Support Kodak, they seem more committed to large format. 160NC and 160VC are great films. Combine them with Ektar and thats a lot of colour bases covered.
Support Kodak, they seem more committed to large format. 160NC and 160VC are great films. Combine them with Ektar and thats a lot of colour bases covered.
I had used Portra 160NC when it first came out and was a little underwhelmed, but hopefully they have tweaked it since then. I'll give it another try along with the 160VC and Ektar. Anyone know who's got a good lab in NYC nowadays that can dip n dunk C41 without mangling the negatives ?
acutance,
try LTI, I've only heard great things about them from pro's I assist for here in LA. many of whom sent/send their film to them for processing/proofsheets. those that still shoot film that is .
not *cheap*, but the quality is worth the price. http://ltiny.com/lti-contact.html
Samy's Camera in Santa Barbara is where I send my film, no problems so far. They have great pricing too. $5/sheet for 8x10 is nice compared to $8-10/sheet here in LA. they use fuji chems if it makes any difference to you.
www.samys805.com/film-processing
they take mail-order, no problem. That's how I send it to them. quick turnaround too !
-Dan
http://www.4photolab.com Edgar Praus in Rochester does a booming mail order business (plus my local film). If you have to mail it, Edgar is the MAN.
I sent them my first batch of C-41 4x5 on Monday (from Florida), can't wait to get it back
I've been thinking about doing my own C-41 home processing, as I have 200+ sheets of C-41 I picked up on Craigslist and no local lab that does 4x5. For some stuff I don't mind waiting a week or two for mail-out, but other times I'm shooting an event and the relevance of the pictures is a bit more time-sensitive. I've got a Combi-Plan (takes 1.1-1.2L of chemistry for 6 sheets), what developer kit should I look in to to get most economical results, assuming I'm shooting 6-10 sheets a week over the next few months? Would it even be that cost-effective, relative to Samy's low rates?
ethics:
If you're looking to do c-41 yourself, I'd personally, use the Kodak c-41 chemicals, mostly for archival stability(if your negs are to be kept for any period of time). Lots of people seem to like the blix kits(less steps), but it's been noted MANY times that SEPARATE bleach and fix steps are better for archival stability. I use a Jobo drum on a Unicolor reversing motorbase for when I do c-41(or a friends CPP2 jobo, this being the ideal method for temp. control).
But since you're not doing large batches at a time, but rather, small bits here and there. The chemicals CAN be divided up into smaller containers once mixed, say 500ml containers. I'd personally recommend SINGLE-SHOT on the Developer, bleach can be used 2x, fixer(single-shot), and stabilizer/final-rinse(single shot).
I just use Samy's 1. when I'm too lazy to go out any buy c-41 chems, and, 2. when I have no c-41 chems to be had in the stores around where I live except by special-order .
Combi-plan:I'd stay away from this method for color work, b/w you can have enough trouble as it is, c-41 is 3:15 for the developer, with NO pre-wet, so you have to be on the ball. Using rotary processing IMO is much easier than having to worry about your tank leaking.
use rotary if you intend to DIY, one of these days I'll get around to ordering more chems. And now that I'm starting to shoot 8x10, the costs go up even further per shot .
the easier method with Samy's mail order, or Edgar Praus in NY is to have a FASTER RETURN SHIPPING METHOD.
if you express mail/fedex overnight/ups.... then it gets to them faster, and if you have the same method returning, you get my drift. Just WAY more expensive.
btw, I usually wait until I have 50-100sheets of film(of color, b/w is home-brew chems) so I can use up a full 5ltrs of developer, bleach, fix, stabilizer/final-rinse, etc....
this way I can have batch-->batch consistency, and get it all done in a single afternoon. And enjoy a cool beverage(or 2, maybe 3) while doing so .
best of luck!
-Dan
I, and others I know that DIY develop all do a pre-wash of c41 film (I sometiems do several), it washes all the dyes and what have you out of the film so they don't contaminate your developer. It also tends reduce/remove the chance of streaking from the developer not taking to the film evenly. Same dev time.
But yeah, from what Ive heard combi-plans are quite ponderous to fill, which won't be good for c-41. I had a slow filling tank and got bad streaking, I had to mod it so I can dump the stuff in in a couple of seconds and then start agitating.
Also, there is information on the web that illustrates that c-41 chems keep for much longer when refrigerated, if thats of any use to anyone.
I left south FL in late 2005, but when I was there, Dale Labs in Hollywood was where I took my E6 and C41. They were a Q-lab when that meant something.
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