whats the norm - 35mm processing

[jimblob]

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Hi all,

 

As some may have seen from my previous post (M6 Newebie)..i am lokoing for advice after my first foray into shooting with film.

 

What is considered the 'normal' or easiest or cheapest method of getting photos into my computer?

 

As much as i love the idea of sending my familly to sleep in front of a slideshow, i really want to send many more poeple to sleep by posting photos onto the internerd.

 

Obviously, i dont want to be posting low quality images...otherwise i would have stuck with a compact digital.

 

Should i jsut send the photos of to be processed (£5 from Fujifilm)...then get a scanner? ir should i get them processed and scanned at med/high res?....or should i get them processed and printed...then scanned in on a flat bed scanner?

 

It makes sense that i would get them processed and scanned to a cd at the factory...but in the long run do most of you lot get them procesed and scan them in yourself?

 

many thanks...opinions appreciated.

 

Regards.

 

Jim

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[pico]

IMHO, film scanning is not easy to do well. Some folks here just breeze through it with a talent I admire, but I suspect they are the few. Scanning prints is easier, but not as cost effective.

 

So for starters, you might consider having Fuji do the film processing and CD until you shake down the process of scanning for yourself. Eventually you will probably do a better job than they do, and in the meantime you can post visual narcotic images. (sleepy stuff, as you wrote.)

[earleygallery]

With C41 film I have it processed and scanned to CD (no prints) by Snappy Snaps usually.

 

The CD scans are fine for web use or making 6X4 prints.

 

For 'keepers' and photos I want to print larger than 6X4 I scan the individual frames myself. I don't see the point in spending time making high res scans of images that are probably going to end up forgotton on the hard drive (same as all of those prints sitting in wallets in boxes.....).

[andybarton]

Scanning prints is OK, provided the print was made by someone who knows how to print.

 

IMHO, the only viable way of doing this is to scan the film yourself. MUCH easier with slides than with negatives, and dead easy if you shoot black and white.

[arminw]

I have to agree with the above. When you process your film you usually get a cd with scans included . Those scans are good enough to post on the internet and if you feel like a big print, either have them scanned in professionally or get yourself a scanner and practise getting a good result yourself. I use the low res scans from the lab as a sort of contact sheet and then scan the frames I like myself .

[koray]

Unless you have a high-end dedicated film scanner, you will end up with scratches and dust on your negative scans. Lab scanners do a great job in eliminating those, and if you ask for hi-res scanning the end results are pretty good. It takes long time and lots of patience to master film scanning.

 

K.

[Michael Hiles]

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Jim,

 

I think this will be an evolving story for you. You could easily start by having the film processed and scanned at medium resolution by the lab. Later, you might invest in a scanner and do it yourself - the quality of the scan will be better if you learn a very few techniques.

 

No one has mentioned post processing. In my opinion, you need a program. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements, but there are other very competent and maybe better alternatives. This thing is, without some way to adjust your images, you are left with the scan result. In almost all cases you will want to adjust colour, contrast, maybe crop, straighten things up, remove spinach from teeth, etc. You can be certain that the scan person did nothing custom when scanning your film - and to leave it there is like assuming a drugstore print is the best possible result. Later, if you go this route, you can adjust a little in the scan process to assure that you get the maximim information on the file, and then further adjust in the post processing to get the equivalent of a "fine" print. And it is not all that hard - evidence is that I can do it.

[jimblob]

Thank you all so much for the replies.

 

It seems the best place to begin is by using high street lab for processing and cd. Can I really use a high street name tho? Are boots or jessops or Jacobs any better than snappy snaps ? Should I send off to Kodak or Fuji ? Or should I go to a specialist like metro. ?

 

I'm happy for a lab to process (for now) but worried that a high street shop will give me dodge negatives....from which there is no return. !

 

I have Adobe , but will hold off on a decent scanner until any issues of user error are ironed out.

 

Thanks again.

