reasonable cost to process E-6?

[ryan_pasia]

hello all,

 

i have zero experience in using color slides since i've always used color

negatives. i'm interested in using color slides for the first time, but i have

no idea what is a reasonable cost to have 24 frames processed.

 

i called pephoto.com (the same ppl who process my prints) and they gave me a

quote of $8.99 for processing, plus $9.99 if i want to have the slides scanned

onto CD.

 

are these reasonable charges? the cost to scan to CD sounds extravagant, because

getting a photo CD with my prints just adds 99c to the cost of print negatives.

will i be getting my money's worth in terms of the quality of the scanned images?

 

also, are there other places you can recommend for the processing of ektachromes?

 

thank you all.

 

ryan

[stephen sullivan]

To process a roll of E-6, {36 exp. plus mount} generally runs $8 to $10 dollars from a pro-lab.

 

Labs generally charge more money to scan E-6. If you have a lab that is going to scan a roll of E-6 for $10, that sounds about right.

 

Lab suggestions, where are you located: City and State.

[cbender]

Processing sounds a bit steep. Fuji mailers used to cost <$5/roll, although I haven't used one in a while and don't know if their processing is still working. A&I in LA costs $8/$9 for sleeved/mounted.

 

What is the resolution and bit depth of those scans. I'm betting that they are quite low resolution and 8-bit images, but without knowing, it is hard to say if $10 is extortion or a great deal. What do you use the scans for?

[r.t. dowling]

It varies. Some labs do a great job and don't charge much... other labs do a terrible job and charge an arm and a leg.

 

Fuji (via Wal-Mart) charges about $5 for processing slide film (36 exposures), and $3 extra if you want a CD. The scans aren't great, but usually good enough for posting on the web or making a 4"x6" print. The quality of the film processing itself is usually very good.

 

If you want really good scans, you'll be much better off buying a film scanner and doing it yourself. Minilab scans generally suck in comparison. They're designed for speed, not quality.

[ryan_pasia]

hello,

 

thanks for the responses. i am located in brooklyn, ny so any lab in the NYC area should be ok for me.

 

i plan to use the scans as an electronic archive/index of sorts and maybe for some photoshop adjusting, so i'm looking for scans that would get me good 8x12 prints.

 

i raised the question of scanned images to CD from labs as an alternative to buying a dedicated scanner (with its attendant hassles). i plan to stick with film (slide and print) for a few more years, so i'm basically looking for a cost-effective system.

 

i've read in the archives of this forum good reviews on coolscan V and canoscan. do these recommendations still stand, or have they since been eclipsed in the market, quality-wise, by brands/models?

 

thank you all again.

 

ryan

[r.t. dowling]

If you specifically tell the lab that you want the slides scanned at a resolution suitable for an 8"x12" print at 300 DPI, and you can convince them to save the scans in TIFF format and to disable any excessive sharpening, then you'll probably be happy with that $10 CD (and it'll be a heck of a bargain). But a lot of labs aren't willing to go to that extra effort, and the ones that do often charge extra for it because of how much additional time it takes.

[edgar_njari]

Over here in Croatia all E6 processing is around $5. I process in a pro Q-lab for that price.

There are two Q-labs where I live, and both do it at that price.

Either I'm missing something, or someone is getting ripped in US, because obviosuly you can run dip and dunk pro lab passing all Q-lab standards for $5 per roll using original Kodak chemicals and running test strips on time.

[robert himmelright]

working at a lab...even a drug store lab has its advantages. $4 for e-6 then scanned on a frontier(by me) with the correct lower sharpness setting and being set to an 8x12 print size=2400x3600 images saved as 8 bit tiffs for $1.99

[josphy]

Just checked prices on a local lab here in Austin -- Holland Photo, which has a good reputation. They charge $6.95 for 24exp, $8.95 for 36exp. and additional $11.95 for CD (resolution up to 8x12 at 256dpi).

[randall_pukalo]

$8.99 is a rip off. Go to Walmart and get them done for $3.88/24 or $4.88 for 36 exposures. They send out to Fuji and the quality is great. Or, buy some Fuji slide mailers for $4.25 (36 exposures) from BH Photo in NYC/online also. I just bought 50 of these, as I am sure they are about to up the price as Kodak has done. Also, I just used a few of these, and although their Phoenix plant is closed, where ever they are being done, the quality is great.

Or, if you want to try push processing, send them to Calypso Imaging http://www.calypsoinc.com/ and get them done for $5 each (free push/pull).

Walmart is easiest, but I have never tried their scans. However, I would suggest if you buy a scanner, make sure you get one with Digital ICE, which uses infrared scans to remove dust/scratches/etc. from the film scans.

Also, Welcome to the beautiful world of slides!!!! I think you will find them incredibly beautiful. Find an old slide projector, and you will be blown away! Wide screen plasma screens pale by comparison.

[ben_hutcherson]

Regarding using Fujicolor via Walmart, I used to use them all the time. Then, I found a pro lab 30 minutes away, and have never looked back.

 

To use Walmart, I had to drive 15 minutes across town, drop them off, and then come back in two weeks to pick them up. Considering that I had to make two 30-minute round trips, that was a total of 1 hour in transit just to get my slides done.

