International 4x5 E6 & B&W (TMAX) Processing - Recommendations

[Richard Mahoney]

In response to ``ongoing changes in volumes for film processing requirements'' (sic) my New Zealand 4x5 lab -- to my knowledge the *only* NZ 4x5 lab -- has just adjusted its charges.

Together with the soon to be levied increase in local sales tax, 4x5 E6 processing will have gone up 53% , while C41 and B&W processing will have gone up 75%.

While I'm all for supporting local businesses through these hard times, its clear where this downward spiral is headed -- time to jump boat methinks, or at least to consider off-shore alternatives.

So here are the new charges with their current US, Euro and Australian equivalents:

4x5 E6, C41 & B&W (TMAX) processing -- NZD 13.80 per sheet (USD 9.67 / EUR 7.62 / AUS 10.92)

My question then ... are there any decent labs in Australia or the States (or possibly on the Continent) that are happy to receive international orders and whose charges per sheet are a little more reasonable than our local monopoly? On the whole, my film doesn't tend to be `time-critical'. I've found that Badger's USPS packages tend to arrive within 5 days or so and that's just fine.


Kind regards,

Richard

[Lachlan 717]

Hi, Richard.

I'm sure that we could work something out in relation to sending them here in Oz. I can drop them off/pick them up and send them back. No doubt PayPal can be used for the $$ transfer.

Not sure what the prices will be like (I think about $7-$8 for E6; I don't use C41 film and process B&W myself, so don't know their pricing).

I'd strongly recommend learning how to process B&W yourself. You'll soon amortise the initial outlay made for equipment and chemicals into the savings made.

And I'll bet you end up with better images as well!!

[mdm]

I would like to do my own c41 one day. I hope that would be less expensive. I know JR French does though I cant remember what chemistry he is using. Seems like the only way to go really.

I am shure there are some labs in the US that would process 4x5 for much less and postage should be very reasonable, sending a few sheets of film should be no different to sending a letter really.

Ilford process B&W by mailorder in the UK on one of their websites.

David

[JRFrench]

Damn, I was looking forward to getting some E6 done, I could live with the prices as they were, but thats brutal.

I do my c-41 with a Tetenal kit ordered through Lacklands, its been very effective. They can rbing in E6 kits too.

[Richard Mahoney]

Damn, I was looking forward to getting some E6 done, I could live with the prices as they were, but thats brutal.

I do my c-41 with a Tetenal kit ordered through Lacklands, its been very effective. They can rbing in E6 kits too.



Thanks for the offer Lachlan and for the pointer JRF. From what I've heard, there is no longer an official agent for Kodak Film here in New Zealand (though Fuji Film is still holding on). Looks like I may have to look into finding a supplier for TMAX chemistry. Haven't developed my own B&W since my early teens so may just have to start all over again ... shouldn't grumble, it could be fun ;)

The E6, though, is the *real* issue. Putting the incovenience to the side, it would be hard for me to consistently match the quality I've been getting from a good E6 lab. Hence my question ... which firms would people recommend in Australia or the States that are comfortable dealing with international mail orders. I've had a look at a few possibilities linked to from here -- Elevator, Nichols in Salt Lake, and so on -- but rather than simply choosing someone and seeing how it goes (always a bit hit and miss) its good to hear what people think.


Kind regards,

Richard

[Richard Mahoney]

Just an Update ... Taking a lead from:

Kodak Pro Lab Resource Center
http://prolabresourcecenter.kodak.com/

I've been able to track down at least one Autralasian 4x5 E6 candidate (who also, BTW, provides a worldwide postal service):

LAB X - Professional Photographic Processing and Studios based in Melbourne, Australia
http://www.labx.com.au/

This looks promising.


Kind regards,

Richard

[Lachlan 717]

Just an Update ... Taking a lead from:

Kodak Pro Lab Resource Center
http://prolabresourcecenter.kodak.com/

I've been able to track down at least one Autralasian 4x5 E6 candidate (who also, BTW, provides a worldwide postal service):

LAB X - Professional Photographic Processing and Studios based in Melbourne, Australia
http://www.labx.com.au/

This looks promising.


