problem with Costco film processing

<p>Costco really does a pretty good job with developing, printing, and scanning my photos, but the photo below shows some flaw near the art object in the center. A similar but not indentical artifact appeared on 5 of the first seven photos on the roll, and in different parts of the prints. The film used was Fuji Pro 160. The artifacts are on the prints and the scans.</p>

<p>The camera was a Nikon N80, and the lens was Nikon 24-120mm AF-D. The lens does not get stellar reviews, but the price was about $60 and it was in LN condition, and it works for me. I like the zoom range, but it is probably not quite up to the capability of my 28-85mm Nikon lens.</p><div></div>

<p>Damn UFO's!!</p>

<p>I would venture to say they are having a problem with the scanner. I doubt the persons<br>

running the machine would notice unless you bring it to their attention.</p>

<p>I will bring it to their attention but the prints have the same thing and I think that is done independently of the scanning for the CD.</p>

<p>Our CostCo quit on film. Strange as I was always having them do something but once I had to find a new place I never spend a cent in their photo lab any longer. I do still buy other stuff from CostCo however. Yesterday we picked up new glasses for my daughter and my son-in-law bought some beer. I learned that you can buy beer from CostCo without a membership card yesterday. I had no idea there was a law about that.</p>

<p>Costco prints from scans.</p>

<p>Have you had a close look at the negatives, <strong>James</strong>? At first sight it looks like damage or some other aberration in processing, possibly caused by the film passing over dirty or damaged rollers in the film processor. This tends to give a virtually identical mark at intervals which are regular but not related to negative spacing, throughout the length of the film.</p>

<p>I tried using Costco for film for several months. Nearly every single roll they developed had long scratches in the negatives. They never had an explanation, nor did they admit to a problem. I got so tired of all those marks and scratches I stopped using them all together. Then I tried Walgreens. Exact same thing - long thin scratches on the roll.</p>

<p>For a time, I thought maybe my camera was doing the scratching. That is until I sent my rolls out. WOW - what I got back was so stunning that I have never looked back. I send all my color out, and have it scanned at high res. It comes back beautiful, and with no marks of any kind on the negs. I use Northcoast Photo. I think the price is a no-brainer.</p>

<p>My old Nikon D70 put a scratch across all the slides I shot in Japan in November, 2000. Nearly 30 rolls! My Nikon 35Ti put no scratches across the film, and I shot 10 rolls of slides with it during the same trip. I've never seen any scratches on the negs from any film I've taken to Costco. I'd make sure to tell them if you notice any, they will refund your processing fee at the very least.</p>

<p>There are certain things that the saving of money is not worth the risk. When I have my film processed I use the best lab possible. Damn the expense. I have found out that cheap labs will eventually not live up to your expectations and cause you great distress. Some of you might remember the drive thru film labs of the '70s & '80s. They were inadequate. I tried them. Eventually I went back to a shop and always requested that the film be sent out to the Kodak labs. I paid more but was always satisfied. Kodak no longer processes film but I have found a professional lab and use them. If the print is not up to my expectations they will re-process it until I am satisfied. It is the old adage again: You get what you pay for.</p>

<p>I have been mostly satisfied with Costco service in the past. I always have 4 by 6 inch prints made plus scanned to a DVD at the highest resolution I can talk them in to, which come out at about 5 megs. The price is right, but I always take advantage of their one hour processing time. The biggest drawback to sending them off to a professional lab is the time lag, which is one of biggest advantages of digital.</p>

<p>Rick, I will examine the negatives, and let you know. Thanks for the advice. That strange pattern only showed up on six of the first nine shots and was always in a different location on the print. I tend to think that this would rule out the camera, an N80, as the culprit. While I have only had the N80 for a short time, I have put about 5 rolls of film through it, and this is the first roll I have seen the glitch. I sure hope it is not the camera, because the N80 is only topped by the F100, in my opinion, and I have all of the professional F series except the F6.</p>