cheap processing, are negatives OK ?

I have 5 rolls of wedding film. I know cheap
processing----Kirkland/Costco in this case----
gives me mediocre prints. But what about the
negatives ? I'm expecting to make a few 8x10s
to supplement the photographer's album. Will
the Kirkland negatives make good enlargements
or do I need to go Kodak ?
(I want 4x6 prints too, but THEY don't have to
be that great).

thanks

"Kevin Graham" wrote in message
m...
I have 5 rolls of wedding film. I know cheap
processing----Kirkland/Costco in this case----
gives me mediocre prints. But what about the
negatives ? I'm expecting to make a few 8x10s
to supplement the photographer's album. Will
the Kirkland negatives make good enlargements
or do I need to go Kodak ?
(I want 4x6 prints too, but THEY don't have to
be that great).

thanks

Its impossible to know for certain but my experience is
that most one-hour type places make good negatives and
terrible prints. The prints usually look foggy, perhaps due
to dirty lenses in the printer or poor chemistry. I will say
that I've gotten equally as bad prints from "pro" shops and
very good prints from a local Ritz photo who had a dedicated
technician.
I have no idea who actually does Costco's stuff, they
might have their own plant. Most of their house name
products are very good so perhaps that carried over to their
processing.
I would suggest trying ONE roll and hold the others back
until you see the results.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

(Kevin Graham) wrote in message om...
I have 5 rolls of wedding film. I know cheap
processing----Kirkland/Costco in this case----
gives me mediocre prints. But what about the
negatives ? I'm expecting to make a few 8x10s
to supplement the photographer's album. Will
the Kirkland negatives make good enlargements
or do I need to go Kodak ?
(I want 4x6 prints too, but THEY don't have to
be that great).

thanks

AS long as fresh chemicals are being used they will be fine. It's
typically the same machine they are run through, or similar. You can
send them out as a negative only order and have them printed elsewhere
or print them yourself. You can even scan the negatives and digitally
retouch them and burn a cd then have some giclee's printed.

"Kevin Graham" wrote in message
m...
I have 5 rolls of wedding film. I know cheap
processing----Kirkland/Costco in this case----
gives me mediocre prints. But what about the
negatives ? I'm expecting to make a few 8x10s
to supplement the photographer's album. Will
the Kirkland negatives make good enlargements
or do I need to go Kodak ?
(I want 4x6 prints too, but THEY don't have to
be that great).

They'll PROBABLY be OK, but you risk scratches (from careless handling) and
poor washing (leading to premature fading of the negatives).

On 23 Jun 2004 11:33:07 -0700, (Kevin Graham) wrote:

I have 5 rolls of wedding film. I know cheap
processing----Kirkland/Costco in this case----
gives me mediocre prints. But what about the
negatives ? I'm expecting to make a few 8x10s
to supplement the photographer's album. Will
the Kirkland negatives make good enlargements
or do I need to go Kodak ?
(I want 4x6 prints too, but THEY don't have to
be that great).

thanks

As in most walks of life, you get what you pay for.

http://www.chromatics.com

http://www.cpq.net/

http://www.burrell.com/burrell.html

http://www.millerslab.com/

All are excellent labs.


Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.darkroompro.com
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 00:00:31 GMT, "Richard Knoppow"
wrote:

Its impossible to know for certain but my experience is
that most one-hour type places make good negatives and
terrible prints. The prints usually look foggy, perhaps due
to dirty lenses in the printer or poor chemistry.

Cheap papers.

Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.darkroompro.com
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

On 23 Jun 2004 20:19:26 -0700, (Sandy) wrote:

AS long as fresh chemicals are being used they will be fine.

Maybe. I once used a local one-hour for some relatively
non-important films of a (non-wedding) reception. Two of the rolls had
the emulsions broiled when they went through the dryer. Lost about 6
frames total. Unrecoverable even via digital.

It's typically the same machine they are run through, or similar.

Safe to assume that you've never visited a pro-lab ? Similar
perhaps but not identical. Pro-labs have more monitoring equipment and
standards. The lab managers are QC for both aesthetic print quality
and machine/chemical maintenance

You can send them out as a negative only order and have them printed elsewhere
or print them yourself.

And you will find that printing RA4 is very easy but making a
series of say around 60 prints with the same color balance is not
always easy.

You can even scan the negatives and digitally
retouch them and burn a cd then have some giclee's printed.

Giclee = inkjet. Why would one want an inkjet print vs. a
photograph ? One could have the digital images printed via a Frontier
printer onto Fuji papers which have a good life expectancy of at least
50 years. The images will be sharper and have better color fidelity as
well.

Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.darkroompro.com
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 00:50:10 -0400, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:

They'll PROBABLY be OK, but you risk scratches (from careless handling) and
poor washing (leading to premature fading of the negatives).

About 50% of all mini-labs use film to clean their floors.
Feelin' lucky ?


Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.darkroompro.com
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

John wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 00:00:31 GMT, "Richard Knoppow"
wrote:

Its impossible to know for certain but my experience is
that most one-hour type places make good negatives and
terrible prints. The prints usually look foggy, perhaps due
to dirty lenses in the printer or poor chemistry.

Cheap papers.

I don't think those consumer papers are really that much cheaper.
They're just made to a different standard. Somebody claimed consumer papers
are designed to deal with crappy consumer kit lenses.

Nick

In article ,
John wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 00:50:10 -0400, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:

They'll PROBABLY be OK, but you risk scratches (from careless handling) and
poor washing (leading to premature fading of the negatives).

About 50% of all mini-labs use film to clean their floors.
Feelin' lucky ?

Happens in Prolabs as well, I was at a Job interview at one
local lab,....and the Lab manager was printing a customers
4x5 negative when it slipped from the carrier onto the
floor and scooted about 15 feet on a breeze,...
....stuff happens, although probably to a greater
degree in a mini lab. Those racks they hang your 35mm
on prior to printing are a tricky endeavor. I know because
I worked in a couple of mini lab's,....never dropped any customer
work though :^)
--
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