Suggest a lab for cross-processing

B&Wpositive · Jun 11, 2008

I have a bunch of E6 film that is messed up and can't be used for normal photos. I'd like to find a lab where I can cross-process it. With as reasonable rates as possible and good quality of course.

Any suggestions?

jd callow · Jun 11, 2008

where are you?

epatsellis · Jun 11, 2008

you could do what I do, tank and kitchen sink. (though now I have my W-L Pro6 just about ready to go, so I'll not be doing that much anymore) If you can process b&w, color is no harder.

erie

B&Wpositive · Jun 12, 2008

I'd be willing to send it by mail to any good lab in the US - preferably for $5 per roll of 35mm.

jd callow · Jun 12, 2008

Send it to Elevator. They can roller develope it for, probably less than that. Email them and find out. http://www.elevatordigital.ca

B&Wpositive · Jun 12, 2008

jd callow said:
Send it to Elevator. They can roller develope it for, probably less than that. Email them and find out. http://www.elevatordigital.ca

But sending it to Canada from the US - wouldn't that be expensive?

David William White · Jun 12, 2008

A tiny bit of postage.

However, any outlet that does C-41 processing can do it. Some may object, saying their chemistry will be contaminated (which is hogwash on small runs), so tell them to hold and process just before they change their chemistry. You might even beg a discount since the chems are near exhaustion! One local shop that I used to cross-process at did my stuff on Fridays.

Make sure you overexpose, i.e. Ektachrome 200 is better rated at 64 to 80 if you're going to cross-process.

D.

jd callow · Jun 12, 2008

David William White said:
A tiny bit of postage.

However, any outlet that does C-41 processing can do it. Some may object, saying their chemistry will be contaminated (which is hogwash on small runs), so tell them to hold and process just before they change their chemistry. You might even beg a discount since the chems are near exhaustion! One local shop that I used to cross-process at did my stuff on Fridays.

Make sure you overexpose, i.e. Ektachrome 200 is better rated at 64 to 80 if you're going to cross-process.

D.

Its hogwash on any size run.

Most labs run a replenished system so there is no point where the chems will be near exhaustion. Any lab that does not run single shot or replenished chems should be avoided.

And finally since I seem to be disagreeing with everything you've posted, e200 should be rated at no less than 160 -- assuming it hasn't lost a good deal of dmax in which case the film needs to be tested as there are no rules of thumb that I know of. The thing with crossproccessing is that E6 film is almost always good at the box speed. The tonal range of the crossed film is very limited so you need to expose so that the bits in the scene that are important will fit onto the film. This means that some bits will b-up and others will be dead black. The next concern or juggling act is to make sure there is enough exposure so that you can, if you like, correct colour casts. Correcting colour cast is like correcting for unfiltered man made lights -- you need more exposure so you can pour more filtration through the film on enlargement, but too much exposure makes for an uprintable neg.

If you tell us where you are: NY, Ohio, etc..., I'm pretty sure someone will be able too suggest a lab. I assumed you weren't in the US based upon the way I read your post.

David William White · Jun 12, 2008

Well, JD, I bracketed and over many rolls found the best prints came from exposures between one and two stops over. It was E200 that was past expiration, but not suffering otherwise. And I don't know enough about those processing machines to say, and I was only guessing about 'exhaustion', but my shop insisted upon doing them at the end of the week before whatever replenishment/replacement system they had going. I assumed replenshment extends the intervals between complete changes.

What we're both telling BWPositive is that any 'one hour' outlet can process his film without concern (and at low cost) and he may need more exposure.

cordeliaflyte · Jun 12, 2008

epatsellis said:
you could do what I do, tank and kitchen sink.... If you can process b&w, color is no harder.

Can you say more about your kitchen sink methods for color processing? i've heard this touted before, but find the idea a little daunting...

thanks!

jd callow · Jun 12, 2008

David,
therein lies the problem with advising on how to rate film. If my metering technique is consistent, but consistently off by a stop and or if my meter is out of whack, but consistently out of whack I can carry on happily with a rating guide of my own making that won't work for anyone else. I must also say that any testing to be worth any thing must be used on film that is a one to one with the target film. In other words, Fresh film tested for fresh film usage or in the OP's case testing a roll from his batch to be used with the remainder of the batch.

The best thing for all of us to do when shooting a film for the first time is to test it ourselves. The beauty of colour materials is that the development times stay the same so there is only one variable to worry about. FWIW I am very sensitive of claims made on the internet regarding crossprocessed e6 as i've found (at no small cost) most of the claims made to be false.

David William White · Jun 12, 2008

Agreed. Your trials with cross-processing are more extensive than mine. None of us thought to ask BWPositive what the problem was with his slide film, and he might be equally unhappy with his xproc results. Hopefully, he will bracket on his first roll and figure out what an acceptable rating for his batch is.

D.

B&Wpositive · Jun 12, 2008

David William White said:
Agreed. Your trials with cross-processing are more extensive than mine. None of us thought to ask BWPositive what the problem was with his slide film, and he might be equally unhappy with his xproc results. Hopefully, he will bracket on his first roll and figure out what an acceptable rating for his batch is.

D.

Ok..It's E200 that has a red or magenta color shift and loss of density in the blacks. Maybe heat damaged or run through too many x-rays.

I'm in southern New England, so any lab in the US is fine. Even if I find one in my own state, I'd mail it. I've been using Dwaynes for E6 via Fuji mailers but they won't do crossed film via the mailer. They are too expensive otherwise, and there are likely better labs out there.

jd callow · Jun 12, 2008

Cool now we need to wait for pappagene, SuzanR, Jnanian or any number northeastern apuggers to chime in with a good lab...

nicolai · Jun 14, 2008

Try Dead Link Removed - they're a pro dip and dunk lab in Poughkeepsie, NY who do mail service and are very familiar with alternative processing techniques.

Suggest a lab for cross-processing

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