Kind regards,

Richard

I can highly recommend Lab X. I used to get my B&W processed there. Haven't had colour done, but they are detail-orientated in B&W, so would think that they'd be fine for colour.

[JRFrench]

Love these guys pricing: http://www.samys805.com/film-processing/ apparently very capable and do mail order within the states at least, might be worth an inquiry.

[Richard Mahoney]

... My question then ... are there any decent labs in Australia or the States (or possibly on the Continent) that are happy to receive international orders ...

Have heard from Edgar Praus of Praus Productions. He's happy to receive orders from this end of the world ;) Just great. I'm looking forward to having my film processed by a crowd that so many of you recommend.

Praus Productions Inc.
http://www.4photolab.com/



Best, Richard

[lenser]

Richard,

You might go to www.alliedphotocolor.com. An outstanding lab in St. Louis, Mo. which I have used for several years with total satisfaction. All three types of processing are currently $3.50 US per 4x5 sheet. They did have a price increase a few months ago, so I suspect this price might be stable for a reasonable amount of time.

They also do many other services including digital files, both projection and digital printing, etc. Go to their site, then open the "about Allied" tab and you will find prices for all services.

I know they ship within the US, so I assume that overseas would be little or no problem.

[sergiob]

Film sales, chemistry and film development has gone up in my locality. :]

[seabird]

Richard,

Here are a few more Sydney options that you could investigate if required:

Vision Graphics (http://www.visiongraphics.com.au/index.php) at St Leonards in Nth Sydney

The Lighthouse Lab (http://www.thelighthouselab.com/) - run by Stephen Frizza who frequents this and the LF Info forums.

I haven't used Stephen Frizza so cant comment either way. I use Vision Graphics for my small quantity of 4x5 and 120 E6 because I can drop off/collect film at a place near my place of work in the City (I process my own B&W). I've always been happy with their quality/service/price.

Hope this helps

[Frank Petronio]

Praus rules!

[Tim Shawcross]

Richard,

Glad I found this thread as I've just noticed the price increase in NZ as well. I was living in Melbourne, but have been living in Hokitika in NZ for the last 18 months. I'm getting all my e6/C41 4x5 and 120 done at Imagelab and as I was just about to send of my latest batch for processing I discovered their new pricelist lists E6 @ 12.00 sheet - I have a receipt from May last year where I was paying 7.88 a sheet - that's a massive increase in just over a year. Imagelab have been good with quality and very fast - no complaints there but I'm no longer ready to stomach $12 a sheet! I used to get my stuff done at Vanbar in Melbourne. I cannot find a current price list on their website, but at the time I remember thinking their rate was comparable to what I was paying here 12 months ago. It may not have gone up a lot in price as Imagelab has though, so it may now be a much more attractive option. LabX mentioned earlier in the thread also looks like a good option - around $8.50 NZ a sheet. Express postage costs aren't that much more to Australia for a smallish envelope than within NZ so I think my next batch will be going to Australia (I tend to get film done in batches of 15-20 sheets too so any slight increase in postage should be well and truly covered by the savings).

Tim

[JHenry]

Richard,

Thanks for posting this. I just moved to Auckland, and have been shocked by the prices of developing 4x5--so much so that I've actually hesitated shooting E-6 or C41. I just bought B&W chemicals last week and developed my first film in 8 years in an attempt to save some money. But, heading down to Rotorua for the weekend to shoot, and have pulled the Velvia out of the fridge for the trip.

One thing I'm considering is using Dodge Chrome in the Washington, DC area www.dodgechrom.com). While living in the States I used them for all my developing needs (all formats and types). Before I moved to NZ, I asked them if I could ship in film to be developed and learned they have many international clients and will ship the developed film back to you within a few days (their turn around time is great). They do quality work, and 4x5 is about USD 3 per sheet. Highly recommended.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Matus Kalisky]

It just makes me wondering what makes the processing prices so high in NZ. I mean - I pay around 3 euro per 4x5 E6 or C-41 in a good lab in Germany. I have visited NZ only once and my impression was that the living costs were considerably lower than in EU - what makes the high lab prices really hard to understand ... :confused:

OK - for the E6 I have really good experience with http://www.dia-spezial.de/index.html but you rather ask them whether they would accept international orders or wehter they do speak English. But they work is first class - Jurgen has a developing machine that was done to his specifications. They do not do C41 though.

