melisa Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Hey Gang, Can you recommend a pro B&W lab? Live in Michigan, their are 2 labs in my town--one has been very inconsistant and the other very expensive--does only contact sheets and custom work. I've been sticking to T400CN for it's convenience, but would need a place for my 3200. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melisa Posted July 10, 2004 Author Share Posted July 10, 2004 I do use both 35mm and 120 film, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_lapolt___new_haven__c Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Hmm... B&W lab in the Michigan area for 3200...... I recommend.... Your bathroom. Seriously, 3200 film (I shoot Ilford, and I love the stuff) is tricky stuff, and some prior knowledge of the conditions it was shot under, and the desired result are crucial to success with this film. I shoot it at speeds from 1600 to 6400, and have been processing at home for about six months now. It took a little to 'learn' the film, and while I'm no expert, I'm getting better at the process. After about 10 or so rolls, I was consistently getting better results than any of the labs in the New Haven area. This isn't a wedding shot, but an example of a shot that I don't think I would have liked to trust to a 3rd party lab.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy_smith Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Hi Melissa, where abouts are you? I live in MI too, and use Meteor in Troy,they are really consistent as far as I have experienced and have full services for B+W. I shoot T-max and am very happy with proofs. It is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. Good luck:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melisa Posted July 10, 2004 Author Share Posted July 10, 2004 Duffy, Traverse City--in the middle of Cherry Festival right now. Thank you. Mark, it's my goal to learn to develop--have an enlarger in the basement. They teach a course at the college here and have a full facility but I've been waiting--hoping to add to the family and am concerned about playing with chemicals, although Kaplan has an impressive lot and they were bathing in the stuff! ;-) Not sure I would trust myself with those memories, even after 10 rolls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Where in Michigan? If in the Detroit area near Royal Oak, look into Tri-Color on West 14 mile for B&W processing . (248) 554-9450. Open Mon. thru Fri. 7:30 AM to 6 PM. I did my last B&W Tri-X jprocessing and contact sheets at Tri-Color because Northwest Photo stopped doing Tri-X (can you believe that?) Sorry to say Meteor in Troy off of 1-75 badly screwed up a previous job, so I stopped using them. Our Ad agency also uses Tri-Color for all our commercial work now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melisa Posted July 10, 2004 Author Share Posted July 10, 2004 Thanks Marc. Traverse City, MI--top of the pinkie and next to the ring finger. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Well my two turned out OK growing up in a house with a B&W darkroom, and my ex was always fooling around with Cibachrome and first E-4 and then E-6 processing. Use gloves if it makes you feel better but just reasonable care should work OK. The advantage of conventional B&W is the control it gives you, really more akin to using digital and Photoshop than what we've grown familiar with using color labs, having to shoot to keep the lab happy.There are a nearly infinite combination of films, developers, dilutions, papers, etc. with B&W. Enjoy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 I was just up there for the 4th of July !!!! Watched the Blue Angels during the air show. Here's a shot from our travels. The General Store near Mission Point (I think).<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melisa Posted July 10, 2004 Author Share Posted July 10, 2004 Al, you little pusher! ;-) Hope you're well. Ya know, if my next one came out with 9 fingers and 8 toes I'd always blame myself for sniffing fumes. Marc, that's a great shot! TC's a great place for a vacation and photography. Well, I'm off to try to photograph the Cherry Festival fireworks, I missed the Angels on Sunday because they couldn't fly due to weather...bummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy_smith Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Wow, Marc-never had a problem with Meteor, sorry to hear. But what lab has never screwed up? Tri color is reliable too,I know Meteor handles 3200 and does alot of weddings too. Melisa maybe you could run a few test rolls and send to each lab to see results? Thats what I would do, I'm sure they both have UPS/Fed Ex service.Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melisa Posted July 11, 2004 Author Share Posted July 11, 2004 Thanks, Duffy, good suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Keep in mind that both Ilford and Kodak "3200" speed film is really a pushed speed. The true speed of these films is more in the 1200 area. Tri-X in Diafine will give you a very useable 1200, has good shadow seperation and nice open unblocked highlight areas. It also gives you MUCH finer grain. In addition, Tri-X is not premium priced like the 3200 films, which will save you a bunch of money. The only reason I can see for going with something like TMZ is if you are looking for that super grainy look. Get some little self stick labels at the office supply store in some bright color. Whenever you put a roll of Tri-X in your camera to expose at a higher ISO speed stick a label on the cassette right then and there! Later you'll know which cassettes are 1200 and which are 400 with no confusion! You don't have to carry the whole box of labels, just fold a sheet or two in half and stick them in your bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melisa Posted July 11, 2004 Author Share Posted July 11, 2004 Al, that is very interesting. I would certainly prefer finer grain. Does pushing Tri-X to 1200 only work well with Diafine, or will any developer that the lab uses produce good results? I hope that's not a dumb question. P.S. Can you be my B&W prolab? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Melisa, you can find out a lot more about Diafine in the B&W film and processing forum here on photo.net. Essentially it's a two part developer. You give it three minutes in solution A which lets the film saturate with developing agents, but has next to zero activity. Then, without rinsing (!) you give it three minutes in solution B, the "activator". The developer in the highlight areas soon exhausts so you can't build up excess density while the developer in the shadows keeps on working, giving you maximum film speed. The temperature isn't critical. It'll work from sixty something degrees F well up into the eighties using the same times. It's pretty much fool proof. You don't even need a thermometer! I first started using it back when it first hit the market about 40 years ago and have continued to use it on and off over the years. My standard developer is D-76 1:1 using Tri-X at 400, mostly because ISO 1200 can be a bit limiting unless you're just shooting in dark places. I'm not sure that with you in Michigan and me in Miami, FL it would be easy using me as your lab. Are you scanning and printing digital yourself or getting your other work done by a lab? One possibility would be to develop your own negatives and find a lab willing to proof it 4x6. Honestly, with a tiny bit of care your babies should all be just fine! (Unless, of course, exposure to photographic chemicals during gestation is the reason my kids graduated top of their class from law school and seminary, and my son is now starting his doctorate at Harvard.)If you want feel free to email at preacherpop42@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 You can probably get an effective 1200, possibly 1600, with Tri-X in a variety of developers, if your goal is simply to get a "printable image". 800, a 1 stop push works fairly well in most cases. At higher speeds you will lose more shadow detail, and end up with a very contrasty image with blocked up highlights. If you're shooting for a newspaper this usually is of little concern. If you want to see detail in the bridal gown it isn't the way to go! Diafine gives you a rather "normal" looking and printing negative at the elevated rating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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