Is picture quality affected by who initially develops the negatives?

[robin_holmes]

I want to process most of my film at the local Wal-Mart One Hour

because I'm a novice and want immediate results to compare to my notes

about exposure, etc. so I don't have to wait long to apply what I've

learned to my next roll of film. Also, it's the only place close.

Their Fuji Frontier usually gives pretty good results (on a first run)

with 4x6 for my level of photography but I've not had good luck with

the quality of reprints or enlargements done there. I'd like to try

mailing to A&I for a few enlargements. My question is this: Is there

a difference between having negatives processed at Wal-Mart vs.

negatives processed at a pro lab? In other words, does it matter who

initially develops the negatives? Would I have better pictures if

someplace like A&I initially developed the negatives or is it just the

printing that requires expertise? This, of course, is excluding

obvious risks like when Wal-Mart scratches the negatives or chops all

the frames in half...

[Jerry_]

If, at Wal-mart, the negatives are cut in 1/2 -- find a manager and get a new roll of film in replacement. This should cost you zero $$$.

 

 

Second, what lens are you using in the formula? If you have a decent 50mm or 85mm lens, hold the camera steady -- you should be able to go 8x10 or 8x12 (full frame) without a great loss in detail. But if you have a 'good' 28-80mm general-purpose lens and shot the image at f4 in dim light -- you may not get a decent 5x7 reprint. [i've had 11x14s printed (off of negs from a one-hour lab) -- happy customers with the results.]

[emaxxman]

While I've never done it, I think there are. If your Walmart makes sure to use clean machines and changes the chemicals on a as needed basis, then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

However, there is one area with which I am currently frustrated with. My local Sam's Clubs has scratched my film. At first I thought it was my camera. I went thru all the paces cleaning the camera in the safest way possible. I then developed 5 rolls at my Costco. Not a single scratch. I went back to the Sam's to develop a roll and there were scratches.

 

At the very least, a professionally run place (and it could be Walmart or a local camera shop) will take care of your negatives like it was their own.

[robin_holmes]

Gerald, thanks for your response. And yes, I really should have the courage to go tell the manager that my negatives are cut...I'm still working on being assertive like that (sigh!). Anyway, here's my equipment:

Canon Elan II body

Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens (for the particular photos in question)

Fuji Reala film (ISO 100)

Cullman tripod

cable release

Subject: rusty, all metal, old-timey tractor? (even has a metal canopy) across the street from my house shot in late afternoon light.

 

The initial 4x6 photos came back and were so very exciting. The light and colors were just gorgeous - bronze, cinnamon, gold, pink, yellow, slate, and the clarity was excellent. The enlargements are just as clear (to my thrill), but the colors are gone and the full image is not on the enlargement. I really wanted the enlargements to look just like the 4x6s. A friend told me that I need to take the original prints in and have them run enlargements through with the same saturation numbers that are printed by the machine on the back of the small picutres (the numbers on the back of the enlargements are not the same) to get the same colors. Why did the colors (saturation numbers) change when they made the enlargements? Is it just hit or miss as to what their machine will be set on on any given day? Can they also get the full picture onto an 8x10 without cutting off some of the image? Is it usual to have to request that? And, back to my original question, is the way they process the negatives the same - hit or miss depending on how the machine is set?

[Jerry_]

Take a ruler and measure your 4x6-inch print. Then take a chunk of notebook paper and measure an 8x10-inch box. The ratio of 4x6 doubles to 8x12 (which is possible for about $1 more than an 8x10-inch print. [You will lose a bit on the sides of your negative: the machine has a 'mask' which is necessary to hold the negative in place for printing...there is not much you can do about this.] In days past some labs would print a 7-1/4-in. by 10-in. print but I've not seen that size for a long time.

 

 

A pro lab 'may' do better but if you are kind to the Wal-mart folks, they should get pretty close to the 4x6-inch print. Again, if you are not a satisified 'hobby' customer, you do not have to pay for the prints at Wal-mart. A re-make may be requested but if the operator has trouble getting the density right, the colors may not be what you expect. The new Fuji Frontier system is very good if the calibration is maintained.

