 Lori Adler |
Tired of poor quality film processing I live in SE Minnesota and am tired of the poor quality film processing I can find locally. I would be more than happy to send my film away for processing, but the choices are endless, and the trial-and-error process might take the rest of my natural life. Can anyone suggest a good professional processor,preferably from personal experience?
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Bret Tate |
I like A&I at 933 North Highland Ave. in Hollywood, CA 90038.
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Mark Feldstein |
Greetings Lori: A&I primarily specializes in processing E-6 for slides. They're now owned by Isgo Photo which has its main lab in Burbank. Isgo's crew has some of the best printers I've known, both b&w and color. Their film processing is excellent and if you ask, for a small additional fee (and if it's a request that isn't off the wall) they'll customize the developer to your specifications. Also, they'll store your negs until you order prints to cut the turnaround time. I've never had a problem using their services by walk-in, UPS or Fed-ex. http://www.isgophoto.com. If you want to stay with midwest outfits, Gamma photo on East Erie Street in Chicago is another excellent, first rate pro. lab. Same high quality services, fast turnaround, beautiful results. http://www.gammaphoto.com If you're shooting black and white, have you ever considered just processing the film yourself and sending it in for printing? Save some dough and really control the process that way. Take it light.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Hi Lori; Did you ever try writing "COLOR CORRECT" on the lab envelopes? This tells them to check and correct each frame. Labs hate to see it, because they need to stay at their post instead of smoking while a roll is running. You'll have much better results, but it may cost a little more.
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Mark Feldstein |
You know Lori, if you're shooting color film as Mark indicated, and your problem is color balance, then try this: Get a Macbeath color check card, which is basically a bunch of colored squares on a folding card you can carry with your camera. Every time you start a roll of color film, shoot a couple of frames of the card filling the frame as much as possible with the entire card. Each time you change scenes that have different lighting, blast another frame or two of the color card. Then tell the lab BALANCE TO COLOR CARD FRAMES ! And that oughtta help. Unless of course you're getting contact sheets and in that case, the tech will get an average reading for the entire roll but make adjustments per your color card when you get prints made. Get the picture? ;>)
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John P. Sandstedt |
Believe it or not, you can get great prints [with color correction] from a one-hour developer. You just need to get to know the operator; tell him/her what your want. After a while you'll get acceptable result almost all the time. I used CVS for almost four years - of course, the prints were for "pass-around purposes," as I scan negatives and print my own enlargements. Once you use mail order, your film is being processed on the same kind of computerized machines [just larger.] But, they may be being operated by chimpanzees. If you have the option, select Kodak Processing and pay rhe extra cost. Art least the reputable services may follow Kodak protocols. Finally - do search out a profesional developer. Stop by one or more professional photographers in your area and see who they use.
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Mark Feldstein |
Lori, I think the Kodak labs John is referring to are called Q labs. Both labs I mentioned are Q labs but held the same high standards long before kodak certified them. It's true that mailing your film to some labs may be the same as walking it into the local Walmart or CVS pharmacy mini-lab since their chimps simply cater to the general gorilla photographer crowd, and the results can drive a pro banannas. Professional labs aren't the same, however. They're used to accepting instructions from photographers and following them as closely as they can. Generally, they do an excellent job, again, especially the ones I mentioned.
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Paul Mundt |
I am sure that for your best images you will want the best processing. For the rest, I have actually been quite satisfied with Walgreens in Winona. I once took in a scan of a 35mm slide to be printed as an 8 x 10. The first couple came out with a slight shift toward red. They just kept printing until they got the color balance right. And I will keep going back.
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Lori Adler |
Thanks to everyone for giving me some options. I need to find something better because my local "drug-store" quality processor just can't live up to my standards, regardless of how well I've gotten to know the machine operators. Processing, even on a minilab, is an art form, and we just don't seem to have any of those artists in our area. I'm just tired of returning to the lab repeatedly to have things reprinted. I'm going to try Gamma as it is a bit closer, cutting down on shipping time, and because I shoot mostly print film and very little E-6. I've checked out their website and price catalog. It's more expensive than what I'm used to paying, but I'm ready to pay more for the quality I want. Thanks again to everyone for such good ideas (I'm gonna find one of those color cards too, Mark, as I've shot photos in some places where the color is rather surrealistic, and processors sometimes over-correct in these kind of situations). I'll be sure to report back to everyone on my experience with Gamma. Lori :)
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Mark Feldstein |
I'm curious how you do with Gamma also Lori. All these years, since (YIkES !!) 1968, I've been wondering if they're just great to me or if its everyone. Mark
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