LF as a Spectator Sport

[djdister]

FR. Mark, I was shooting Ektar. Still looking for a place that still processes 8x10 C41. I may just buy a kit and process it in my Jobo.

The DC area has at least one lab that does up to 8x10 C-41 and E-6 -- DodgeChrome in Silver Springs, MD. You can do it all via mail too...

[Michael Graves]

C41 8x10 processing is routine here, though it's unfortunately clear across the country from you. I just wonder how much longer I'll be able to shoot 8x10 Ektar
since it has literally doubled in price in just a year. Or maybe that is just B&H's way of gouging when they temporarily have an exclusive. They've done that in the
past, like when 8x10 Tech Pan got scarce and they suddenly tripled the price. Still, better to have it available overpriced than not at all. But it sure tempts me to
shoot 4x5 more often.

I doubt if I'll shoot any more after this. I have one box of 400 left and after that, color is just too rich for my blood.

[Michael Graves]

The DC area has at least one lab that does up to 8x10 C-41 and E-6 -- DodgeChrome in Silver Springs, MD. You can do it all via mail too...

Thank you. I had not heard of that lab before. They must have popped up in the years since I moved away from Laurel.

[David Lobato]

This morning I had the Deardorff set up for a group shot at work. One of the guys looked under the dark cloth and remarked "It's in color!" Couldn't help but laugh, he's a good friend.

[rjphil]

Michael - Check with Edgar Praus in Rochester, NY - http://www.4photolab.com/pricing/. I have been using him since i shut down my wet lab. (You got a film dryer from me many years ago).

[Mike Lewis]

Thank you. I had not heard of that lab before. They must have popped up in the years since I moved away from Laurel.

Chrome was located in D.C. and Dodge Color used to be located in Bethesda, across the street from the Washington School of Photography (which I think has also relocated). They joined up as one company several years ago and moved to an office park in north Silver Spring. I used them when I still lived in Maryland. They do good work.

[Michael Graves]

Michael - Check with Edgar Praus in Rochester, NY - http://www.4photolab.com/pricing/. I have been using him since i shut down my wet lab. (You got a film dryer from me many years ago).

And indeed, I still have said film dryer. It is a wonderful piece from California Steel. Love it. I'm leaning toward getting a C41 kit just to say I did it myself. But having never developed color, I'm not sure just how complicated it will be. But I'm determined to try. But I'm starting with a couple of rolls of 120 before I drop 15-dollar sheets of film into the drink.

[480sparky]

C-41 isn't any more difficult than souping your first b&w roll. It's just a different temperature and the ingredients smell funny.

[Bruce Watson]

...having never developed color, I'm not sure just how complicated it will be. But I'm determined to try.

Thing is, it's not B&W. As long as you can resist that line of thinking, you should be OK. What I mean by that is that the parameters are not variables. They are fixed. Not negotiable. Use the correct temperature, use the exact times specified. You can't control C-41. Even a one stop push can be problematic.

This is antithetical to our normal B&W development ideas -- that we can have N-, N, and N+ development times, and can move highlight density around, etc. With C-41, you can't. And if you try, all hell breaks loose. I'm talking about color shifts (like variable color casts) that you can't easily, or at all, fix. Certainly not in a darkroom print. And almost certainly not in Photoshop.

So if you can just quit thinking, and follow the instructions to the letter, you'll be fine.

But I'm starting with a couple of rolls of 120 before I drop 15-dollar sheets of film into the drink.

Goes without saying.

The other thing is, read up on the process. There's lingering controversy over the kits. Some of them combine bleach and fix. There are religious fights over this. It would appear that a majority of opinion is that separate bleach and fix steps are better. But of course separate bleach and fix baths are hard to find in kits for home use because making a blix is easier (that is, cheaper) for Tetenal, Unicolor, etc. who are making the small kits.

There's a ton of information over on APUG. They've covered the C-41 ground quite thoroughly I think. For example:

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum40/5...emicals-2.html

Read particularly post #11. Poster "Photo Engineer" is a retired Kodak research chemist. He knows whereof he speaks, and he's still a very active poster on APUG.

I don't mean to make it sound harder than it is. Learning C-41 isn't any worse than learning how to use a view camera. You'll be fine.

[LabRat]

With C-41, it's not hard... You just have to "nail" the camera exposure (at the box speed), get temps exact (water bath everything and keep within a 10th of a degree), the times exact, follow the instructions exactly, and it comes out GREAT!!!!

If there is still a local minilab near you, they will sometimes sell you paper and chem at a great price...

Steve K