Velvia -- drug store processed and unmounted?

I can hear the gasps now...."How dare she even consider processing

Velvia at a drugstore!" Forgive me while I explain.

 

I bought a small bulk of cheap outdated Velvia so I could practice a

bit before buying the good stuff to take on vacation.

 

Can I take this slide film to the local drug store and have it cheaply

processed "negatives only" as I used to do with my Fuji Superia? Or

does slide film require specialized processing or chemicals?

Your slide film is processed in E-6 chemicals, which differ from color negative,

ever used Fuji mailers, available thru B&H photo and Adorama.

Slides produce positives, not negatives. So you can't process it at the local 1hr, unless you want to 'cross process' and get funky effects. BTW, Fuji will not process bulk loaded film, in case you bought a 100 ft roll and are putting it into cassettes yourself.

 

-A

Go get your phone book and look up photo labs in the yellow pages. Find one that says "E6 slide processing" and take your slide film there or use a mailer (mail your film to the lab and get it back in a week or two.)

A developed slide is a final product, unlike a negative (where the print is final). Therefore its important to use a good lab, to get good colors.

You can take it most anywhere. They will in turn send it to someone capable of E6 processing. Who will return it them, and so on. No big deal.

 

I'd advise to not get it mounted if you only intend to scan, not project. Much easier to focus.

 

Just instruct them to cut into strips and sleaved is the most straight forward alternative to mounted slides. Specify 7 rows of 5 and rewind after 35 exposures, for the least hassle over how to cut.

Tell them you want it processed only, not mounted.

You could ask to have it "sleeved", and uncut. Then, if you're scanning, you can cut into lengths that fit your scanner. I use a Scan Dual IV, and it holds strips of six frames, or four mounted slides. I much prefer to cut the film myself into strips of six. Then I store the strips in archival "preservers" that hold six strips of six frames (36 exposures). This would be a perfect system, if I did not usually get 37 frames per roll. ; )

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Try a roll at a lab and see how they do. I had a roll of film processed this way at one lab, and watched them roll it into a film can, scratching it quite a bit. I found another lab.

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Since this is "practice" film, go ahead and try any lab that does E-6 processing. If it's a drugstore type place, make sure they know what you're talking about. Don't be afraid to ask, or tell them how to process it. I just had a "pro" lab mis-process my Velvia!

E-6...I'll remember that. I did get myself a couple of mailers...but didn't want to waste them on test rolls.

 

What I did was buy 20 rolls of outdated Velvia to get a "cheap" feel for it's properties. They are in my freezer and I've got my fingers crossed that they are still usable. Since Velvia requires special processing, it looks like I'm not going to get off as cheap as I had hoped.

If you send the film out through a drugstore, your film will come back mounted regardless of what you ask for. Apparently, they are not set up to do anything but mount your film (I am speaking specifically of Qualex and Fuji outlabs).

 

If you want the film uncut or cut&paged, you have to go to a lab that does the work in-house.

<i>Since Velvia requires special processing, it looks like I'm not going to get off as cheap as I had hoped.</i>

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$4.50 a roll with mounted slides with Fuji mailers is cheap compared to what you would pay for prints. And E-6 isn't special - it's pretty standard, just not what the drugstore does.

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-A

Kodak will not mount or cut if you write it in red in the "Special Instructions" box.

I usually use Walmart. They send the film to Fuji. Cost is about $4.88 for a roll of 36 exposures. They will even scan it for you on their Frontier machine once it comes back to the store (Fuji will not do it), at a cost of $2.88 for all 36 slides. Here are the caveats:<p>

Fuji insists upon cutting and mounting them. The time I tried to have them come back uncut, there was a note in the envelope that said that Fuji would not provide that service.<p>If the store scans them for you, expect the scans to be in no particular order. This can be frustrating if you bracket a lot, like I did.

Thanks, Robert.

It's not a problem if they do mount them. I have a film scanner with a slide adapter. I was just trying to get my film (the first roll at least) developed as cheaply as possible. My intention was to go out and shoot off a quick roll, develop it and make sure this expired film is good. $5 isn't that bad. I was thinking it would be $10 a pop.