Question:
I agree re the Walmart instore 1 hr lab. However, I have gotten good results from their overnite service which gets shipped out someplace.
Response:
I’ve seen quite a few questions in this NG regarding film developing. I would like to share a few suggestions regarding the subject and how it applies to the 35mm format. I am only providing information on what works for me and I invite others to offer their suggestions on the subject. Most or all of this advice applies to both consumer and professional grades of film, color or B&W. My primary goals are to get the best developing I can for the lowest price. Slide film. I predominately use processing mailers to develop slide film. I have found the quality to be very high with the Fuji and Kodak mailers. The main complaint I have with them is their use of cheap paper slide mounts which provide me with an endless supply of paper dust on my slides. Plastic mounts are much better and that’s what most of your better custom labs use. Plastic mounts also do not tend to warp as paper ones do. Custom labs, however, in my area charge me two to three times what Fuji does so I go with Fuji and curse the paper dust. Fuji is my first choice here because their mailers are $1 cheaper than Kodak’s. If you use Kodachrome you will be forced to use the Kodak mailers because Fuji develops E-6 process only. As long as the film is E-6 Fuji will develop it even if it’s manufactured by someone other than Fuji. The same goes for the Kodak mailers. Turn around time for slide mailers is 2-3 weeks so be prepared. Print film. You should understand first that I don’t shoot much print film. When I do, it’s usually portraits or B&Ws that I intend to hang on my wall at home or at work. I do NOT use mailers for print film. The reason is I want a proof of my image before I go with the final enlargement. When you get a set of prints they usually have color and/or exposure corrections applied to them. When you look at a negative it is very difficult to tell anything about exposure and virtually impossible to tell anything about color. What I do is go to a custom lab and specify either a contact sheet or a set of proofs. This gives me a set of images from my original negatives that have no color or exposure correction applied to them. From there I can specify exactly what correction I want and how much. Regardless of how good the guy running the machine at the lab is, he can’t read my mind and tell what I was trying to express with my exposure. This method is more expensive. My lab charges me $8 for developing and a contact sheet which is probably twice what you’ll pay at Wal-mart for a full set of prints. However, the next time you go to Wal-mart, look at the negatives they have hanging up next to the machine. At every Wal-mart I’ve ever been to they have negatives hanging down dragging on the floor. Needless to say, I don’t go to Wal-mart and have anything developed I really care about.
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