Bad process?

[swmcl]

Hi,

I've taken 4 4x5 shots on Velvia 100 of my two children. I went to pick them up today and the results are seriously strange.

I have head and shoulders of two light skinned (European) kids with a mid blue background. My son's shirt is a maroon my daughters hair is auburn. What colours would I expect if the lab stuffed up and processed in C41?

Basically, it looks as though there is a seriously strong magenta colour over everything. The blue background is purple! There are no really noticeable blotches or lines - there does seem to be some sort of ghosting on one of the shots though.

The lab is saying the film was heat stressed?!?!?

There is only one lab left in my city and I have been able to avoid them up to this point. From here I'd need them to be sent in the post. I need to be made to feel a little bit happier as the processing costs a big amount and my wife and I would like some really nice results!

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve

[Joanna Carter]

The lab is saying the film was heat stressed?!?!?
???? E6 film is normally processed at 38°C; what on earth were they doing to your film to stress it with heat greater than that? I cant think of the exact cause but, if I were you, I would use another lab, fast!

[swmcl]

Hi Joanna,

I think what they were trying to get at was that I had heated the film prior to processing. Like left it in the car on a hot day or something. I have recently gone to the northwest of Western Australia (where temps do get to 120 F in the shade) but I'm pretty sure this film has been in the fridge all its life. I don't know what you'd have to do to get this effect on film.

I wondered whether X-rays might be a culprit - or - lens flare?!?! To be lens flare it would have to be extremely uniform over the whole 4x5 surface which isn't going to happen. It does have the lens flare colours though ...

I'm very puzzled and feeling quite sick about it really.

Cheers,

[Jim Michael]

Heat can damage film, e.g. if left in a hot car for several hours. Another possibility is that something was wrong with the lab's process. Was their process in control? Are they willing to show you process control charts for their systems? (Do they even run process control strips through their processors each day?) This isn't something a lab has a need to keep secret. Many are proud of how well they control their processes.

[swmcl]

Jim,

The lab might get a shock at me asking!! I've not heard of a process control chart ... I'll try when I ring them back.

Cheers,