Esther Posted July 20, 2013 Share #1 Posted July 20, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi everyone, another print in question. This time is color film. The following photo was shot with a Leica M6 with 50 Summicron on Portra 160. A local lab did the developing and scanning and printing. It was a very foggy morning. I was doing the bracketing just to make sure I got the proper exposure. I believe this picture was taken 2 stops over the exposure metered by the camera. In other words, this shot was taken over-exposed. I noticed the two vertical faint streaks on the sky, one left of the lighthouse and one on the right. They are on the scanned image as well as print. I took the negative to the lab and the tech worked there said the spots are on the negative. One person there claimed it could have been due to the defected film. The other person said it is my camera. "something happened in your camera, dust got on the film in your camera somehow," she said. They don't look like dust to me at all though.... What do you guys think? I did notice the similar kind of streaks over the sky area of a few other pictures, but only the over exposed ones have them. I don't see them on any photo taken according to the camera's metering. I also thought about 50 summicron is famous(or notorious) for the internal flare...could it possibly be due to that? but there was no obvious strong light.... Again, I'm trying to rule out it's something wrong with my camera or lens..... Thank you in advance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 20, 2013 Posted July 20, 2013 Hi Esther, Take a look here streaks on color prints, what might have caused it?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Esther Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share #2 Posted July 20, 2013 Another photo from the same series with "discoloring" spots all over... what's happening? (see left and right sides of the picture) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokoshawnuff Posted July 20, 2013 Share #3 Posted July 20, 2013 Same lab as the one that messed up your B&W? Either way it is the lab's fault, not your camera or your film...they should refund you and give you a new roll of Portra. I've never developed C41 myself so I don't know what this is, but it could be a lack of pre-wash, uneven fixing or bad fixer, or not enough washing time after the fixing. I'll let others with more experience than myself chime in and give you an exact answer, but all in all it is pretty horrible looking, they ruined some nice photos... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 21, 2013 Share #4 Posted July 21, 2013 Looks like poorly-maintained chemistry and machine to me, especially the blobs on picture #2. The regular spacing of the vertical blobs in both shots looks like a dirty transport roller "imprinting" the film with each rotation. Out of curiousity, might your roll have been the first roll of the day for this lab? In the lab's "defense" (such as it is), it takes a very subtly toned/colored shot such as yours to reveal these problems. I'd imagine such blobs would be hidden by the subject matter for many of their customers, who no doubt think they are doing a great job! It is something to be on guard for as film processing volumes have dropped. Run 300 rolls a day through these machines, and the churning keeps the scum from forming and the chemistry gets changed frequently. Drop that to 50 rolls a week, and the lab's old procedures and vigilance are no longer sufficient. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esther Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share #5 Posted July 22, 2013 Same lab as the one that messed up your B&W? Either way it is the lab's fault, not your camera or your film...they should refund you and give you a new roll of Portra. I've never developed C41 myself so I don't know what this is, but it could be a lack of pre-wash, uneven fixing or bad fixer, or not enough washing time after the fixing. I'll let others with more experience than myself chime in and give you an exact answer, but all in all it is pretty horrible looking, they ruined some nice photos... Yes, it's the same lab that did my b&w... I know...I'm losing faith in them. It's okay to make mistake. But i hate it when some people told me it's my camera because their machine doesn't make mistakes. Another guy, however, was reasonable enough to say if I think it's due to process, I may want to try out a different lab. Looks like poorly-maintained chemistry and machine to me, especially the blobs on picture #2. The regular spacing of the vertical blobs in both shots looks like a dirty transport roller "imprinting" the film with each rotation. Out of curiousity, might your roll have been the first roll of the day for this lab? In the lab's "defense" (such as it is), it takes a very subtly toned/colored shot such as yours to reveal these problems. I'd imagine such blobs would be hidden by the subject matter for many of their customers, who no doubt think they are doing a great job! It is something to be on guard for as film processing volumes have dropped. Run 300 rolls a day through these machines, and the churning keeps the scum from forming and the chemistry gets changed frequently. Drop that to 50 rolls a week, and the lab's old procedures and vigilance are no longer sufficient. Thank you very much for your opinions. No one at the lab seems to be able to give me a more absolute answer. One thing they mentioned that have caused the problem on the 2nd image shown may be the uneven exposure from the uneven shutter... I don't know. It doesn't look like uneven exposure to me. Does it??? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeswe Posted July 22, 2013 Share #6 Posted July 22, 2013 It doesn't look like uneven exposure to me. Does it??? No, it doesn't. I do understand the motivation to support a local business and try to do it myself wherever it makes sense, but it's pointless to cling to a local lab that keeps on delivering sub-par results with a topping of lame excuses. Better to mail in your films to a bigger/pro lab that still delivers quality work (and has the ethics to stand behind what they do) and keep them in business. If that comes at the expense of a convenient local in-house developing shop, then be it so. This may sound harsh, but IMO, if the smaller labs do not deliver acceptable work (for whatever reasons), than they do not deserve to stay in business, because in the end you will be so frustrated that you give up on film entirely and this cannot be in the interest of anyone. Neither in your local lab's, nor yours, nor that of the analogue photographic community/business as a whole (including me as a fellow film shooter). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 22, 2013 Share #7 Posted July 22, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) These are clearly processing faults - that should be so obvious to them, they are frankly insulting your intelligence to suggest that you or your equipment is at fault. Personally if that's their attitude, and as the photos aren't seemingly irreplaceable for you, I wouldn't even bother trying to argue the fact, just find another lab! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esther Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share #8 Posted July 23, 2013 These are clearly processing faults - that should be so obvious to them, they are frankly insulting your intelligence to suggest that you or your equipment is at fault. Personally if that's their attitude, and as the photos aren't seemingly irreplaceable for you, I wouldn't even bother trying to argue the fact, just find another lab! No, it doesn't.I do understand the motivation to support a local business and try to do it myself wherever it makes sense, but it's pointless to cling to a local lab that keeps on delivering sub-par results with a topping of lame excuses. Better to mail in your films to a bigger/pro lab that still delivers quality work (and has the ethics to stand behind what they do) and keep them in business. If that comes at the expense of a convenient local in-house developing shop, then be it so. This may sound harsh, but IMO, if the smaller labs do not deliver acceptable work (for whatever reasons), than they do not deserve to stay in business, because in the end you will be so frustrated that you give up on film entirely and this cannot be in the interest of anyone. Neither in your local lab's, nor yours, nor that of the analogue photographic community/business as a whole (including me as a fellow film shooter). I totally agree! My search for a good lab goes on. Thank you for your opinions on this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 38 Posted July 25, 2013 Share #9 Posted July 25, 2013 My monitor is not very goo on this laptop but even I can see the marks . Almost certainly caused by a liquid which to me points to s processing fault. As others have said perhaps time to find a decent laboratory , which Iknow is getting hard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted July 27, 2013 Share #10 Posted July 27, 2013 MPIX or Dwaynes. A trusted name in photo processing for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 29, 2013 Share #11 Posted July 29, 2013 Esther, If you say which town or country you are in, maybe a local member can suggest a trusted lab 'near' you. Whatever, the problem is clearly not you or your camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esther Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share #12 Posted July 29, 2013 Esther, If you say which town or country you are in, maybe a local member can suggest a trusted lab 'near' you. Whatever, the problem is clearly not you or your camera. Thank you! I live in western New York region. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 29, 2013 Share #13 Posted July 29, 2013 Hopefully some local forum members will be able to give you good recommendations in the NY area, now they know where you are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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