What kind of info does a film processor machine read off the cassette?

Hello all,

 

Do mini-lab film processing machines read any information -- film

speed or length (24 vs 36) -- from the DX coding on film cassettes? I

worked in a mini-lab at a one-hour-photo shop many years ago but have

forgotten the intricacies of how these machines work. I remember

retrieving the leaders from the cassettes, taping the leaders to a

plastic card, and feeding this card into the machine. A blade would

cut the back end of the film when all of it had been pulled out of the

cassette.

 

The reason I ask is that I recently bought a bulk roll of XP2 Super

and would like to improve my chances of getting it developed at

drugstores, etc. without a fuss by rolling it into previously used

colour neg film cassettes (the commercial machines leave a bit of

leader hanging out that I can use to load the bulk film in). Is it

critical that I use only 36-exp coded cassettes for 36-exp rolls,

stick with 400-coded cassettes, etc.?

 

Thanks in advance.

C-41 processing is absolutely standardized. Same time, temperature, etc., for all films. (Other than push and pull, which your drugstore is not going to do.)

The identity of the film.

Minilab film processing machines made by Noristu or Fuji do not read the dx code from the film cassette. If you are indeed looking to take your re-loaded film to a one-hour type minilab for processing, the best thing you can do is re-load the film into 'like' cannisters (example: put XP2 into used XP-2 cannisters, etc.)

 

If you can't do this, then find a lab that has reasonably adept staff and just explain to them what you have. You may not find such people at a drugstore, as the trained people there are pharmacists, not photo processors.

 

-Dave

Don't even tell the drug store what is in the can for C-41: The only thing they need to know is the number of exposures.

<p><b>If you can't do this, then find a lab that has reasonably adept staff and just explain to them what you have. You may not find such people at a drugstore, as the trained people there are pharmacists, not photo processors. </b>

 

<p> I hate to say it, but that's BS. Many drugstore photo techs are very well trained. I ran a lab in one for about 5 years( before jumping ship to a pro lab).

 

<p> With that out of the way..

 

<p> The film processor will read absolutely nothing on the film cannister. It is up to the techs to avoid running a roll of black and white or slide film through the chemistry. On a Fuji machine, the only thing the processor will know is what length and size the film is( APS, 35, 120, etc..). This allows the machine to properly replenish the chemistry.

 

<p> SO yeah, for the XP2 film. If just explaining that the film is a C41 process to the tech doesn't work, just load it into a different film cannister that is more common( Fuji or Kodak will be easiest for the techs to recognize).

Thank you for your replies. I know that the C41 process is independent of film speed in terms of processing conditions, but I also know that small-tank C41 process exhaustion rates are dependent on the number of films of each speed run through the chemistry. I don't want to mess up any replenishment in the minilab machines. My biggest worry is my film being cut prematurely. I will use 36exp cassettes.