----- Original Message ----- From: "aimcompute" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 9:51 AM Subject: Re: Photofinishing
> I'm always a little wary taking negative film down to the drugstore and > having a 19 year old girl do the processing while talking to her boyfriend > on the cell phone. The thing is, any lab, no matter how good can dissapoint. We do excellent proofing from 35mm, so,so from APS and our 110 is pretty spotty. We have limited ability to do cropping on 35mm. However, the nature of our position in the marketplace is that we don't do much else. Fortunately, there are a few very good custom labs in town that I can send people to when something is out of our league. The pro lab I used to work front end for was staffed by nincompoops. The E-6 line was good, but nothing else coming out of the lab was worthy of the name "pro". The attitude was "so, where else are they going to go, we are the only game in town". They closed shortly after Don's Photo opened. It is still a people driven business. If the lab has good people who care, they will turn out a good product, within the limitations of the equipment. If the lab has people who don't care, the lab will turn out crap, no matter what they have in the back for production. My experience has been that the difference between an amateur lab and a pro one is potential capabilities more than realized ones. Isaac's comments, quoted below are right on target. William Robb > > Tom C. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Isaac Crawford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 8:27 AM > Subject: Photofinishing > > > > There has been some disparaging words here about "cheap" > photofinishing vs > > a "pro" lab, and I'd just like to put in my two cents... I work at a place > > that prices itself between places like Walmart and the various custom labs > > around here. While its true that in general we produce with more > consistancy > > than places like Walmart and Eckerd's, that isn't always the rule. What I > have > > found to be the key issue is wheather the people running the lab care > about > > what they are doing moreso than where they are. I always tell my customers > > that photofinishers are like hairstylists (or barbars) in that if you find > > someone that does a good job, stick with them. If William Robb's Walmart > was > > near me, I'd be sorely tempted to get my 4x6's done there because it's > obvious > > that he cares, and he's got a killer price. That's an amazing combo, but > > unfortuenetly, it's all too rare. Most of the time, I get what I pay for. > Most > > places use similar (in capabilities) machines, even the "pro" labs for > 4x6's. > > The difference comes down to who is using and maintaining them... > > > > Isaac - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
