On Thu, 5 Dec 2002 17:44:53 -0000
"Jon Mitchell" <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> OK, so I've finally lost it with developers / processors. The
> prices they are charging me are going up and up and the quality is
> getting worse. Now I've recently acquired a very nice OM-4 from a
> list member (thank you, anonimous enabler !) and love the fact that
> I can use the spot meter to choose which area of the frame I want
> to meter from and get exposed correctly. But WHAT IS THE BL**DY
> POINT IF THE D*MNED DEVELOPER AVERAGES EVERYTHING OUT WHEN ITS
> PRINTED !!!!
>
> Just had a very unpleasant argument with the girl behind the
> counter. She kept explaining that the machine would take the
> average light reading across the frame, and that it would be best
> for my pictures that way. I pointed her to some of the prints that
> they had grossly over-exposed and expressed over and over again
> that *I* will choose how I want my pictures exposed not*HER* and
> certainly not a bl**dy *MACHINE* !!!! She still thinks that the
> machine knows best. I GIVE UP !!!
Well, I would ask to see the manager or the owner....then I would
change to a pro lab, that (i) knows what it is doing, (ii) are able
to reproduce it and (iii) listens to the customer rather than argues
with him.
>
> Right now I can't see very many options available to me.
>
> 1) I can pay even more and have a pro-lab do my developing /
> printing (most likely for the moment).
> 2) I can shoot slide film (good, but I would then want a slide
> scanner and a good photo printer).
> 3) I can go digital (yeah, like I'd dump my OM's - NEVER !!!).
I have taken the approach myself of either doing black and white and
do all lab-work myself, or doing slides. The slides are developed by
a pro lab, and I bought one of those smart "Braun Novomat" projectors
with a build in screen. Thus, I can both project them large and wide,
or just sit enjoy something the size of a laptop screen, without
having to set up a big screen. Those slides I really like, I print. I
do all printing myself, slides or bw. Not that I doubt that the pro
lab can do a good job, but I just like doing the labwork. However it
is very few slides I actually print, since they are more impressive
on the screen.
>
> So for the moment I shall be having to pay 10GBP (I think that's a
> little over 15 USD) for each film I want developed and printed 6x4.
>
> Looking to the future a little more, I have been thinking of a
> slide / neg scanner for some time now. I like the idea of scanning
> my pics in and being able to display them on my PC / on the web.
> Scanning prints on a flatbed scanner just doesn't quite cut it !!
> But if I am to dump prints altogether, I would need a good quality
> printer to do my own photo printing. Doesn't this start to get a
> little on the expensive side ? Not just the hardware, but the
> consumables ?
I got myself a slide scanner a while ago. I am sure that it is
grossly outdated by now :) Anyways, I find that I like the results
from the "traditional" process of printing better than the digital
one, so I mostly just scan if I need to put something on the WWW.
This could also just be an indication of me being incompetent with
digital image manipulation....this would not be a surprise atall...
>
> I'm starting to seriously regret not buying that "minilab" I saw on
> Ebay a few months back for 300GBP. Full colour processing machine.
> Good one too.
> Would have taken up most of the lounge, and the smell in the house
> would have been rather unpopular, but AT LEAST I WOULD GET THE
> RESULTS I WANT !!!
>
> Anyway, returning to the Slide /Neg scanner issue. Some months
> back I borrowed one off a work colleague to try out. A C*n*n I
> think. Scanned my TOPE entry (flash photography - can't remember
> the TOPE number) with it, I believe. However, I was unimpressed
> with it. Very unimpressed. Didn't seem to have ANY amount of
> "dynamic range" in the tones at all. And the colours were NOTHING
> like what I had on my prints (which back then were quite good !) or
> what I expected from the negatives.
That's how I feel from my slides as well when I scan them....my
scanner is a Canon too, btw. However look at some of the stuff that
fellow listees have done with their slidescanners. There truely are
possibilities, if one has the ability to wrestle GIMP.
<SNIP>
--thomas
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