frustrated by the quality of b&w prints at local processors

[jung_suh1]

I love shooting b&w with my M6 and summicron 50 & 35 lenses. I prefer b&w over color, I've always loved b&w and used to develop and print them as a hobby which I no longer have the time for. I have been very disappointed by the low quality of b&w prints done at the local developers (one hour or drop box types), and only a few will even process b&w these days. I've tried the Kodak tri-x that you can have developed with the color C-41 process, but never got the right tone or contrast. I currently live in Houston. Is there a good quality b&w developer around at reasonable prices that somebody knows of? Or is there somewhere that I can ship my b&w film to get processed that produce good quality prints? At reasonable prices?

[reinier_de_vlaam]

These one-hour shops even deliver bad color prints, don't bother

bringing anything elso but snap-shots to them.

 

<p>

 

If you have them shipped to a lab, they will take somewhat longer

than color prints, but there is an improvement.

 

<p>

 

But the best way is simply do it yourself en spent some time on the

print. You could bring them to a lab for quick prints, pick the ones

you like, and process them in your own darkroom, play with

pushing/pulling/contrast, until you get what you want.

If you want print fast, invest in a film scanner.

 

<p>

 

C-41 b&w film is notorious for it's lack of contrast and non black

tones (portra seems to be acceptable). Beter use normal black and

white film and ship them to a lab. Takes a little longer but at least

it is realy black an white

 

<p>

 

Reinier

[giles_poilu]

Jung, you are right - unless you can find a really good B+W

handprinter who understands the way YOU like your prints to look then

you really need to print them yourselves.

 

<p>

 

I have always used XP2 (I am not sure what is being said above about

tones - XP2 is fantastic) - have it processed and contact printed by

a decent pro lab and print your favourites at home. With very modest

equipment and some care you can easily rival the best commercial

printers.

 

<p>

 

By using the C-41 films, you can forget about the hassle of

developing combinations, XP-2 gives you massive exposure latitude,

high street processing and all the depth of tone and fine grain in

your prints you could ever need. Grade 3 works for me!

[russell_brooks]

The so-called "local developers" print on a roll of grade 3 B&W

paper. If you want to get a good print you have to develop your B&W

negatives a bit flat so they print well on grade 3. The problem comes

because the "local developers" tend to overdevelop your negatives.

This leads to excessive contrast and blocked up shadows and

highlights. The solution is to develop your own negatives at home and

calibrate the time until you get good prints from the local machine.

[sl]

Jung, in a big city like Houston you may want to consider looking in

the yellow pages of your phone book for 'professional film labs' I am

sure you will find what you need.

[roberto_watson_garc_a]

Jung; why don´t you get to met the person in charge of your print in

a good lab, and talk to this person personaly, you can get to have a

better treated prints, hope this help, it did with me, but I´m sure

you´ll never find someone that prints as you would.

[richardvanle]

You live in Houston, it's not like there aren't <b>professional

labs</b> to choose from. Like Steve said, check your yellow

pages. Stop going to one-hour labs or any other drop-off places.

You should notice a huge improvement. It doesn't make sense

to spend big bucks on Leica glass and then just drop off your

film at the one-hour lab.

[richie chishty]

Jung:

 

<p>

 

I use San Miguel Photo Lab (www.bestlab.com). Their prices are

reasonable and their work is good. All of the processing is done by

hand, so your negatives will never come back scratched! I have used

them for over 10 years and am a satisfied customer.............

[godfrey]

I have <B>never</B> had good B&W prints returned by a

photofinisher. I've only very occasionally had B&W prints that I

thought were decent done at a professional lab.

 

<p>

 

That's why I always do them myself.

[stevierose]

Ckeck with <a href="http://www.kirktuck.com">Kirk Tuck</a>. He is a

professional photographer based in

Austin who contributes to this list, but he may know of a good lab in

Houston.

[luther_berry]

Jung Suh,

 

<p>

 

If you live in Houston, go by Houston Camera Exchange and talk

with some of the salespeople there. They are generally a friendly

group and at least one of them should be able to recommend a good

source of B&W processing. Of course they may say they are the best

local source. And perhaps they are. Have you tried them? LB

[scott_hayden1]

I agree with all who say use a professional lab. In a city the size

of yours there must be at least one B&W lab who does hand

processing. When done properly good hand processed B&W is worth the

extra money. Please don't be caught in the "MacDonalds" mentality

where cheap and fast are the things you look for in a product. Their

cheapie cheeseburger may fill you stomach but I'll bet you a months

pay it doesn't compare to what you can make on your own Bar-B-Que in

the back yard ! If you get stuck and need a professional B&W lab to

do you work I recommend Cal-West here in Fresno, Ca. Top notch hand

processing, does most of the work for the upperend studios here in

the Central Valley. Prices are reasonable ( I think!) and service is

timely. E-Mail me for shipping info if you decide you want to try

them. They UPS all over the world with customers in Australia and

Europe too. Best wishes. Scott Hayden

[gil_gatrcia]

Bestlabs adress above will give you what you are looking for.

Incredible results.

[david_natho]

I highly recommend at minimum you develop your own B/W negs and buy a

scanner and do your own dig printing and or do your own conventional

darkroom work. my take (for waht it is worth) if you are critical

enough to use a Leica you probably wont be satisfied with fast food

prints:)

 

<p>

 

David

[frank_horn]

And if you think these "fast food" type processors do a lousy job

with 35mm film, you ought to try taking some 120 in to them! The

common man (OK, common person) does not use enough B&W to amount to

anything. If anyone knows anything about these B&W processing

machines that are on the market (i.e., PhotoTherm, etc.,) it would be

interesting to know what they cost and how the results were. You can

find good professional processors that will do your B&W right, but it

certainly is going to cost!