William Robb wrote: > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Brian Dunn" > Subject: Re: Kodak May Get Out of Film Sooner > > >> They could have kept film alive longer with better scanning at time of >> processing. The usual 1200dpi gives around a 5M pixel scan with great >> dynamic range ( each pixel is scanned for each of three colors instead of >> the >> RGBG mask which digital cameras use ), but then they compress it into a >> tiny >> file onto a CD, perhaps for throughput reasons. Then they charge extra, >> and >> often require you to buy prints as well. >> >> I remember when a local lab changed from optical to digital, how they said >> that it slowed things down, so they don't dare offer higher resolution >> scans >> because it'd take too long. >> >> These days they could have a digital camera with a macro lens aimed at the >> film as it went past, and snap a shot every frame almost instantly. >> >> It's too bad the cheap places mangle the film and the pro lab charges a >> dollar >> a frame. > > There are a couple of problems with your theory. > One, it sounds like you want the lab to give away a free CD with every film. > Thats a little much to ask. > The machines are completely configurable to file size on the CD, I don't > know what you mean by tiny, the lab I ran was set up (by me) to put a fairly > large jpeg onto the CD. > Data transfer times are an issue with photo labs. To scan and burn a 24 > exposure roll to CD at full resulution was a 20 minute process. A digital > camera isn't going to help this, it still has to interface with the > machinery, data still has to be transferred, and files still have to be > created and written. > > Cheap labs mangling film is an isue, but if the consumer hadn't wanted his > film mangled, he would have supported the better labs when they were > available. Instead, the consumer flocked to the cheap places, and let the > good places go out of business. > What amazes me is that people have the balls to complain about what they > get, when they are getting exactly what they are paying for. > > William Robb > >
Shopper's Drug Mart are quite happy to give a CD with every roll, for $2.99CDN. They also give an index print (which probably costs them more than the CD). CD's, especially bought in bulk, aren't much more expensive than the envelopes the negs and prints come back in. Surprisingly, the Shoppers I deal with is pretty good for development, certainly a top-tier minilab. Chemistry is fresh, negs are never scratched. The lab is run by a former lab manager from Blacks. Their printing sucks, but that's irrelevant as I never get prints done there (I print myself up to 8x10, go to a pro lab with a JPG or TIFF for larger) -Adam -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
