 Michelle Ross |
Film Processing? Regarding film processing . . . Does it matter where the film is processed as far as quality of the exposure on the negative? I have some film that my son took and I am doubtful that they will turn out that good(only a few if so) and don't want to spend an arm and a leg getting it processed but don't want to sacrifice quality for any we might want 8x10 enlargements from?? I have used Walmart before for enlargements and some have been so so and some not so good. . . and the had the same picture printed elsewhere with much more pleasing results. . . but I'm not sure who actually processed the film to a negative originally and didn't know if that made a difference in my enlargement? I hope this makes sense!
|
|
|
|
||
|
Samuel Smith |
hey michelle, yes. i've been going around and around with my local cvs one hour photo.i didn't mind when 3 to 5 negatives were cropped by their machine and turned into panoramic,but friday they cropped 15 out of 36 exp.they cropped the negatives!!after arguing with them for a "while"they reprinted to 4x6?with a black bar on top and on the bottom of the pictures.so I asked them to insert one film strip into their machine and bring it up on their computer for viewing.my proof!their machine had cropped my negatives,a red rectangle had been inserted by the machine,over the fully developed negative.they finally agreed it was their fault,not that I didn't know how to operate my camera.the one tech who repeatedly accused me of being ignorant of my camera operations was asked to leave by the manager or go on break.she went on break. then we got somewhere,apology after apology,and the manager and the other 4 photo techs promised to pay special attention when I bring my film in.we'll see? why don't I go to a pro lab?cost,over 30 miles away,and their hours.at cvs I get a 10% discount on anything related to photo services or products.i would rather work with them and have them do their job.i went back saturday and talked to 3 of the techs.i'm not sir, not mister,not the bad guy,i'm sam and I want them to work with me,i never did get mad during the whole ordeal. so michelle and others,develop at your own risk. dissapointment and reason should always rule over anger!!!sam
|
|
|
|
||
|
Michelle Ross |
but what my main concern is if the negative quality can be affected by different labs when wanting to get more reprints and/or enlargements later.. . (ex. color, saturation, etc)
|
|
|
|
||
|
Samuel Smith |
yes,once they mess up your negatives,your pretty much out of luck
|
|
|
|
||
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
just developing isn't a big deal anymore. Other than the actual machine breaking down while your film is inside, there isn't much that one place can do that will make a negative that bad that you couldn't take it to a good place to get a good print. If a place is actually off on there developing, then the machine would have to be off on temp, off on time, or have so much build up on the racks inside that you get residue or scratches on negatives. And then every roll that they do would show. And that's a staff problem Cutting negatives short is a staff problem of not paying attention and not a developing problem. Printing and being careful with your stuff is where a good place seperates itself from a bad place. Same negs can have different looks with different places. Walgreens more red, Eckerds used to be slightly blue. Some you can get the roll done one place, and get enlargements at a better place to save money without worry. Your only worry should be if the first place just has people working there that don't give basic service expectations like not cutting the end piece of a negative off.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Vince Broesch |
As Sam says, once the film is damaged in processing, you are pretty much out-of-luck. Two types of damage can happen, physical as in scratched and chemical, as in the chemical process has not been monitored and has been allowed to run "out-of-control". But for Sam, I might be able to explain this cropping thing. All printers crop around the edges of your neg, this is normal. It must be this way for several reasons, one is that not all cameras expose the neg the same size. One camera might be 24 x 36 mm and the next camera may be 24.25 x 36.25 mm. So the machine has to be adjusted to crop a little from the edges. The machine is set-up to print around 23.75 x 35.75. It is called "normal masking" and camera manufactures adjust for it by showing only about 95% of the image in the viewfinder. So you should get something close in print to what you saw in the viewfinder, but it is normal for more to apear on the film than does on the print. Vince
|
|
|
|
||
|
Kerry L. Walker |
Depends on the operator. Last year I went into CVS to score some drugs and the guy who works the mini-lab there said someone who was running the machine on his day off had put fixer into the developing tank. Ruined a lot of film.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Samuel Smith |
vince, i know they crop a little,but here's how far they went.regular negative about 1 inch tall,the ones they cropped are barely over 1/2 an inch. if I cut the black bars off the top and bottom of my reprinted pictures,they're 2 1/2 by 6 inches. my math says they cropped almost half the negative. but I told them I was going to get even,about half the pictures i've taken with the film in my camera now I set my camera on panoramic!we'll see what happens? thanks vince,sam
|
|
|
|
||
|
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
think you need to explain better if you mean they chopped off part of your negatives when they cut them for the plastic sleeves, or you mean cropped the picture. If your camera is swithable between regular view and panoramic, you get black bars on top and bottom if you shoot a panoramic shot when you print with the same machine. Most places, if most are still like this, if somebody shot regular and panoramic on the same roll would print the regulars, then have to send out the negatives just for the panoramic.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Samuel Smith |
hey greg,i've shot panoramic pictures before,and yeah there's a black bar on top and on bottom.what I got back was a full size negative,the negative itself wasn't actually cut,it's just blank on the top and bottom where the bars should be. in my cameras viewfinder,if i'm shooting panoramic,the actual viewfinder is also cropped.it shows pretty close what the picture will look like. hope this explained it better. thanks greg,sam
|
|
|
|
||
|
Kevin Ekstrom |
I was reading the thread and realized I also a thing or two to say about these quicky photolabs. I use these places when I'm in a hurry. I noticed one thing that seems to be consitant with these labs. DUST ON THE NEGATIVES ! I always get spotted pics back. I use a place called THE LIGHT BOX when Im not in a hurry. The photo techs take theyre time and are very careful handling your negatives. You pay extra but the price is well worth it. The quickie techs seem to care much less about the negatives than a nice photo lab.
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||