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Old August 15th 04, 02:14 PM
Paul Schmidt
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Mike Jenkins wrote:
I used an underwater 35mm camera to take 3 rolls of film while snorkeling in
Florida. I took these to a lab and had a CD made. The prints were mediocre
but the CD image when run through photoshop are superb. I then used the
last two rolls of 35mm film from the same bulk purchase with the same camera
a week later while snorkeling in Hawaii. I sent these to a 24hour lab and
the prints AND the CD images were washed out. The visibility and sunlight
were higher in HI.

Since it was the same camera and film, I'm certain the labs did something
different.

Is there anything I can do to get the real color and depth from the second
batch of film? Did the labs ruin the negatives or simply the prints and CD
images? Can someone explain how this works to a film neophyte? I know I've
learned my lesson about cheap labs.


You need to look at the negatives, C41 is the normal setup for most
machines, so unless the machine isn't getting proper chemistry updates,
or is out of temperature adjustment, the negatives should be OK.

Every negative film manuyfacturer uses a slightly different emulsion,
and slightly different orange mask on their negative films, the machines
are setup to recognize the manufacturer and model of film being
processed, this is so the machine can compensate for the density and
colour of mask. If the machine didn't properly identify the film, it
would be off. A good operator will see the first couple of prints,
adjust the machine, and then reprint the few that were less
satisfactory, most 1hr labs don't have the time to do this, and the
teenager operating the machine doesn't care.

Paul