looking for a good Lab for my MF color film

Ektagraphic · Aug 28, 2009

Wolfeye said:
Just got my order from Dale Labs. The scans are horrible and the prints - made from the scans and with dust left on them - are equally awful. I don't know about their C-41 work but for E6 they did not meet my expectations. I'll be switching back to Dwaynes.

Dale???? What? Have you called them? They have always been so great!

mgb74 · Aug 28, 2009

mrladewig said:
Although they are somewhat expensive and the shipping return fees are quite high, I have never had any issues with Reed Photo in Denver. They process all film in dip and dunk systems so there are no scratches and all my film has come back sleeved clean. ...

By coincidence, I called Reed Photo yesterday to inquire on return postage for E-6 processing. They quoted me approximately $6 for returning 3 rolls via first class mail. Priority mail would have been more expensive, but not sure how much more. I didn't think that was too bad if, in fact, that's what they charge.

mrladewig · Aug 28, 2009

Typically I've had my film returned via UPS as it gets to my office overnight and I'm usually mixing sheets and rolls. They've charged me $12 for shipping and packaging and I know the ups portion is less than $5 between DEN and COS. But I've never had a single lab error from them.

In comparison another lab I've used - Slideprinter charges nothing for shipping on processing orders over $50 and $4.95 on orders under $50. I've used them once and had a minor problem with the roll film, but the sheet film all came back perfect. Slideprinter is also all dip-n-dunk for E-6 and C-41.

Slideprinter is also $.50 cheaper per sheet E6 or C41 and a bit cheaper per roll.

JMC1969 · Aug 28, 2009

I am going to talk to the owners a bit more about the idea of giving a discount if you send in a complete run of film.

Our Dip-n-Dunk machines use Patterson/type reels

a run consists of:

8 rolls of 35mm 36exp
5 rolls of 220
10 rolls of 120
and combination of these
8 sheets of 4x5 +1 roll of 35mm 36exp

So I would like to make a "Run" Charge separate from the "Per roll" charge as to give a break to those who us us most.

I will talk to them Monday and see if this can be arranged. We have discussed it in the past and they seemed open to it. It may make the difference to those that need to ship their film off.

I'll be in touch or contact me directly.

http://www.fototechnika.com
http://www.myfototechnika.com

Vonder · Aug 29, 2009

They did ok

Ektagraphic said:
Dale???? What? Have you called them? They have always been so great!

After looking at the slides, they are a bit underexposed, so I'm sure their machine just printed them as they were scanned. The scans and prints are simply awful as-is, but I was able to improve them in PS.

Dales scan:

My rework:

Shot taken with a Rolleicord III, 1/100 at f16 on Kodak E100G film.

On the other hand, the Kodachrome slide I sent in was made into nice prints which are very accurate. I'm impressed with that.

lxdude · Aug 29, 2009

Ektagraphic said:
Use Swan Photo Lab or Dale http://www.swanphotolabs.com/swan08/ www.dalelabs.com

I get good results from Swan. Here in SoCal, I drop it off at my local camera store and pick it up a couple days later. Just like the old days!
Once, for the funeral of a family member, I needed a couple of 35mm slides scanned and printed 16X20 and a couple of prints scanned, cleaned up and printed 8X10. I took them over to their lab in San Clemente. Their normal turnaround time would have been after the funeral. I asked them if they could work it in. They said they'd see what they could do. They called me at home three hours later and said they were ready-no extra charge.

lxdude · Aug 29, 2009

Leighgion said:
You mention Freestyle doing processing, but far as I can see, they don't offer any such service. Only equipment sales. Where are you getting this info from?

Swan lists Freestyle as one of the dealers that uses them.

Ektagraphic · Aug 30, 2009

The Freestyle Black and White Mailers go to swan.

looking for a good Lab for my MF color film

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency