advice on film (6cm x 6cm), processing, and what to expect...

[linds_migl]

hello all. i am new to this site. i am so very new to photography, but only know digital and need a little help with film.

 

my wedding photographer shot our special day on what i think is medium grade film. all i can tell about it is the word "kodak" and it's sizing:

6cm x 6cm or 2"x2". i am trying, desperately to get the film scanned/copied(?) to digital files so that i can see my pictures for one, and

have access to them. when i call around though, and have no idea what i technically want/need, people get aggravated. AND i've been

quoted anywhere from 75 cents per negative to $15 per negative - which is a TON when you have over 600 pictures.

 

my questions:

 

can anyone tell me -

 

what i have?

 

what i want?

 

realistic pricing?

 

and a good place to have it done?

 

i'll ship anywhere... i'll do anything - just to understand!

 

tia!

 

linds

[cabbiinc]

Telling us where your located may help.

 

It sounds like 120 film to me. Your more pro labs are going to know what to do with it. But you could even go to Ritz Camera (Kits, Camera World, Inkleys, Wolf Camera) and they would send it out. The only problem with Ritz is that it takes a while before they even start to work on them. If you could find someplace local that deals with 120 film that would probably be quicker.

 

If you didnt mind the hassle and the image quality degrading a bit you could buy a scanner and do it from home. 600 picks can add up when your talking a buck each, not to mention if its closer to $10 each.

 

http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/EP9590703.htm Someone may recomend a better scanner, but at least heres one to look at. When you click on Specifications you will see under Technical Information: Media Type: it says Medium Format Film. Now if your paying upwards of $15 a scan per neg, that would most likely be of a higher quality. You would need to specify how big you wanted to print.

 

Hope you find what your looking for.

Dan

[radfordneal]

You apparently have medium format (not "grade") film, either "120" or "220" (makes no difference at this stage),

shot in 6x6 format, which is the most common use. It should be possible to get scans of this at many photo labs.

To give you an idea, looking at the brochure for "Northern Artists" lab in Toronto, Canada, they charge $1.25

each for "medium resolution" scans of 100 or more photos of this sort. It's $1.75 each for "high resolution"

scans. Which you want would depend on how big an enlargement you might want printed at some time.

 

Any lab that does this ought to be able to confirm exactly what you have if you take it in to them rather than phone.

 

Good luck.

[jon_shiu]

In the USA, there are minilabs in drugstores that can print from medium format film, if they have the right film holders. You might ask around as this would be probably be the cheapest method, about 20 cents per print.

 

Jon

[rvalois]

Hi Linds ...

 

Why don't you contact your photographer? He should be in the know regarding contacts for getting scans, etc ...

 

And yes, that is more than likely 120 or 220 film. (220 has more exposures than 120 film.) I just recently stopped shooting film and am fully into digital for weddings.

 

Ray

[william_markey]

DO NOT bring your film to a cheap place like Walmart or the corner drug store just because they can process your film (I personally wouldn't even do Ritz/Wolf camera as I don't know who they're sending the film out to)! These are your wedding photos and should be handled by a pro lab or at least a lab that is known for quality. These photos should be important enough for you to really want the best processing and printing possible.

 

Most pro labs will not take film from non-pros because they are bound by tax rules--but there are some labs that offer pro-level processing and printing to the layman under another name. For example, Miller's is a well known wedding and portrait pro lab--but for the "regular" guy non-pro, they offer their services under a different name--Mpix (www.mpix.com). I don't use this lab (I use another pro lab), but I HIGHLY recommend you send your film to Mpix for development and proof printing (with 120/220 film shot on 6X6, your prints will come back as 5X5" inch prints)--they are a very high quality lab.

 

I would not worry about scanning the negatives at this point as your final product that you're going to want is prints anyway. It will cost you about $1 or under to get your negatives processed and printed - so a 120 roll will cost you approximately $12 for 12 photos (or if it's 220 film, $24 or so for processing and printing of 24 photos)--give or take a few dollars. That's more than the corner drug store--but you're assured that the prints will be beautiful and everything is being done by pros with pro level equipment and processes. If you want scanned photos to share with others on the internet, you can scan the prints yourself a lot easier than you'd be able to scan negatives (as a non-pro).

 

Mpix and other pro labs can scan your photographs while they're being developed, but they are usually low quality scans (even though they may be called "medium" or "high" quality scans) just to show you what the photo looks like. The scans tend to be grainy and very poor (in my opinion)--the scans are not meant to be really anything to print from. The photos from those same negatives will be FAR superior than the low level scans--thus I recommend going ahead and proof printing them so that you will be happy.

 

If I can be of any further help or you need me to clear up something, you can contact me at bamapix@yahoo.com.

 

William Markey

Birmingham, Alabama