Used The Film What Next ?

C

cargo

Suspended / Banned
Messages
6,645
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all.

I have had a quick search of the forum and although there is a topic regarding film devloping websites, times change and there maybe new advice available.

So following on from my previous post " I was gifted the Yashica 635" thanks for all the advice given in that thread.

I purchased a roll of 120 hp5 and have just finished it.

It seems I have a bit of a choice to make. I was under the impression you took photos on film then sent them off and in return post you got your prints back. Like we did when I was much younger.

I see from my search on here that Filmdev is quite the favourite.

When I purchased the film "Wex Manchester" I asked the assistant about developing and he said he used AG Photo lab. He mentioned they were a bit exspensive but good.

I am a bit confused as the best route to take.

Do you all get scans "Large" done and Post process the files as if digital. Or get Scans and prints or just prints.

Any help would be much apprecited.

Gaz

Few prices:

AG

8x8 prints only £11.50 p&p £4.95
Scans highres jpeg £12
12x8 contact £4

FilmDev

Large scan £12
12x8 Contact £2
Return negs free 2nd class post.
 
cargo said:
Hi all.

I have had a quick search of the forum and although there is a topic regarding film devloping websites, times change and there maybe new advice available.

So following on from my previous post " I was gifted the Yashica 635" thanks for all the advice given in that thread.

I purchased a roll of 120 hp5 and have just finished it.

It seems I have a bit of a choice to make. I was under the impression you took photos on film then sent them off and in return post you got your prints back. Like we did when I was much younger.

I see from my search on here that Filmdev is quite the favourite.

When I purchased the film "Wex Manchester" I asked the assistant about developing and he said he used AG Photo lab. He mentioned they were a bit exspensive but good.

I am a bit confused as the best route to take.

Do you all get scans "Large" done and Post process the files as if digital. Or get Scans and prints or just prints.

Any help would be much apprecited.

Gaz

Few prices:

AG

8x8 prints only £11.50 p&p £4.95
Scans highres jpeg £12
12x8 contact £4

FilmDev

Large scan £12
12x8 Contact £2
Return negs free 2nd class post.
Click to expand...
You can get your films dev'd and printed with scans, it depends on what you want to do with the final images. I use Spectrum Photolabs in Plymouth (had a bad experience with AG) but most labs will offer dev and scan with optional prints. I'd say that any prints you get back in this fashion will be rather lacklustre as they will just be machine prints without any PP. The way I do it is to have my film scanned to TIFF then I PP them in Lightroom and print any I any prints I want on my inkjet printer (Canon Pro 100S (A3)). I don't usually print my B&W just colour, If I want bigger than A3 I print one at A3 and take it with the TIFF to Spectrum and they printmatch the bigger print.
 
Much the same as Paul except I use film dev usually but have used ag also, I get them to dev, contact print and scan medium, on the basis that any I think worth serious tinkering with I can get rescanned
 
Ilford themselves do processing and printing, but I think they might be expensive? Their website is harmanlab.com
 
I've never been happy with the scans I got from most labs in the past - comparing the ones I had done on the last films I sent away to those I just started doing myself, there's a vast difference in quality.
If you can't scan your own, it's probably worth paying the extra to find a lab that does good quality scans as bad scans may put you off the idea altogether.
 
I did lots of scanning of 35mm with Nikon scanners, including slide film which is the most demanding exposure-wise, and got pretty good results - so I've got a fair good idea of what's possible. But I never got very far with lab scans. When I still had my Mamiya C330S I had some Portra devved & scanned by Ag & the results fell short. We're talking about a colour neg film that's quite forgiving, and my exposure technique is pretty good, but there was highlight detail seen in the negs on the lightbox that the scans had clearly failed to capture.

The thing is, the results are what counts - it's not a box-ticking excercise.

At that point I gave up trying, life being short, & to keep experimenting (with other providers) was going to get expensive. But basically what I expect from a scan is the full tonal range from the neg. And I want a tif that'll be my archived resource for further tweaking.
 
droj said:
I did lots of scanning of 35mm with Nikon scanners, including slide film which is the most demanding exposure-wise, and got pretty good results - so I've got a fair good idea of what's possible. But I never got very far with lab scans. When I still had my Mamiya C330S I had some Portra devved & scanned by Ag & the results fell short. We're talking about a colour neg film that's quite forgiving, and my exposure technique is pretty good, but there was highlight detail seen in the negs on the lightbox that the scans had clearly failed to capture.

