For those times when I am not doing my own (out of town and fedexing film to lab or just plain lazy) does anybody know of a lab in the US, preferably in New england or the Northeast, that processes 13x18 film?
I have checked with severalof the labs that I use and the answer is basically "no" for E-6 where they are all doing dip and dunk and have no 13x18 racks. One does B&W in a Jobo ATL 3 and thus can handle 13x18 for that.
All knowledge appreciated.
If the lab isn't too lazy, it should be a "maybe", assuming they process 5x7. There's only about 1/8" difference in dimension between 5x7 film and 13x18 film; if the person loading hangers is paying attention, there's much more tolerance available than that in applying the clips that hold the film in the hangers. That said, with the slightly larger 13x18 there's a greater chance you'll have an objectionable clip mark in an important part of your image, unless you establish a habit of composing with some crop space to allow for that possibility.
The same is not true, unfortunately, of processing 9x12 cm in 4x5 hangers, or of 18x24 cm in 8x10 hangers -- and 10x15 cm is completely a law unto itself, without even a close analog to a common American size (it's a fraction of an inch smaller than the old half plate).
In any case, if the lab is local, you might sacrifice a sheet of your 13x18 (make it the cheap stuff, naturally) and take it in so the darkroom staff can check it in their hangers -- they likely haven't even considered how close 13x18 is to the 5x7 they almost certainly do process, since even 5x7 isn't that common and 13x18 is quite rare in the US.
If a contact print at arm's length is too small to see, you need a bigger camera. :D
Ted,
Instead of racks/hangers, some labs simply use a clip on one corner of the film, so size wouldn't be a problem. However, those labs are probably getting quite rare.
Scott if you know of one please let me know.
Ted,
Try TPI in Fairfield, NJ.
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