dr._karl_hoppe

<p>Costco and CVS are still processing film, but they will eventually give up the ghost. Dwayne's is the cheapest (when you factor in burning CDs and shipping costs) and the quality not bad. I spoke with the counter person at CVS and she told me film processing is mostly party cameras and some "old people" that haven't gone digital. Pretty soon we'll be confined to mail order only.</p>

<p>I have this lens in Leica R-mount, a fantastic zoom, one of my favourites. Angénieux are well known for their ciné lenses. I read where they were pioneers of the zoom lens. I also have their older 45-90mm ƒ/2·8 zoom in Leica R-mount. David Douglas Duncan famously used this lens to photograph Pablo Picasso's paintings for one of his books on PP.</p>

<p>I decided to send in several "non-essential" rolls to Clark for developing, printing and scanning. As was noted above, you get what you pay for.</p> <p>The scans are much lower resolution than Dwayne's: 1500 x 1000 (96dpi) vs. 3583 x 2376 (250dpi). The prints are on Kodak paper, which is inferior (IMHO) to Fuji Crystal Archive paper that Dwayne's uses. While the negatives were generally clean without scratching, the prints were terribly inferior to that printed by Dwayne's. They were very washed out with loss of contrast in comparison to the scans of the negatives.</p> <p>All in all, definitely not worth the savings in price. Although I'm not that interested in the prints themselves, the low-res scans from Clark are not worth the savings. I'll stick with Dwayne's as long as their quality holds up.</p>

<p>Thanks to all. The responses confirm what I figured would be the answer. I will shoot off one roll to test the stock, some family snaps, nothing critical. If I have anything not too boring, I'll post it in the future.</p>

<p>I just discovered several rolls of 35mm Plus-X pan at the bottom of my freezer. The expiry date is May 1999. I believe it's been there since at least 1997-98. </p> <p>Would any of you take a chance shooting it? The oldest film kept in the deep freeze I've ever used was under 10 years past date. </p> <p>I'm inclined to use it as I hate to waste anything. I don't develop my own anymore due to health issues, so this will go out to a local lab or Dwayne's. </p>

<p>Glen,</p> <p>There are some local shops to save on postage, but the cost can be almost twice that of mail order. Costco was the best, good prices on D&P and cheap CD scans. The local Costco has a great Noritsu minilab and the techs know film and keep the chemistry in good shape. Unfortunately, the CD burner pooped out and management decided not to repair or replace it. They were only running about 25 rolls a week anyway and most customers did not order scans to CDs, most of the rolls were from cheap single-use party cameras.</p>

<p>What has anyone's experience been with Clark Color Labs? I've been using Dwayne's since the local Costco gave up the ghost on scanning negatives and have been satisfied, but I did a cost comparison between Dwayne's and Clark.</p> <p>D&P one set of 4x6's of a 36-exposure roll is $6·99 with Dwayne's, yet $4·60 with Clark, a savings of $2·39 (6·64¢/frame). Scanning to a CD is the same ($2·99 vs. $3). The postage with Dwayne's appears cheaper, $4·50 for the first roll, 50¢ each additional, as opposed to Clark, which is $1·95 per roll; however, Clark gives a prepaid business reply label so you don't pay the freight out to them. On balance, Clark is more economical.</p> <p>What I am concerned about is the quality of the D&P and how satisfied users have been with the size of the scans to the CDs. Dwayne's come in around 3583 x 2376 pixels.</p> <p>Thanks for your input.</p>

<p>My favourite travelling rig, my M6 TTL or M7 with 28-35-50/4 Tri-Elmar Asph. (second version), unless I need 2 stops more speed, then I switch for my 'crons but I detest carrying a lot of gear.</p>

<p>Extremely late to this thread and maybe no one will see my prattling. But eschew the favourite spots. Go to Valley of the Gods -- much less crowded and downright desolate in the autumn/winter. The sun is low in the sky and the shadows incredibly long. Take advantage.</p>

