Where to get colour print film processed and printed (non digitally)?

I recently bought a Nikon FM2.

 

The labs which do this in UK process the film, digitally scan it then print from the digital file.

 

To labs exist in the UK who, for a similar cost, optically print from the negative as was done back in the day when I had a Canon T70?

 

I was told the machines do not exist anymore, so it can be done but is 'by hand' and expensive.

 

I'd like to do this as I'm not happy with the 'look' of the prints I'm getting back.

 

Thanks in advance.

It seems usual now to optically print from digital images, as I understand it with

a scanning laser. (Well, I suppose three of them.)

 

If you look up Crystal Archive, they give reciprocity data for microsecond exposure,

but also for traditional exposure times.

 

So, the final result will be on the same material that (you might have) used

in a traditional enlarger.

 

Now, all you need to do is digitally add dust on the lens, slightly out of

focus (none of us are perfect with enlarger focus), maybe also just a little

spherical and chromatic aberration. (Even the best enlarger lenses

aren't perfect.)

 

What is it exactly that you like about traditional prints that digital prints

don't have?

 

Many labs now do dye sublimation prints, but I believe that there are still

enough that optically print digital images.

If you want inexpensive prints the scanning and printing from a digital file is probably your only option. Custom labs will still enlarge from negatives individually but it will cost a lot more.

If you want inexpensive prints the scanning and printing from a digital file is probably your only option. Custom labs will still enlarge from negatives individually but it will cost a lot more.

 

I don't remember now how much big prints cost before digital, but I don't remember them being cheap.

 

We now have some amazingly low priced big prints because the technology is there.

 

Shutterfly every few months has an offer for a free 16x20 print, just pay shipping.

As the shipping companies keep raising the rates, I suspect it is a pretty good deal, though they might

charge a little more than the shipping company's actual charge.

 

The 8x10s say "Crystal Archive" on the back, I am not sure about the larger ones.

Optical printing is today by and by the preserve of home hobbyists or photographers aligned with fine art labs with highly customised workflows requiring traditional darkroom print production. For colour work, RA-4 is predominantly digital in production today. RA-4 machines (Lambda, Lightjet, Pegasus, others...) are costly and messy machines to maintain and eventually these dinosaurs will fade to black as parts cease to be available. Takeaway = use them while they are here!

 

You need to have a very high knowledgebase to obtain the very best from scanning negatives and/or printing RA-4, or indeed the (defunct) Ilfochrome Classic (all-analogue) process; you cannot walk into a lab and say "process, scan and print lovely pics of this please..." You will likely end up with something that does not meet your expectations. But how can it when the lab doesn't know what you want? Your full brief will include which pic (to scan), the profile, colourimetrics, print output (RA-4 or giclée -- B&W or colour), print profiling, finished size and the media type; if you do not specify this, the lab usually uses its "cheap and handy" defaults, and this is where problems can start. A full-service pro-level lab will ask questions (you will be expected to know the answers e.g. what exactly you want) and it unforunately won't be cheap. A lab offering bespoke darkroom printing service will likely even be more expensive, as you are paying for the printer's time and skills.

'

To take a line from Bob Dylan, 'times they are a-changing', and the Canon T70 you mentioned was a bit of a hit 35 years ago...