Target or Costco Print Film Developing Experiences

Thank you for your suggestion. I will look into that. Can you
recommend some resources (either web or book) that maybe a good
starting point?

Thanks.

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 17:10:49 +0200, "Jim Phelps" <Jim.Phelps.RemoveThis@MI.Com>
wrote:

 >
 >"pencilcup" <dontbother.RemoveThis@here.com> wrote in message
 >news:5e59m091479uvvau70bs64hl2klmchf1un@4ax.com...
  >> Although I know print film developing varies by location, is there a
  >> general opinon on Target or Costco's one-hour service? Ideally, I'm
  >> looking for a price that will best develop & handle my negatives.
  >> Since I have a dedicated film scanner, I can always rescan and
  >> reprint.
  >>
  >> I primarily use Fuji films (Reala, NPH, Press, Superia) although this
  >> time I decided to try out a few Agfa Vista rolls. I live in the New
  >> York area.
 >
 >I don't have any experience with either, but rather a different suggestion.
 >It's not to difficult to do you own C-41 negative developing. In fact, it's
 >rather simple and can be done in a kitchen sink very reliable and
 >consistently. Startup cost are also low and you'll save that back in short
 >order. There's three chemicals involved and temperatures are somewhat
 >sensitive if you are doing critical work. A film tank can be had on eBay
 >for a few bucks and the chemicals range about a buck a roll if you use to
 >capacity.
 >
 >I mean, if you can scan the best for further work on the PC, then why trust
 >your negatives to someone who's only responsibility if they get scratched or
 >lost is a "Sorry" and a free roll of film!
 >
 >Barring that, I'd get them processed by a more professional lab like A&I
 >(mailers available at B&H).
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Target or Costco Print Film Developing Experiences 

"pencilcup" <dontbother.DeleteThis@here.com> wrote in message
news:dmhbm0t5sjf0q8spe6qebpm42ue19vbfk3@4ax.com...
 > Thank you for your suggestion. I will look into that. Can you
 > recommend some resources (either web or book) that maybe a good
 > starting point?
 >

You can poke around Kodak.com and their Flexicolor chemicals. Good
chemicals, but my recommendation would be for Tetenal chemicals. Look on
the <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.jobo-usa.com" target="_blank">www.jobo-usa.com</a> site for their C-41 kits. Here's a link to a short
discussion on C-41 processing: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.jobo-usa.com/jq/jq9404.htm#FA944" target="_blank">http://www.jobo-usa.com/jq/jq9404.htm#FA944</a>
That article is 10 years old, so the specifics in the chemicals has changed
a bit. You can also search the archives at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.photo.net" target="_blank">www.photo.net</a> or run "C-41
Processing" through Google.

To be honest, it's so easy the best way to get started is to get started.
Standard development for Tetenal C-41 Rapid Negative kit (5 liter) follow
this process. Developer for 3 min 15 sec, Bleach/Fix 4 min, Wash for 3
minutes and Stabilizer for 1 minute. Fill your sink (where ever you are
allowed) with water at about 101 degrees and you'll be all set. The only
step that's temperature critical is the developer and that's less that 3 1/2
minutes. You want the remaining chemicals to be close to that 100 degree
mark to prevent reticulation (where the emulsion wrinkle and become modern
art:~). Drying takes a couple of hours in the bathroom (run the shower on
hot for a few minutes about 1/2 hour before you hang your film to settle any
dust). You can mix the chemicals up the same day and use them immediately
(almost, make sure everything is dissolved with powder, liquid, as soon as
they're up to temp). The kit I cited cost (at B&H) $53.95 plus shipping, so
say $60.00 and processes 60 to 80 rolls (ISO dependent, slower = more
rolls). That $1 or less per roll. Partially used chemicals keep for about
6 months in full, dark, glass bottles. So you don't have to use it up in
one session. The 5 liter kit is all liquid and you can mix partial
quantities (say, 1 liter) at a time.

Another good resource is right here. Specific questions can (if the thread
doesn't turn into a radioactive urinary Olympiad) be answered with all kind
of brilliant ideas. The number of years of experience available here is
enormous (I alone have been processing C-41 for 27 years). No one taught
me. I learned by doin & ruin. Make your first roll(s) something to play
with. Dog/cat/goldfish shots.

Have fun.