[Richard Mahoney]

It just makes me wondering what makes the processing prices so high in NZ. I mean - I pay around 3 euro per 4x5 E6 or C-41 in a good lab in Germany. I have visited NZ only once and my impression was that the living costs were considerably lower than in EU - what makes the high lab prices really hard to understand ... :confused: ...

I'd like to thank everyone who has replied to my question. Its great to see that there are a good number of firms already taking international orders.

As to the local situation ... I can't comment on the internal factors driving the costs and pricing of New Zealand's main supplier of large-format film processing. All firms are free to respond to their markets in the way they see fit. What I can say, though, is that it is well known that firms that hold an effective monopoly in any market tend to provide services and set prices at a level that suits their own interests, not those of their customers.

There is also another more disturbing aspect to this. Any firm that significantly raises it prices (ostensibly?) due to diminishing demand will probably drive down demand still further, perhaps to the point of extinguishing it. That's all and well if one's intention all along is to kill a service which one feels is no longer convenient or profitable, but it doesn't help any of us out here using film, especially if we want to keep shooting colour.

Still, in many ways, I'm pleased this is happening. It means that I've had to look into the possibility of alternative providers and in the process it's become clear that I can get better service at a lower cost offshore. I always like to support local businesses, but for this to work long term, the relationship has to work both ways. Without a genuine, sincere commitment on the part of local firms to film processing I don't think we have much of an option but to take our business elsewhere.


Kind regards,

Richard

[MoritzH]

This thread worried me a bit since I will be in NZ for several months next year and want to shoot lots of film.
Luckily I remembered the name of the lab in Dunedin (scitechphoto) where I had my films processed back in 2006. A quick email confirmed that they are stil doing E6 up to 4x5. And at a decent price! :)
But what if I want to shoot some 8x10 as well? 25-30 bucks is twice of what I would have to pay in Germany...:confused:

[mdm]

Thank you for that, they must be the closest lab to me and I had no idea they existed. NZ is a vey expensive place for anything photo related.

David


This thread worried me a bit since I will be in NZ for several months next year and want to shoot lots of film.
Luckily I remembered the name of the lab in Dunedin (scitechphoto) where I had my films processed back in 2006. A quick email confirmed that they are stil doing E6 up to 4x5. And at a decent price! :)
But what if I want to shoot some 8x10 as well? 25-30 bucks is twice of what I would have to pay in Germany...:confused:

[Richard Mahoney]

Thank you for that, they must be the closest lab to me and I had no idea they existed. ...

Ditto ;) So now I'm aware of three places able to process large format E6 in NZ (from North to South):

*PCL Imaging*
30 Karaka Street, Eden Terrace, Auckland
09-309-8090 / 09-309-4923 (Fax) / Freephone: 0800 ASK PCL

*ImageLab*
22 Wigan Street , Wellington 6011
04-802-4188
Unit 17, Jade Complex, 211 Ferry Road, Christchurch
03-379-7179

*Scitech Photo Sevices*
5 Cohen Pl, Wakari, Dunedin 9010
03-464 0481 / 03-464 0483 (Fax) / 0274 326 010 (Mobile) ‎


Any more out there?


Best, Richard

[mdm]

On a different note, yesterday I was at the museum in Invercargill where there are some diptych 20x24 contact prints (I think) hanging by a fellow, Adams, working with Ngai Tahu. Anybody know where he could be tracked down.

David

[bob carnie]

Elevator, my lab does process Black & White and C41. Unfortunately we are not set up to do small orders, basically the shipping , customs and handling , is more than I want to handle at this time, it really is a pain in the butt and we are too small of an operation to fill this kind of market.
We do work with international clients , by bulk processing film for ongoing projects that we are expected to print.
The film processing side of our business is only for those few, and of course ourselves(we shoot a shit load of film every year).

