. None of this inkjet crap. You can control the image, and you can get the cost down, if you do most of the prep work yourself (very easy to do with PhotoSlop), to Just a couple of bucks or less per image for an 8x10.

That is the CHEAPEST way to go.....

 

[wdemere]

I hate to say this here, but the CHEAPEST, would be to get a cheap Epson Perfection XXXX scanner (they have had 4 models so you should be able to get a cheap older on....in fact I am selling one that is in o.k. shape if interested), scan the slide, and then save it to CD for output on Frontier machine. You get Crystal Archive paper. Real photo paper. None of this inkjet crap. You can control the image, and you can get the cost down, if you do most of the prep work yourself (very easy to do with PhotoSlop), to Just a couple of bucks or less per image for an 8x10.

That is the CHEAPEST way to go.....

I'm not familiar with "Frontier machine" Is this something that most labs have?

I have heard of problems with pixelation in labs that do digital scans and then print. I'm guessing you get the same thing here. But it is probably cheaper...

But don't you have to drop $250 or more to get the 32bit version of photoshop? Or is the photoshop lite that comes with the scanner adequate?


Thanks,

William

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Fuji Frontier is a printer that takes a digital image--either direct from a digital image file on disc or from a scan of the neg or slide (the scanner is part of the Frontier system)--and projects the digital image with light onto real photographic paper (Fuji Crystal Archive--good stuff) that is processed conventionally. For small color prints (up to 8x10" or so), it doesn't look bad. Not every lab has it, but more and more do. You might check the Fuji website to see if they have a list of Frontier labs, or just look around your area to see what labs provide this service.

 

[Woolliscroft]

The cheapest (not always the best) way, is just to photograph the original to make your own interneg then get the film processed as usual. For 35mm there are cheap slide copiers that aren't to bad, otherwise, use a decent light box and a macro lens on a copying stand.

David.

 

[Dave Parker]

Look for a lab that has a Noritsu 2900 or above, it makes a full exposure on regular RA-4 paper from a digital scan or CD, they can scan 35mm and 120 and produce great results, the same film carrier that they use for negatives is used with the slides, they just change the scan from negative to positive in the software, the lab I work with and used to work for charges me $6.00 each for an 8 x 10, which is how I produce most of the prints that I sell to the gallerys around here, take into mind, they will normally crop your slide as 120 does not equate 8 x 10 in the print world, so if you have a particular crop your looking for, make sure and discuss with them before hand.

Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialties

PS, in responce to Ian, the same lab that I used to work for does scans for direct print to RA-4 paper up to 8 x 10, so it depends on what the lab specified when they had their machine setup.

 

[mark]

You might try these guys. They have been recommended to me but I have not anything I thought was good enough to print lately.

http://www.theslideprinter.com

 

[jimgalli]

http://www.theslideprinter.com/home.html

I've used these folks for over 10 years. They're a small outfit but their quality has always been stunning. I have more than a few 20X30's on public display that these folks have printed. Can't reccommend them highly enough.

 

[gr82bart]

I print from E-6 (in fact any film) via an Epson 3200 scanner and an Epson 2200 printer. Cheapest way, relatively that is, so far.

 

[Belboz99]

Instead of printing on an inkjet, go to www.adoramapix.com . Photo quality prints, shipped to your door for not very much $$.

I've used them on well over 4,000 prints, ranging from 4x6 to 16x20. They always do a fantastic job.

Dan O.

 

[BradS]

My lab charges $8.00 for an 8x10 "machine print" from from either color slide or negative. The "machine" is a Fuji Frontier (sp?) that can make an 8X10 (maybe larger?) from 35mm, and 120 film. This machine is fairly comon. I think this is what you'll find at your local Walmart too....