Processing Lab Recommendations

[David Solow]

Hi All,

I have been searching the site for this information but have been unable to find it, even though I know the answers are here somewhere.

I am looking for a lab in the US to send my color 4x5 sheet film to be processed, both chromes and negatives. It doesn't matter where. I'm located in North Carolina, but FedEx can take my film as easily to New York as Atlanta or anywhere in the US.

I had a lab I used to use for film processing. They did wonderful work. Now, seven years later, I started using them again. I have used them only twice, but both times they messed up my film. The first time the chemistry was dirty, so there were dark spots all over the film, that couldn't be cleaned. They offered to scan and remove all the spots off the chromes at their own cost, which I thought was very nice. The next time I brought them film, all the chromes came back badly scratched, and two sheet of film were stuck together. This time they took 40% off the B&W film processing for me, as a way of apologizing. They are really nice folks. They used to do excellent work in all their processing and still do with B&W processing. Since they no longer process color negative sheet film, I thought I would find a lab to do both chromes and color negatives. I would be grateful for recommendations, if they are current and for a lab you've had extensive experience with.

Thanks,
David

[Frank Petronio]

www.4photolab.com Edgar Praus is the best all around mail order lab and he does it all.

[Nathan Potter]

I agree with Petronio; so far for my work, Praus is impeccable.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Mark Woods]

A & I Hollywood, California is another option.

[Leigh]

Dodge Chrome in Silver Spring, Maryland, does excellent work with B&W, E-6, and C-41. They handle sheet film up to 8x10.

http://www.dodgechrome.com/photofilm/wetlab.html

These are great folks to work with, totally committed to quality. I just picked up a batch of 4x5 and 8x10 from them last week.

- Leigh

[mitomac]

I've had good luck with Samy's Camera Santa Barbara. I'm in the NC triangle and will send film to Samy's on Monday and have it back by Saturday. 4x5 E6 is only a $1.70 for dip and dunk. The downside is that their lab home page is no longer available... PM me if you want a pdf of their order form. I believe they still do the volume to ensure the quick turn around. I've tried other places and it might take a week for them to process while they are waiting for other orders. They also do C41 at a similar price.

Cheers,

mitomac

[IanMazursky]

LTI in NYC is an amazing lab. I use them for all of my E6, C41 and B&W.
Everything is clean and fast. All in D&D Refremas. Their traditional printers are fantastic, my contacts look great.
The employees are a great bunch of guys to work with, very knowledgeable and helpful.
Definitely worth a try.

[Stephen Benskin]

All labs are not created equal especially when it comes to b&w processing. E-6 and C-41 processing are very well defined and all a lab is required to do is keep the processing clean and in control, but b&w doesn't have a defined standard for processing. I ran a test through a number of professional custom labs in Los Angeles (attached). The film was TXP 120 and the instructions were to run it normal.

The results show two labs at the lower end of normal and two at the higher end. The fifth lab was way outside anything that could be considered normal. In another test with TX 125, the fifth lab was even further off. This showed that not only was their process too contrasty, they weren't even consistent from film type to film type.

This was sometime ago and most of the labs no longer exist, but I think it is a good lesson that no matter how good the lab's reputation, you should always test. Trust but verify.

[bob carnie]

Run Normal????

unless you know what their chemistry line is and what they call normal you would be just to blame for inconsistent development as they may seem.

Running good film requires some effort at both ends.

All labs are not created equal especially when it comes to b&w processing. E-6 and C-41 processing are very well defined and all a lab is required to do is keep the processing clean and in control, but b&w doesn't have a defined standard for processing. I ran a test through a number of professional custom labs in Los Angeles (attached). The film was TXP 120 and the instructions were to run it normal.

The results show two labs at the lower end of normal and two at the higher end. The fifth lab was way outside anything that could be considered normal. In another test with TX 125, the fifth lab was even further off. This showed that not only was their process too contrasty, they weren't even consistent from film type to film type.

This was sometime ago and most of the labs no longer exist, but I think it is a good lesson that no matter how good the lab's reputation, you should always test. Trust but verify.

[Stephen Benskin]

Run Normal????
unless you know what their chemistry line is and what they call normal you would be just to blame for inconsistent development as they may seem.

How so? If you mean ask questions of the lab and test their line to determine if their processing matches your conditions, then I agree any blame for unsatisfactory results can be equally shared. Now, except for the fifth lab, I made no judgements. I simply was pointing out that results can vary from lab to lab and that I recommend first testing the lab you plan on using.

As for what is defined as Normal. Normal is defined as the average gradient that produces an aim negative density range as defined under statistically average conditions - luminance range 2.2, flare 0.30 to 0.40. The only assumption would be what they considered to be the aim negative density range. That is usually based on the type of enlargers being using on a grade 2 paper, but believe me, this usually isn't what labs do. Most labs, whether they know it or not, process for diffusion enlarger numbers regardless of the type of enlarger used.

Sadly, ask most labs what they consider to be Normal processing and the response will most likely have something to do with film speed. Hopefully, these are the labs that have gone out of business.

The reason why I said two labs are processing to low normal is because they have CIs of 0.56. That would mean NDR 1.05, LSLR 2.20, flare 0.34. These are the numbers Kodak used to use. Later they increased the flare value to reflect the change from the majority of photographers using large format to the majority using 35mm. This created a Normal CI of 0.58. One of the two with the higher normal is basing it on a NDR 1.10, LSLR 2.20, and flare 0.40.

The fifth lab has no excuse. They were running a line of replenished D-76 and it was out of control.

So, except for the fifth outlier lab there are no judgements. A lab might just have a different normal than what meets your requirements, so testing a lab in order to define what they are doing and what your needs are is just good policy.

For the record, this was a test for a client who was having printing problems (they were using the fifth lab). I had worked for two of the labs involved in the test. I introduced sensitometric testing to both of them. One of the people I trained went to work for another lab and took what he knew with him (the two lower CIs). At the second lab I worked at, I decided to use a higher Normal for a few reasons. At the time of the test, I was no longer working there and they seem to have let the line slide slightly. The other lab that was close to the higher normal was just a coincidence. I know this because I've talked with the people there and they aren't aware of sensitometric principles. The fifth lab later hired me to redo their line.

Years ago, Kodak did a lab survey where they sent two rolls each of five different film types asking each lab to process one roll normal and the other +2. I got a hold of the results. The test from the LA labs was more consistent than the results from most of the labs in the survey. That said, many labs today use Xtol which comes with a set of very nice processing times. Back then, Kodak had a tendency not to give processing times for non-Kodak films.

The point of my original post in this thread? Test whatever lab you plan on using.