 

My other option is to drive 30 minutes to a pro lab, wait two hours, and pick up my slides. Total time in transit is still 1 hour, but I get the slides the same day.

 

In addition, Fuji uses those awful cardboard mounts, and the pro lab uses Gepe plastic mounts. The plastic mounts have a perfectly rectangular opening that is slightly larger than the rounded corner opening on the carboard mounts. The edges of the cardboard mounts are also "hairy", something which shows up extremely well on the scan and requires quite a bit of cropping to fix. I haven't proven it, but I'm also convinced that the cardboard sheds onto the film itself, which makes cleaning the slides up for scanning much more of a job.

 

For those two reasons, I certainly don't consider the extra $3 I pay at the pro lab a rip-off, as the previous poster called it.

[cbender]

Ben - Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the Fuji mounts shed badly on the film surface.

 

Ryan - I should have mentioned that the A&I processing (priced similarly to what you're getting) is a very premium product. They have very fast turnaround (I mail from NYC on a Monday, it arrives on in LA on Wed, I have it back by Friday), the film is absolutely spotless, the chemicals are actively maintained (at least this is supposed to be the case... some here have reported some problems, although I've never had any). The Fuji processing is also very good, but those paper, dusty mounts drive me nuts.

 

As a previous poster said, if for you $9.99 you can get tiffs that will print to 8x12 at 300dpi, then you have a heck of a scanning deal. I'd bet money that price corresponds to a lower resolution scan. A high resolution scan just takes too long for a mini-lab to do a bunch of them. Also, beware of jpeg compression of the raw scans - you will need to do some post scan color correction, and any file compression may screw up the smoothness of your images histogram, resulting in artifacts.

[scott_eaton]

<I>For those two reasons, I certainly don't consider the extra $3 I pay at the pro lab a rip-off, as the previous poster called it.</i><P> $.01 for Frontier scans is a rip-off.

[ryan_pasia]

hello all,

 

thank you for all the thoughtful and detailed responses. they really give me an idea of what to expect and ask for at various price points, especially given my lack of knowledge in the area.

 

i will certainly look again to this forum for guidance if i come across other concerns!

 

ryan

[chris1664876655]

I drop mine off at CVS. It goes to Kodak or to whomever is doing it for Kodak in New England.

Slow turn around time. I don't mind though because they only charge me about $2.50 for a

roll of 36 uncut. They come back clean with no spots or scratches.

[nullfinder]

"$.01 for Frontier scans is a ripoff."

 

be nice :)

[jason_chiu1]

Hey I can't give you an exact quote because prices vary for film sizes but I use colourgenics

for my regular photo prints and they've been amazing so far. I haven't tried their E-6

processing yet because I shoot mostly digital but from what you quote, CG prices are a pretty

competitive and they're Canadian so you automatically get a 10% discount (exchange rate) if

you're from NY. Their price list is over here http://www.colourgenics.com/2006PriceList.pdf.

Hope this helps.

 

Jason

[john_castronovo]

As the owner of a custom processing lab for the last thirty years, I have to interject here.

 

A lab such as mine typically offers 2 hour turnaround times for E6 processing with a host of variable services. We offer a choice of cardboard or plastic mounts or just uncut and sleeved. We offer pin registered plastic and pinned glass mounts as well. We can box or sleeve the mounts. We can add up to 8 lines of imprinting on the mounts. We can push or pull the film in 1/8 or 1/3 stop increments. We can clip test a few frames to check for exposure and adjust the balance of the roll. We're a Q-lab using nothing but Kodak chemistry and our densitometer is tied into Rochester via the net for verification of our daily results. Since we use hanger type machines, each roll is hung seperately and nothing but the chemistry touches the film.

 

These are some of the reasons why a custom lab can't charge $4 a roll, but I think that $7.50 is a bargain for such service. We had the option to process Fuji's film, but we quickly figured out that it wouldn't be possible at the price they could pay and we'd have to seriously curtail our service to do it. You should consider that when you say that pro labs are a "rip off" simply because you can find a cheaper price.

 

john castronovo

 

tech photo & imaging

 

www.technicalphoto.com

[robert goldstein]

As a general rule in life, you get what you pay for. Bargain basement processing is likely

to have much less quality control than premium processing. Even a local "pro" lab that I

have used has returned slides to me that were loaded with crud, and I don't mean surface

dirt. That's why, right now, I am trying out dr5 in Denver. They charge $8.55/roll

unmounted minus a 10% discount for orders over 12 rolls. If they are as good as I have

heard (and they claim), I will consider it a reasonable value.

[ranong]

i use sams club all the time. i use mostly 120 format. i pay 4.25$. this is a great price! my "pro lab" in town charges me over 13$!!!!!!

 

i ama travel photographer and i do most of my processing and scanning in asia, but that is another story.

 

let me say that if John Castronovo lab was in my town i may use him. all the "extras" he talks about would be well worth it at times. (i will check out his site as i am 2 hours N of NYC)

 

i have gotten good scans done from my 135 format stuff also. if i feel that i need the pro scan i can alwasy go that route. but most of the time i make 8x12 and they look great.

 

eddie