[joseph_culbert]

It sounds like it could be a problem with machine calibration. The enlargement should look exactly the same as the 4x6.

 

Sometimes enlargement paper will be miscalibrated simply because it's not used as often as the 4x6, so color problems are less obvious. Try a different lab.

[chris_sicard1]

Robin,

With most of the one-hour labs, they will run alot of film thru their machines before it gets changed. This can affect the development and I have seen a slight sludgey-like buildup on the emulsion side of the neg. before. Also, these machines will use rollers to move the film along, which has a better chance of scratching the film than does a commercial lab that uses a "dip and dunk" movement to move the film by the little holes on the side of your film. The difference in price where I live is small, although I don't get one hour.

[craig_gillette]

I'm uncomfortable with my local WalMart and some of the others because I don't see proper care being given to the negatives: handled without gloves, wrapped around hands, dragged across machines, etc. However, if your local lab uses proper procedures, you should be OK. However, the chances are better that there will be fewer departures from procedure, chemical problems, etc., at a more established, trained professional operation.

 

The dip and dunk systems make less contact than roller automated systems so they have less likelihood of doing damage. The "soup" is also likely to be better at a real pro shop.

 

Let's face it. WalMart and the others are in a highly competitive environment. I'm guessing that this is a "loss leader" operation. If you are in a smaller less densely populated area, you may well have a crew available to do very well. I'm in a densely populated area and the crews are really busy, often it seems overwhelming the facility (storage for prints waiting pickup, etc.).

 

There is certainly an advantage to rapid feedback from the 1 hour systems.

[steve_dunn2]

<p>Like the others said, if they do their job properly, any lab can do a proper job of developing negs. The process is very much standardized; there's a given series of chemicals to use, for given times, at given temperatures.</p>

 

<p>There are lots of ways for a lab to do a poor job, though. They might cut corners on chemistry or on maintaining their equipment. They might not pay much attention to cleanliness, resulting in scratches, fingerprints, excessive levels of dust, etc.</p>

 

<p>Can you see the people in your local one-hour lab as they work? If so, watch them and see if they appear to be taking care with what they're doing. That won't entirely answer the question, but you can bet that if they're trying to talk on the phone, feed film into the machine, pick scraps of paper up off the floor, drink coffee, check their voice mail, pick their nose, scratch their butt, and chew gum all at the same time, they're not paying as much attention to what they're doing as they should be, and sooner or later there will be a problem.</p>

 

<p>If you get a 4x6" print you really, really like, and you want it enlarged, by all means take the print back to the lab with you and tell them "Like this, but bigger." Doesn't guarantee you'll get it exactly as you asked for it (I recently got two rolls of air show pictures back from a lab, with many frames printed so that the sky was mid-toned and the plane was a featureless black shape, even though I specifically explained why they'd be hard to print when I dropped the film off) but it can't hurt. And if you showed them how you wanted it and they didn't produce it how you wanted it, you have an awfully strong argument when you tell them you're dissatisfied with the enlargement.</p>

[pascal_miele]

A good minilab must use sensitometric test for C41 dev. Results are reported on a graph. You can ask to see these graph.

 

In a good lab the four curves must be near the four 0 axis, in any case the curves must be inside the doted lines.

 

You can ask to see the sensitometric charts, if the lab refuse or if they don't have, it's not a good sign.

 

For scrathes there is no scientific test.... only experienece of consumers !

 

Color printing has a great part of subjective judgement. Fuji Frontier is a very good machine and give good prints. A pro lab give very good results too (if it's a good one !) but not exacly the same. If you want the same result you must send your 4x6 as a model.

[robin_holmes]

After I shoot a roll of film and take the little canister in to the lab, is there a difference between the way Wal-Mart processes the negatives versus the way a pro lab would process those negatives before developing the print? And thank you everyone for your responses - very informative!