Am I a dinosaur?

[trooper]

I had a shock today.... I received a box from the lab (White House

Custom Color in St Paul, MN) that I had sent some MF wedding shots to

for process and proof. Inside the box was my order and undeveloped

film. The note enclosed said that they had gone digital and would

only be developing 35mm film for proofing.

 

I had received no notice or inkling that they were making such a

dramatic change! This is a rather decent pro lab (very broad pro

services and careful, predictable work). I�m absolutely dazed by this

and I�m wondering just how far down the digital path things have gone

while I wasn�t paying attention! I thought I�d share this so that

others are psychologically prepared for such events!

[bernhard]

I'd call them, if it's really "a rather decent pro lab" there's gotta be some kind of mistake. A short search on google seems to indicate that they have a Frontier 370 and this beast should be able to work with MF negs.

 

I also made the experience with my pro lab, which got a Noritsu for proofing, that they really need some time to learn that thing.

 

But it's worth putting up with those digital labs, the output quality is just too good.

[fotografz]

My photo lab went digital some time ago, and their MF proofs

made a quantum leap in consistant quality. The scans are set

with film profiles and even my specific shooting caracteristics

to dig more out of every neg. I'll never look back.

[nicholas_wybolt]

Craig,

 

I almost had the same experience with WHCC; except that I received a brief note in the mail a while back indicating that they were dropping MF proofing services.

 

In retrospect, WHCC has been pushing the "digital thing" quite a bit over the last year or so. Nevertheless, their decision to drop MF proofing was unexpected to me.

 

-Nick

[gannet___]

I guess I don't get it. How could a lab that doesn't do MF and 4x5 developing call themselves a "pro lab"?

[ShunCheung]

Well, to those who simply dismiss digital photography, the world is changing around you, rapidly. While I believe film will continue to be available for a long time to come, the vareity of film and processing will gradually become limited.

[robert_kennedy]

Or the lab just commited professional suicide.....

 

So now the MF shooters who have thousands and thousands of dollars worth of high quality equipment and lenses that they are not going to abandon (first person to say "digital back" has to go live under a bridge and eat billy goats....), will take their business elsewhere.

 

Even if they do survive, that is VERY bad behavior. If you are going to discontinue a service which many count on for their livlihood, you better be DAMN sure people know about the switch. A note which doesn't make it to everyone isn't enough. They seem to have NOTHING on the website about this switch. Pretty piss-poor customer service. They also have no pricing info on their "35mm proofing and scanning services". So that ain't gonna win many hearts either (since you CAN get a price from other labs very easily).

 

So ask yourself this -

 

Even if you are 100% digital, would you wanna do business with someone who treats customers as disposable?

[todd frederick]

I think I will begin to learn to make wet plates, and buy a tall field tent!

 

Look for a different lab! How about something local where you can talk to a living person?

[donald_brewster]

Yikes -- try Photos Inc. in Minneapolis (they even deliver to St. Paul). An excellent lab and they still do MF and LF proofing. Good luck.

[hclim]

Good question. I had wanted to ask this myself. I have been using 35mm film cameras for a long time but I recently started using a medium format film camera. All around you you would hear, and you would expect to hear some more "Why not digital?".

 

An interesting analogy is in the office world. Do you know that there is only one typewriter manufacturer left in the world? I have tried to impress upon my staff to use the simplest typewriter if they have to but they still keep on using the sophisticated one. And why type when you can write? By the way the sophisticated one is made by Canon and they have clearly stated they have abandoned typewriters. Yet.

 

Sorry for the digression but your questions is bugging many people in life too.