Availability of 120 film in New Orleans

[danny ouellette]

Morning all.

 

I'm travelling to New Orleans at the end of February.

 

In a previous question, I had asked if there were any good labs to

process film there. Looks like I'll be out of luck for that.

 

My question now is are there good places to get 120 roll film while

I'm there? Or should I just bring film with me? If I do bring it,

do you know if airport security will hand check, or if they just

stick EVERYTHING through the xray machines?

 

I would looking for the following films:

 

B&W

Ilford Delta 100, Delta 3200, Pan Plus, and HP5 Plus

Bergger BRF 200

 

Colour Negative

Fuji Reala, NPZ

 

Colour Slide

Fuji RDP-III

 

Thanks in advance!

Danny Ouellette

Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[bill_heiker]

Danny, it can be a hassle finding medium format film in a town you are not familiar with. I highly recommend you take your film with you. When I fly, I put the 35mm film in Fuji clear plastic cannisters and I take the roll film out of the paper boxes. I keep all the film in a paper bag and request hand inspection. This has never been a problem. New Orleans is a great town, and you won't want to waste any time looking for a store that sells the film you want. The fast film will be perfect when walking the French Quarter at night. It's a great place. At night however, stay on the main streets, and you will be safe.

[dennis_lods]

Watch out for the Dallas Ft. Worth airport. A security supervisor refused a request for hand inspection of a whole bag of 120 out-of-wrapper film. Told me he didn't want to get fired. I didn't feel like pushing the issue further than I did, and believe me, I did push it. The film went through the brand new Perkin-Elmer X-ray and got fried. Bright lines across two frames on every roll. It was Fuji Reala, so, so much for the high speed film myth in the modern era!

[danny ouellette]

Thanks for the warning about Dallas. My flights won't be stoping there, thankfully.

 

The reason I asked about this was because the last time I flew at Christmas (domestic flight) the people at security refused to hand check my cameras and film. It was only 1 camera and about 3 rolls of film, but the wouldn't do it. I'm still working on that roll in the camera, so I'm hoping not to much has happend.

 

I'm going to contact the airline and see if I can get film through somehow.

 

Thanks again!

Danny

[craig_bridge]

Ship film Fedex, UPS, or Airborne to your hotel and back or direct to your lab is the only way to be sure to definitely avoid the security hassel these days.

 

BTW: Lakeside Camera is the Hasselblad dealer in Metarie and probably stocks most of what your after.

[b._henry]

If you find that you need film or processing in New Orleans, try the following:

 

Downtown - Liberty Camera - 504-523-6252 - excellent people, professional film, processing (although I believe they outsource their E-6 and B&W, so time may be an issue).

 

Metairie - Professional Color Services - they do not sell film but their processing services are great (including 2 hour E-6, copy work, etc.).

 

Metairie - Lakeside Camera & Imaging 504-885-8660, or Bennett's Camera & Video 504-885-9050 - these two stores are a few blocks from each other and offer film and processing.

 

French Quarter - French Quarter Camera & Video 504-529-2974 - I have purchased professional film and filters here. I believe they offer processing.

 

Uptown - The Camera Shop 504-861-0277 - I have purchased film and darkroom supplies here. I believe they offer some processing services.

 

Mid City - Moldaner's 504-486-5811 - I have purchased film and darkroom supplies here. They advertise 1 hour E-6 and prints, and 2 hour B&W.

 

Obviously these are not the only places that sell film and processing services. Check the local phone book if these places do not work out. I use Liberty and Professional Color Services the most. If you are staying downtown or in the Quarter, Liberty is convenient. If you need fast processing that Liberty cannot handle, you can take a cab to Professional Color Services. I should mention that I shoot 35mm, but I am certain that several of these places sell and handle 120. I would call them before you leave home.

 

Enjoy New Orleans!

[william_carter1]

FWIW, I just got back from New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, and had no trouble getting a hand inspection (coming and going) of about 30 rolls of 120 film. The screener tried to give me the argument about "it will only harm high speed film," but I happened to have a couple of rolls of 3200 in the (clear plastic) bag, and I said (truthfully) that I didn't know where exactly in the bag they were.

 

Also, while in New Orleans, if you find the time, stop in at this gallery: http://www.agallery.com/index.htm. Almost all black and white -- really impressive collection -- there was an Elliot Erwitt exhibit while I was there.

 

I also had no trouble getting a hand inspection at O'Hare on my way to New Orleans. But it's still pretty luck of the draw, I guess...

[danny ouellette]

Morning all. Small update on check in security.

