----- Original Message ----- From: David Chang-Sang Subject: RE: Re: Any experience with Fuji NPC?
> I'm not so sure William. > > The camera that I used is a contax G2 (yes.. yes.. I know.. Pentax list.. > I've got a K1000), with the 45mm Zeiss Planar lens :) But I do suspect that > my particular WalMart doesn't get many people (especially in my part of the > city) walking in handing over NPC to them. Well yer Planar lens is certainly going to be almost as good as my 77mm. Not as good, but almost (har!!) Heres the deal with photo labs. Film is film is film is film. Period. It doesn't matter to us what you shoot. It all gets the same processing, and we just try to make it look good, based on what we call memory colours. We don't know what colour your living room is, nor do we care. We do know what a blue sky looks like, or a flesh tone. Those are what we key on. Contrast is inherent to the film. If your results are flat, the film you shot is the problem, unless there is a gross problem with the process. We are not supposed to run unless we are in control. We can run if we are within action limit, but we had better be working on the problem. The C-41/ RA-4 process is the most bombproof process going. We can be incredibly far out of control, and turn out prints identical to those processed with in control chemistry. Because of who we are, we tend to get a lot of film, which makes keeping a process in control pretty easy. > > The guy I handed it to looked at it funny and shrugged. I'm not saying the > staff are incompetent, but maybe they just don't get that film all the time? > I took some XP2 to the same WalMart about a year or so ago and they did the > same thing; looked at it funny, said they didn't do B&W film and then I had > to explain to them that it's C-41 process film. They never cut the negs up > or sleeve them as they do with the rest of their C-41 film so my negs were > shot to hell because they ROLLED them up(I suspect they were still damp when > rolled up). I won't process XP-2 at my lab. It is way more trouble than it is worth. The emulsion is soft, the film has no mask, and it is nearly impossible to dry in a minilab environment without having it reticulate. Shoot the stuff at your own risk. Don't complain if a minilab has problems with it. It requires handling that a minilab cannot give. > > Perhaps it's just that one particular WalMart as I don't use or go to any > other WalMart. Perhaps, but I doubt it. Pride in workmanship is pretty rare in my industry. I care about what I do, but I seem to be one of the rare ones. William Robb - 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 .