<p>I used to use Costco but about a year ago the local one no longer scans the negs to CD. The machine for scanning broke and the suits decided to not replace it, so if I want just negatives and prints, I can use Costco. But if I want scans to a CD, then I go with Dwayne's, but wait for 5 or more rolls to cut down on the shipping costs. Walmart is crap, I wouldn't use any processor that keeps my negatives, a sacrilege!</p>

<p>My thought too. Can we rely on it being held at the same venue every second Sunday? I'd like to trek out to the Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights on the 9th, but not unless I know for sure.</p>

<p>(<em>a</em>) I like the 'look' and 'feel' of colour negative films.<br> (<em>b</em>) Exposure latitude; I've gotten lazy in my old age, don't want to fuss around with transparency stock any longer.<br> (<em>c</em>) I have a tremendous amount of film gear that can never be used digitally.<br> (<em>d</em>) I'm working off huge stashes of colour negative stock in my freezer that will, at my rate of usage, outlive me.<br> (<em>e</em>) I love shooting with vintage film cameras.<br> (<em>f</em>) I like the anticipation of waiting to see how my handiwork turned out, no interest in 'chimping' every frame.<br> (<em>g</em>) No interest in spending hours in post manipulating images on my laptop; that's fun?</p> <p>My emulsions of choice are Kodak Ektar, Agfa Ultra (now discontinued, but plenty in the freezer), Kodak Portra 160 & 400, Kodak Gold 200, and Fuji Pro 800Z (also discontinued but dozens of rolls on ice). Once the local Costco wet Noritsu minilab goes away to the great darkroom in the sky, off my rolls will go to Dwayne's. I have no real interest in digital; that is my wife's purview, not my cup of tea.</p>

<p>Tugboat <em>McAllister Girls</em> travelling south on the Hudson River.</p><div></div>

<p>Shoot, forgot to upload the picture!</p><div></div>

<p>Nothing to do with Halloween but a nice bridge picture.</p>

<p>I've been shooting with Leicas since the 1950s. If there is any "look" it was with transparency films, especially Kodachrome. There was a certain "pop" evident. A chap who worked at a local pro lab claimed he could pick out a slide made with Leica optics. I decided to test him and brought in 20 or so slides and mixed them up. He put them on the light box and picked correctly every single one made using Leica lenses. I couldn't do it but somehow he saw something with his eye.</p>

<p>Do yourself a favour, send it to a reliable repair technician. Here in the States I have used DAG Camera. Don Goldberg is top notch and he has worked on my CLE many years ago. Another, though I have never used her, just by word of mouth, is Sherry Krauter at Golden Touch, but not sure if she will touch a CLE. If you are not adept at mechanical devices, leave it alone, you will only muck things up.</p>

<p>The Vivitar 283 is a classic workhorse. I've been using that model on and off since the 1970s. Another great, unsung flash is the Canon 299T. You can buy it second-hand from a variety of sources. The neat thing about the 299T is that you are not restricted to just 3 or 4 predetermined apertures, you can set it from f/2 to f/16, maybe even f/22 (haven't used it in quite awhile), depending on the film speed and distance, of course. Get downloads of the instruction booklets for the flashes you have, familiarise yourself with the operation, and also buy one of dozens of second-hand books out there on flash with film cameras.</p>

<p>If the original poster is still following the thread, did the girls go over yet, and if so, how did things go?</p>

<p>I did check with KEH first thing since I deal with them routinely for older gear, but the sales rep checked and said nothing was in stock but to check back periodically.</p>

<p>Rick,</p> <p>Thanks for that tip. I contacted the eBay seller and he told me that the Canon A2 tripod collar for the 70-200mm f/4L lens (IS or non-IS versions) fits fine, only it's white (who cares?). I already ordered one for $15.</p>

<p>We misplaced the removable tripod collar for our FD 300mm f/4 lens. My wife claims she thought I packed it, I thought she did. It's probably somewhere in Arizona now. Does anyone know of any alternative solutions, other than trolling eBay? I assume Canon no longer supplies this part after market. Or are there any similar collars for Canon lenses that come close or are the same size I can use?</p>