 

I've contacted the airport in Toronto, and have gotten the following information.

 

- All cameras will no longer be hand checked. They all have to go through the xray machines, film or no film. So I'll be making sure that they are all unloaded when going through security.

 

- Film that is kept separate WILL be hand checked by security, and not passed through the xray machines. I'm going to use the suggestions I've seen on here previously and put all the 35mm in clear canisters and leave the 120 in the foil wrappings and boxes.

 

Thanks for all the help! I'll probably hit a couple of the stores mentioned in replies, just to see what is available. Slide film is VERY expensive in Toronto right now, so I think I'll wait till I get down there to pick that up.

 

Danny Ouellette

[myco_megasoid]

Danny,

 

I'm the one who warned you in an earlier post about the lack of

professional camera rental stores and lack of real professional,

super-tight tolerance film processing there. I own and run a full

time advertising photography studio. I started in N.O. 22 years

ago because I grew up there, and 20 years ago left for Dallas

and San Francisco, in which I have dual operations.

 

Half of the business reasons for leaving were to get higher

paying, more sophisticated clients. The other half of the

business reasons for leaving lay in the utter dearth of reliable,

deadline conscious, no dust, no drip mark, no cigarette ash

marked, no out of tolerance chemical film processing, I had

around 15% of my total film output in N.O. ruined by the labs in

that town--it got so bad that I started buying Kodak Control Strips

and running them simultaneously with my film to make sure that

I wasn't the one making the errors. The out-of-tolerance

development in density and color on film was atrocious, and

from tests I ran while on traveling assignment to N.O. about a

year ago, the labs there are even worse now, at least the ones

still in business. I ran the same test film through my labs in

Dallas and San Francisco for comparison, and both labs turned

out perfect processing.

 

I include all the labs in N.O. listed by others on this forum. If

you're talking about wedding photography level stuff, then these

labs might be OK--if you don't mind late deliveries, because

everything in N.O. is slow and late--they like it that way, and for a

traveler exploring things, why should you hurry. But you want

your labs to be timely on delivery.

 

Bottom line--for ultimate perfectionists' work, don't use any N.O.

processing lab--any. If you're into medium and large format,

then you are into higher quality. Why use a Bronica or

Hasselblad or 4x5 and then get crappy lab work?

 

You may or may not be able to find pro 120 size films there in the

exact types and quantities you want. Yes, Lakeside or Liberty

Camera are places to try, as they do carry some--but if you want

to be sure, I recommend calling ahead of time, buying with a

credit card, and having them hold the film for you. Be sure to ask

what is actually in stock--don't depend on them to order it for you.

 

There simply isn't enough high level business in N.O. to support

a critical mass of high level pros, along with a high level

professional photo lab network

 

Here's what I now do when flying anywhere on assignment or for

personal stock image shooting, to avoid the X-ray and unknown,

risky local lab situations. I ship 3 times as much film as I think I

need of each type, ahead of time via FedEx to a contact in the

location. If I know in advance, I use their Express Saver 3 or

more day service. If there's no contact, I can specify that it be

held at a particular FedEx station for my pickup. I then FedEx my

film back to either Dallas or San Francisco in split shipments

[never put all of your eggs in one basket], and again, if there's

time, I use Next Business Day service. For personal work, you

could use Express Saver 3 or more days. FedEx doesn't X-Ray,

and I've never had anything lost by them. Keep your Airbill # and

copy to enable tracking. This whole method eliminates nasty

surprises in new airports and new cities.

 

Finally, none of this should reflect on the fun and growth, both

personally and photographically, that you'll experience in the

unique areas of N.O. I'm warning you of the bad so you can

enjoy the good with unfettered pleasure. It's TERRIFIC FOR

SCENES for photography and having a good time, just

TERRIBLE FOR LABS for photography.

 

And in case you think this is an ex-native picking just on N.O., I

won't run my film anywhere but in labs I know and have run tests

at in the big 6 photography cities--NYC, ATL, CHG, DFW, LAX,

and SFO. There's too much at stake. As far as the rest of the

labs in the country are concerned, there may be some good

ones here and there, but I don't have time as a travelling pro to

check them out--I'll stick with the best I already know.

 

Can't wait for a 300MB full 6x6cm digital back for my

Hasselblads--all this film and processing nail biting will become

a thing of the past.

 

Danny, I hope this helps. Once again, forewarned is forearmed.

 

Myco

http://www.megasoidstudios.com

[thomas_diekwisch1]

Great website, Myco. Great photography.