APS film processing with "Information Exchange" data

[mike_sowsun]

I recently shot an expired roll of Kodak Advantix 400 on my recently acquired Canon EOS IX. I had it processed at Burlington Camera in Burlington, Ontario, Canada and the results don't look too bad after adding some contrast and saturation to the digital scans. .

 

APS film has the ability to store things like focal length, aperture, and shutter speed. Burlington camera is able to process the film and then provide either prints or scans, but their equipment is unable to read the magnetic information stored on the film.

 

Are there any labs which can provide this "Information Exchange" data either on prints or digital scans?

 

Digital scan straight from camera

 

Contrast and saturation added

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/msowsun/Photo17/68970013_filtered2.jpg

Edited March 21, 2019 by mike_sowsun

[c_watson1]

You might give Downtown Camera in TO a call.

The interchangeable lens APS cameras from Nikon and Canon were actually quite nice. I once had a tiny Canon Elph APS camera that I'd sometimes lose amidst desktop clutter. Sweet little p&s.

[mike_sowsun]

Thanks for the suggestion. I just spoke to them and they don’t have the right equipment either. :(

[c_watson1]

I believe Henry's ships its film to Fujifilm.ca in Mississauga for processing on Frontiers. Suspect they can deliver the processing you're after. Worth a try?

[JDMvW]

I'd guess something involving Fuji would be best, but you might call Dwayne's in Parsons, KS to see (LINK).

[mike_sowsun]

I spoke to both Henrys and Dwaynes and they both say the equipment they use can not access the extra data on the APS film. I guess this is now a "lost art".

[c_watson1]

Last ditch: I'd call Fujifilm.ca in Mississauga, Get the extension that looks after processing and lab equipment service. Worth a try.

[glen_h]

I haven't thought about this for a while, and have only done one roll of APS.

 

As well as I know, you can read the data anytime later.

(If you find a reader.)

 

I also don't know how many cameras actually write data.

I suspect that most of the cheaper ones don't.

[polka]

In the cameras that write something on the film, you can remove it in the middle (to swap with another) and after putting it back, it will automatically go to the next unexposed.

 

I have a Canon IX that does it, but I have also a tiny Konika RevioZ2 that doesn't, and so when you remove the film in the middle, it's for good.

 

POLKa

[BeBu Lamar]

I haven't thought about this for a while, and have only done one roll of APS.

 

As well as I know, you can read the data anytime later.

(If you find a reader.)

 

I also don't know how many cameras actually write data.

I suspect that most of the cheaper ones don't.

 

I don't know either but I think there are more cameras that write data than processing labs that use it.

[glen_h]

I don't know either but I think there are more cameras that write data than processing labs that use it.

 

How many processing labs are there?

 

When I had my one roll (came in a camera that I bought for a low price), I had it processed through Walgreens, which sends it out somewhere.

 

I remember stories from years ago, about the efficient system Kodak had for collecting film from stores, processing it, and getting it back, with a small number of large labs across the country. That was before mini-labs in every little store. But now the mini-labs are harder to find, so a few large labs again.

 

I believe Walgreens does in-store printing on dye-sublimation printers, but film processing is sent out.

 

The one roll I did, I had scans on CD-R, and they could have written other data onto the CD-R, too.

Or maybe inside the JPEG file?

 

As well as I know, the high-end APS cameras never got very popular.

The low-end ones might not write magnetic data, which leaves the ones in the

middle unknown.

[BeBu Lamar]

How many processing labs are there?

 

When I had my one roll (came in a camera that I bought for a low price), I had it processed through Walgreens, which sends it out somewhere.

 

I remember stories from years ago, about the efficient system Kodak had for collecting film from stores, processing it, and getting it back, with a small number of large labs across the country. That was before mini-labs in every little store. But now the mini-labs are harder to find, so a few large labs again.

 

I believe Walgreens does in-store printing on dye-sublimation printers, but film processing is sent out.

 

The one roll I did, I had scans on CD-R, and they could have written other data onto the CD-R, too.

Or maybe inside the JPEG file?

 

As well as I know, the high-end APS cameras never got very popular.

The low-end ones might not write magnetic data, which leaves the ones in the

middle unknown.

 

If you are talking about today then there are very few processing labs. I meant back in the days there are labs everywhere and most of them didn't have the right equipment to read the data. They didn't even print the different formats as indicated in the data. Only when I sent it to Kodak then they did use the data.

[glen_h]

From: Advanced Photo System - Wikipedia

 

there are both magnetic and optical ways to indicate image format, though it seems that

cameras use only one. Cheaper cameras are expected to use the optical (image format only)

indication. As I would expect more of the cheaper cameras, I might also expect more labs to

know how to read it.

 

It seems that some APS cameras allow mid-roll film changes, where the change point is

recorded on the film. As well as I know, the magnetic track would be the only way to do that.

 

Cameras that use the optical format indicator would then not be able to do it.

 

EOS IX - Canon Camera Museum

 

does indicate the ability to write two magnetic tracks, and read one.

[wesrichmond]

You might find this interesting: Is there a film scanner that can read the data from APS films and include it in the EXIF metadata?

 

I do agree, there probably are extremely few labs on this planet that can read the data. I'm sure there is equipment stored away somewhere with very little desire to bring it back to life.

 

I just started getting into APS recently when I discovered my local lab could still process it. I have been doing a lot of reading on the various cameras that were offered. Something that interested me was how weird some of them looked. Yashica Profile 4000IX, anyone?

 

My curiosity did result in 2 very good hard lessons: (1) In purchasing old film it is vital to either get unopened packages or really trust the seller. It is all about that tab to the right of the #3 on the cartridge. These days it is all too easy for someone to tamper with the cartridge to make it look like a new never shot roll. I didn't know this and bought 3 rolls of someone's vacation shots of France! The indicator was on #1 but the tab was broken. Which led to lesson (2) Film can get stuck in a camera. Either the companies wanted to repair stuck cameras or they never got around to implementing a way to manually retrieve stuck film. Which brings me to one more thing....

 

While slightly entertaining, I really didn't want to have to open up my just purchased Canon EOS IX to get that France vacation film out. No less than 8 ribbons to disconnect before the back film plate could be removed! And while on the subject of the magnetic data write feature, the IX looks like a big cassette tape head.