B&W

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Good afternoon, everyone,

I been shooting a lot of B&W lately. I am not very satisfied with the results (I send the to a 1 hour lab in the US, I am located in Bermuda). My slides are coming very good, so maybe iot is time for me to consider other option than a one hour lab. I don;t want to get into developing myu picures, because it is very very warm here and humid too, and I am not sure that my wife will accept the chemicals in the house. Where could I send (in the US) my negatives to get good results (I suppose of course that my abilities are not too bad :) )? I have heard that ST Miguel is very good, any other idea?

On another note, I have seen a lot people "disapearing" from this site. it is very sad, I would like to express my support for a good and polite site, with a very good mix between pros and others. SO please come back and let's start again on a good basis.

Many Thanks

-- Arie Haziza (nhaziza@northrock.bm), May 13, 2002

Answers

Sorry about the writing, it is almost 5 PM here in Bermuda, I am tired.

Arie

-- Arie Haziza (nhaziza@northrock.bm), May 13, 2002.


i am not sure whether ilford does offer a postal development service in the usa, but the films i sent them here in the uk came out pretty well.

-- stefan randlkofer (geesbert@yahoo.com), May 13, 2002.

Arie,

What kind of B&W film are you shooting? The use of a one-hour lab implies that you are using one of the C-41 B&W films. If so, why are you unsatisfied? My one-hour lab has two options for B&W, 4x6 processing of Portra B&W or TCN400, color paper or B&W paper. The B&W paper is more expensive, but produces a very neutral tone. Find a lab that uses the B&W paper.

If you're shooting traditional B&W film, you can sent it to a big lab. There are lots of good labs for traditional B&W, I just don't use them.

Or you can get B&W chromes done from .dr5.com in NYC. The B&W chromes can be scanned and printed or projected; but they're more difficult to get printed otherwise unless you send them to be scanned/printed.

My recommendation for ease of use is to shoot one of the C-41 B&W films and find a good lab. (Mine is in Westfield, NJ)

Oh, and ignore "Phil".

Skip

-- Skip Williams (skipwilliams@pobox.com), May 13, 2002.


I don't know much about specific B&W labs, since I've always done my own. One of the great things about shooting B&W film is the control you have in processing.

When you say you're not satisfied with the results, do you mean the prints or the negatives? I would imagine that one-hour prints may not be all that great, but they might be doing an alright job with the actual film processing.

Maybe you could continue to have your negs processed at a lab, but get a good neg scanner and archival inkjet for the prints. That way you gain some control, without the nasty chemicals.

I tend to prefer Tri-x for monochrome work, but the C-41 B&W films probably scan better, and you'll get much more likely to get consistent results from a one hour lab.

-- noah (naddis@mindspring.com), May 13, 2002.


Thanks for the answers, indeed english is not my first language but I guess the stupid guy...no, I stop, because you don't worth it and I wrote before: "I would like to express my support for a good and polite site, with a very good mix between pros and others. SO please come back and let's start again on a good basis".

-- Arie Haziza (nhaziza@northrock.bm), May 13, 2002.


Arie,

Do you have any labs there that use the Fuji Frontier printing system? This is the only system that I have ever used with "Chromogenic Film," such as Ilford XP-2, Kodak TCN 400, Kodak Select B&W, or Kodak Elite B&W, that has given me any kind of decent proofs at a mini-lab. I may post a sample later on tonight.

If you don't have a Fuji Frontier printing system there, you might try contacting Fuji to locate a lab in the U.S. that uses that system that you can send your film to...many don't do mail order printing.

If you want to send me a test roll I will get it processed where I live, send it back, and show you what can be done with that system.

The Fuji Frontier printing system converts the negative to a digital code and then prints with a laser. It does not use an optical system. It also has a B&W channel, and can make fine sepia images. The big benefit is that you will never see such sharpness from any other mini-lab system anywhere, and the system will give you a normal contrast in the B&W prints, unlike most ordinary auto printing machines.

Contact me if interested in doing a test roll: fredrick@hotcity.com

Todd

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), May 13, 2002.


Aren't there any labs in Bermuda? I would think mailing film to USA takes quite a long time and it may be left on tarmac or roadside in postal bags. In that heat it would be disastrous.

Using C-41 film it should be easy to get it processed locally. Alternative would be to do b/w processing yourself. It is really quite easy and does not take a lot of space or chemicals. Colour processing at home is a different thing and could be tricky in a tropical place like Bermuda. But I just cannot believe there is no decent commercial lab around.

-- Ilkka (ikuu65@hotmail.com), May 13, 2002.


Hi, Arie:

Well, you already found out on yourself why some people are posting less here . . .

But I think your original proposition is the right one to follow: to come back to the site (still the best by far though some hard efforts on the contrary way . . .) and try to keep it amusing, useful and polite.

I've been doing my own B&W laboratory work lately, Arie, and my conclusion is that I have nothing to add to my photos in the right direction concerning development but could well spoil them all too easily. So, I'll start shooting Ilford XP2 S again and have it developed at the 1 hour lab BUT I will continue working in the dark room at my office (wife away, you know. . .). This is real fun and there is a whole world to learn at it. At the moment I'm gathering some self developed/printed photos to share once I think they are worth the effort . . . which could take a while, of course !

By the way, English is not my mother lenguage nor many others' around here either but I think that is no reason to refrain from posting. I feel confident enough about this site to explain myself in front of our friends without feeling I'm risking to be kicked off because of my English (hopefully, I mean . . .).

Thanks for posting. What about some photos?

Regards

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), May 13, 2002.


Any large camera/photo shop can send them to a pro-lab for you (at least over here) Don't bother about the 1hr shops. You can specifiy exactly how you want the film developped e.g. developper and pushing/pulling. Not very cheap but gives very good results, certainly no dust or scratches. I however only trust myself so I don't use them.

Reinier

-- ReinierV (rvlaam@xs4all.nl), May 14, 2002.


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