Jim<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Target or Costco Print Film Developing Experiences 

pencilcup <dontbother RemoveThis @here.com> wrote:
 >Although I know print film developing varies by location, is there a
 >general opinon on Target or Costco's one-hour service? Ideally, I'm
 >looking for a price that will best develop & handle my negatives.
 >Since I have a dedicated film scanner, I can always rescan and
 >reprint.
 >
 >I primarily use Fuji films (Reala, NPH, Press, Superia) although this
 >time I decided to try out a few Agfa Vista rolls. I live in the New
 >York area.

I've no experience with Target, I use Costco quite often.

In general, they're just like any other labs: depend on the
personnel. A couple of shops in my area are quite good, clean
negatives, relatively clean well-balanced prints, etc. Some other
aren't so good, one is really horrible (e.g., dusty negatives,
prints full of specks, some aren't even aligned), IMHO.

So, my suggestion is to try a few and see the result. When you find
one that you like, stick with them.

Alternatively, you can use their 1-day or 2-day service. Their
away lab is usually quite good, except that they keep refusing to
process my Ilford XP2 rolls for whatever reason.

FWIW, YMMV.

Thanks.
--
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/_______| 1. Never tell any one everything you know. |________\
`---------------------------------------------'<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Target or Costco Print Film Developing Experiences 

pencilcup <dontbother RemoveThis @here.com> wrote in message news:<5e59m091479uvvau70bs64hl2klmchf1un RemoveThis @4ax.com>...
 > Although I know print film developing varies by location, is there a
 > general opinon on Target or Costco's one-hour service? Ideally, I'm
 > looking for a price that will best develop & handle my negatives.
 > Since I have a dedicated film scanner, I can always rescan and
 > reprint.

 > I primarily use Fuji films (Reala, NPH, Press, Superia) although this
 > time I decided to try out a few Agfa Vista rolls. I live in the New
 > York area.

I don't use Target or Costco, but I do use Walgreens, Walmart, CVS,
etc. I have a KonicaMinolta ScanDual IV and I scan all my negs. I
had a great deal of trouble with scratches and dust on my negs until I
hit upon the solution of asking them to process the negs ONLY - no
prints, no scanning. I have them developed, cut, and sleeved and the
cost is about $2.15 USD per roll in a one-hour place; I presume it
would be similar in your area and at Target, etc. I live in North
Carolina.

I tried EVERYTHING to get labs to stop scratching up my negs. I
switched labs, I went to pro labs, I tried mail-order, I explained
what I wanted and why it was important to employees, managers, and
owners of photo shops. I tried different brands of consumer-grade and
pro films, thinking that was the problem. The prints always looked
fine, but when I scanned on my ScanDual III (now I have the IV) on max
resolution, I could see HUGE scrapes and UGLY dots and so on. I tried
re-cleaning my negs, dusting them most carefully with Dust-Off, little
negative brushes, special cloths, everything. NOTHING WORKED. I even
took to taking multiple shots of the same scene - not bracketing, just
reshooting - so I'd get maybe ONE GOOD FRAME after scanning!

Sometimes I would get a good roll, and I'd try to recreate that
scenario - but it never worked the same way twice. Most frustrating.

Since I started having the local one-hour places develop ONLY, I have
had no more than very minor problems. Sometimes I get a bad frame or
even a bad roll, but the results are SO MUCH more acceptable, I really
can't complain anymore. I spend maybe a couple of minutes knocking
out a few tiny dots in PS Elements per frame - about as long as it
takes me to scan the next frame - and I have printed at up to 8 x 10
with quite acceptable results - no detectable flaws. That used to NOT
be the case!

My results have been so acceptable that I have largely stopped
shooting 'pro' C-41 films and now shoot consumer-grade Fuji Superia
400, Kodak Gold 100, and Kodak Ultra 400, in addition to the
consumer-grade Kodak B&W 400. I'm quite pleased with it. I have
nothing against pro films, but I am not a pro, and I don't need the
same roll-to-roll sameness or predictability or special qualities that
only pro films offer - I'm not attacking them - just don't need them
myself, since I found that the consumer films were not the cause of
the scratching/dust spot problems.

I've posted my findings before - and I've gotten some really amazing
negative reactions (no pun intended) - some people pretty much
claiming that my reports of problems or my solution just can't be
true. OK, well, whatever. I usually get the best of advice on Usenet
in the various photo forums, so I'm surprised that people are so
non-accepting of this particular solution, I don't know why they take
it so personally. All I can say is this - try it! Get one roll
processed, cut, and sleeved - but not printed or scanned. Then scan
the negs as you usually would. I'll bet your negs are much cleaner!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Target or Costco Print Film Developing Experiences