This may change over the next few years , and we may find a way to satisfy mail order clients abroad in a timely/efficient manner, but at this moment in time we need to be realistic, and not search out this work.

A very big problem for us is our Jobo's which for years handled every situation that we threw at them.. Now you cannot find parts in any timely/cost efficient way , no matter what anyone here or on any other site may say, We have bought 4 Alt 2300 's over the last two years on the used market as each one dies out . We are presently now buying our fifth. This makes Elevator crazy, as we cannot predict day to day consistancey that we built this business on over twenty years of processing for photographers.

We have been researching and building designs for our own processors that have ready off the shelf parts and maintained easily. We are close to having this Jobo problem solved but for now are not interested in mail order film.
Since the founders of our lab both shoot film and love working with film we will be in the long term game of processing film, if not only for our own selfish needs and a few of our clients thats still appreciate film.

I imagine any lab that is offering single one shot , non replenished film processing is in the same boat as us , or will soon be and need to find solutions for a decent rotary processor that one can purchase new and find parts on a ongoing basis.
All the big Refrema labs are seeing dwindling runs and at a certain point keeping these big machines in line becomes a crap shoot. We have seen time and time again, labs just saying no more film process and moving on.

The film that comes to me internationally is usually hand delivered by the photographer or his/her agent, how is Fedx, UPs and other vendors treating film going on their planes?? is there a xray policy?
not sure how safe it is for the original OP sending film from NZ to the states.

[Richard Mahoney]

On a different note, yesterday I was at the museum in Invercargill where there are some diptych 20x24 contact prints (I think) hanging by a fellow, Adams, working with Ngai Tahu. Anybody know where he could be tracked down.

David

This the fellow?

Mark Adams
http://www.thearts.co.nz/artist_page.php&aid=58

I gave a few details here:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?p=631092&highlight=%22mark+adams%22#post631092

The Arts Foundation page mentions that he works out of Studio La Gonda in K Road, Auckland, but also says that he lives in Oxford, Te Wai Pounamu (NZ South Island). Well Oxford is where I'm holed up and although I recently saw his Moa Bone Cave Diptych down the road at a PhotoForum exhibition I'm yet to see him at the supermarket ;)


Kind regards,

Richard

[mdm]

Thanks for that. They were good photographs but I think I will stick with 5x7 and 4x5 for now. The mind boggles when you think about carrying such a large camera around. Clicking the shutter, if he has one, must be the ultimate in finality. No second chances, no ability to make any modification. You would not want to mess up development as I am fond of doing. I wonder what he is using as a lens?

[Struan Gray]

Peak Imaging in the UK have always done a good job with my LF and MF film. I have never had a single glitch on the postage - including return of my 4x5 film boxes as asked - and the packaging survives international mail in good order.

Their proof prints have acquired a more contrasty, digital look in recent years, but they're still miles better than the much more expensive 'pro' labs I try from time to time here in Sweden.

www.peak-imaging.com

[Dave Grenet]

Richard,

Here are a few more Sydney options that you could investigate if required:

Vision Graphics (http://www.visiongraphics.com.au/index.php) at St Leonards in Nth Sydney

The Lighthouse Lab (http://www.thelighthouselab.com/) - run by Stephen Frizza who frequents this and the LF Info forums.

I haven't used Stephen Frizza so cant comment either way. I use Vision Graphics for my small quantity of 4x5 and 120 E6 because I can drop off/collect film at a place near my place of work in the City (I process my own B&W). I've always been happy with their quality/service/price.

Hope this helps

I give all of my colour (B&W I do myself) to Stephen Frizza and I would recommend his lab to anyone who cares to listen. 4x5 is $6 a sheet for E6 or C41 dip and dunk and he will do B&W by hand in any dev you nominate. He also prints on RA4 and Ilfocolor up to 50" wide. Send him an email at steve@thelighthouselab.com