[alun]

Jimblob -- I use a Metro lab for dev and scan at 18Mb to CD. It costs me about GBP 7.00 per 36-roll. I know I could find cheaper elsewhere but I have always been pleased with Metro Colour Lab's dev'ing and scanning and find thisMUCH easier (if not actually cheaper too) than doing the scanning myself. I did for a year or so and wasn't very good at it.

[earleygallery]

It seems the best place to begin is by using high street lab for processing and cd. Can I really use a high street name tho? Are boots or jessops or Jacobs any better than snappy snaps ? Should I send off to Kodak or Fuji ? Or should I go to a specialist like metro. ?

 

Boots, Jessops??!!! Both have RUINED films of mine in the past, not mere scratches but totally cocked it up and left me with either no negatives or something that used to be a roll of film but turned into a scrap lump of celluloid in their machines. Avoid.

 

I've always been happy with Snappy Snaps, but the price that Alun mentions for Metro's service sounds attractive, give it a shot.

[wattsy]

but the price that Alun mentions for Metro's service sounds attractive, give it a shot.

 

Presumably Alun isn't talking about Metro in Clerkenwell? Development and scan there is about £30 for a roll of 35mm.

[chrism]

Presumably Alun isn't talking about Metro in Clerkenwell? Development and scan there is about £30 for a roll of 35mm.

 

Daylight robbery! Chemicals can still be bought, and C-41 is no harder than B&W as long as you get the temperature right.

 

Chris

[tgray]

I see you are in the UK. If you were in the US, the most painless way to reasonably high quality scans for me has been North Coast Photo. $10/roll gets you developing in a dip and dunk machine plus decent 2000x3000 scans. They do a good job of developing, sleeving, etc, and are pretty dust and scratch free. Pretty good if you ask me. Most other places you will only get 1200x1800 or 1000x1500 scans for that price.

 

Maybe someone can suggest a similar lab in the UK?

 

I scan my keepers at home, but spend a lot more time on that than just popping in the DVD from the lab and copying images over.

[Charlie Johnson]

Try Photo-express in Hull. Great service and 18 mb scans at £4.50.

[farnz]

Presumably Alun isn't talking about Metro in Clerkenwell? Development and scan there is about £30 for a roll of 35mm.

No, Ian, Metro Colour Lab in the West Midlands.

 

Pete.

[jimblob]

Hi Alun,

 

What kind of photo can you produce from a 18mb file? I have been VERY unhappy with the low and high resolution scans from snappy snaps. they are unbelievably grainy and the colours are all washed out.

 

Thanks

[}{B]

I've just had two rolls of Fuji slide film processed by Metrocolourlab and I'm very pleased with the results. I asked for the 18mb scan and you can see the result if you look at my Farnborough airshow thread in the photo section. The only thing I found not to my satisfaction was the amount of dust on the slides; far more than I would normally expect.

 

Turn round time was excellent, posted on Monday and returned on Friday. As an added bonus they still use plastic storage boxes to return the mounted slides not the sleeves that others use. They provided a postage paid padded envelope for my next order and until my scanner is back from repair I will use them again for scanned slides. The 18mb scans are returned as JPEGs and at 300dpi on my printer give a photo of 8'' length by 5 1/4'' height in landscape format. I'm impressed by the quality of the photo but if I was able to scan them myself I could print to A4 size.

[Julian Thompson]

One thing I have noticed on the scans that come in from the high street people like Max Speilman etc.. is that they are heavily processed right out of the box. The processing is quite nice, generally, but, unfortunately, not what is actually on the negative! On the ones I have seen there is addition of lots of definition, contrast, saturation etc.... - this means that you're getting someone else's scanning workflow and that rules it out for me regardless of resolution.

 

Scanning isn't hard to learn as long as you're prepared to sink tons of time into learning, IMHO.

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[tonycamco]

i been having them done at cvs with a cd works great!!!!