The thing is, the results are what counts - it's not a box-ticking excercise.

At that point I gave up trying, life being short, & to keep experimenting (with other providers) was going to get expensive. But basically what I expect from a scan is the full tonal range from the neg. And I want a tif that'll be my archived resource for further tweaking.
Click to expand...
Exactly that. My own very limited experience (so far) shows multi-exposure HDR scans are the only way to go. On my scanner these take about 2 minutes, 15 seconds, with the second pass taking almost twice as long as the first.
That's well over an hour to scan a 36-exp roll compared to about 27 minutes for a single-pass scan assuming no exposure tweaks from one neg to the next (which only happens on a studio shoot)...
It's not surprising that labs just do a basic auto scan...
 
What are you intending to do with the scans?

If it was a test roll, I'd go with Filmdev as they send you a small scan for free which is fine for internet use. I always ask for "no sharpening" though because on small scans it can look pretty bad - plus it's good to see what the camera gives you, not what pp will do.

The sad thing with all labs is that the scan size is the same regardless of negative size, so if you get a 35mm scan done or a 120, you'll get the same sized file.

The latest scan I had from Filmdev was from my RB67. I asked for "large" scans and got 4800x5900 files which will print to A2 (15"x18") at 300ppi. My 35mm "large" scans were actually bigger, at 6700 x 4500 px because of the 3:2 ratio.
I had some small scans done (the free ones) which came in at 3500 x 2300 which will print to 11" x 7" at 300ppi, so you can still get a great looking A4 print out of them.

It really depends on your usage. For pro work, I'd definitely use either a pro lab (Canadian Film Lab has been mentioned here) or do it myself. But for amateur stuff, Filmdev is fine for me. As long as they don't sharpen :)
 
@Harlequin565

Thanks. Most helpful info.

I was begining to think why/how these scanning firms exist as the results seem to be airing on the not very good side.

Gaz
 
I got my latest 120 Velvia developed at "The Darkroom UK" and they seem very good. I scanned them myself on an Epson V550, which gave decent results if rather slow.
 
I pretty much always get my C41 developed and scanned by the lab (Filmdev usually). I have really struggled to get good colour with home scanning C41. I get the medium scans, which are fine for what I want to do, but the large ones are not much more expensive. You get a free download of the scans, so you're likely to have them back within a few days (used to be post Monday afternoon, get the download Wednesday, but the post is now more dodgy and they've got a bit busier). I think the quality is actually very good; maybe the top labs like Canadian Film Lab or Carmencita might do better, but it certainly works for me..

I have used AG in the past. Although I usually develop my own black and white, if for some reason I don't want to, I would send them to AG and then scan the negatives myself. I've not shot much E6 (slide/transparency film) in the last couple of years, but I'd probably send that to AG or Peak, and again I would scan it myself.

Remember the nifty price estimator, which will give you some idea how costs compare for small or medium scans from a range of labs. Prices not up to date, but, as I say, you'll get some idea.
 
@Stephen L
Thanks for the info very much apreciated.
@ChrisR
Thanks for the link and advice.

I have just popped the film into an envelope I'm sending to filmdev/large scan/tiff plus contact sheet.

Really am hoping there is something on the film.

Thanks for everyones help with this.,

Gaz
 
cargo said:
@Stephen L
Thanks for the info very much apreciated.
@ChrisR
Thanks for the link and advice.

I have just popped the film into an envelope I'm sending to filmdev/large scan/tiff plus contact sheet.

Really am hoping there is something on the film.

Thanks for everyones help with this.,

Gaz
Click to expand...
Good luck, looking forward to seeing the results.
 
Topsy said:
Good luck, looking forward to seeing the results.
Click to expand...
I'll be chuffed if I have managed to get something on the film.
The camera was gifted to me. It seems to work.
Tried to use the sunny 16 rule for exposure.
On a few frames I took a reading with my 6d.
Thats a faff though

Fingers crossed.

Thanks again.

Gaz
 
cargo said:
I'll be chuffed if I have managed to get something on the film.
The camera was gifted to me. It seems to work.
Tried to use the sunny 16 rule for exposure.
On a few frames I took a reading with my 6d.
Thats a faff though

Fingers crossed.

Thanks again.

Gaz
Click to expand...
Faffing is what film is all about :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top