Praus film lab: any good?

[Roger Richards]

I read a brief mention in a previous thread about Praus photo lab near NYC doing a decent job with B&W and C-41. Any comments by any of you folks who have used them would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Roger

[Frank Petronio]

I'm biased because I'm the guy who keeps recommending Edgar and Mike on the forum. They are located in Rochester, which is a day's drive from NYC, so please don't confuse us farmers with the New Yawkers downstate. There are plenty of testimonials on their website and I know they do a lot of mail order customers, so they have the process down. They also test things for Kodak and are the last professional lab left in Rochester after three much larger operations closed down over the the past five years. I think that adds credibility to what they are doing.

I also know they aren't the cheapest option but they aren't as expensive as the big NYC labs either. They charge enough to do things right and not try to squeak by with old chemistry or shortcuts.

However, they are friends of mine too. There are still many good labs, and larger cities have at least one decent lab left. The best thing you can do is ask around like you are doing, and try a few different places for yourself.

[Roger Richards]

Thanks, Frank, I saw you in the testimonials section of their site and was hoping that you would respond here like you have. I am impressed by the fact that Edgar is also an accomplished photographer, and their prices are not super expensive. I am in Norfolk, VA, so a good lab in the north/southeast is what I am looking for. My local lab does average quality (read: spotty) E-6 and C-41 4x5 but nothing in B&W or any type of 8x10. I read about somewhere down in North Carolina called JW Photo Lab but am not sure about them.

[Mark Sampson]

Nice people, top quality, great service. They're real professionals. It's a pleasure to work with them.

[Scott Davis]

Roger - if you are looking for someone a bit closer to home, I can highly recommend Starlab here in the DC metro area. They have multiple locations, but the one I use most is in Bethesda, Maryland. Not the cheapest place in the world - 4x5 e-6 is $3.50 a sheet, but they can do dip-n-dunk up to 11x14. And they do a really good job with aligning the film clips so the teethmarks don't intrude into the image area (unlike some other labs I've worked with). They also do b/w up to 8x10, but I'm one of those persnickety folks who does his own zone system compensating development with Pyro developers, so I don't trust anyone else to do my b/w for me.

[Roger Richards]

Thanks, Mark and Scott. Appreciate your feedback and suggestion.

Scott, I am working on a color project now but have another subject that I think I want to do in B&W. I have been seriously considering doing my own B&W developing but it will require time that I have in short supply now. For the 4x5 I can scan and print myself, and for 8x10 I am looking for a lab only to develop the neg. I have access to a darkroom for contact printing, which is simpler than all the time required to work out the variables in developer/temp/time for B&W neg processing. I do not wish to tray develop (I did this a very long time ago), and an investment in a Jobo system is not in the cards now.

[Scott Davis]

Roger-

I'll ask at Starlab (I have to go pick up some c-41 and contact sheets from them this afternoon) about their 8x10 rates, and see if I can find out from them what developer they use, and if they have any recent work I can see. There are several other labs here in the DC area I know either by reputation or by direct experience - Chrome in Washington DC (reputation: excellent; pricing:exorbitant), Asman in Washington DC (firsthand experience: capable of good work if you sit on them and make them do it; pricing: reasonable). There is another lab here in Northern Virginia whose name escapes me but they have a good reputation. You may find that at the price of processing 8x10, unless you only have a few sheets to do, it may be cheaper to buy a good used Jobo than to send it out, as you'll then be able to move all your processing in-house.

[Roger Richards]

Thank you very much, Scott. Hope they have some decent samples that inspires confidence :-)

[Scott Davis]

Roger - their fee is $8 for a sheet of 8x10 b/w, 6.50 for E-6. There's a $2 per stop push/pull charge if you need that, and if you don't download your own sheets, there's a $2 per film holder charge. I was unable to see a sample of their sheet film developing for b/w, but I've seen some of their printing in the past, and was quite impressed with the work they did. I'll ask again when I'm in tomorrow to pick up some additional work. Their contact info is :

Starlab
4853 Cordell Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-986-5300

[Roger Richards]

Thanks very much, Scott. I appreciate your effort on my behalf.
Cheers,
Roger