|
Ok - I'm relatively new to this as well and someone with far more experience is likely to come along and amend or update or develop this stuff.
If you send slidefilm off to be processed as it was intended - using chemicals specifically developed to make slide positives on the film; unless you have specified otherwise, you will get slides back. Usually each image (slide) will be returned in individual mounts for use in a slide projector. ie. individual slide positives (on the film itself rather than negatives on the film itself, which is what you get with print film.) You do not get prints. If you want to deliver a professional slideshow 'oldskool' then be prepared to carry a stash of rattling slidemounts...
The second option is to ask for your slidefilm to be developed as it was intended, but emphasize that you do NOT want them mounted,. In this instance you will get the strip of film back just as you would with normal print film - but instead you have a slidepositive - either rolled up in one long strip or cut in images blocks of four or six, depending on what you've asked for.
You will not get prints with either of these options, but if you want to make digital images from these more easily, you should always choose the second option because trying to remove the mounts from individual slides is a right royal pain and can damage the positive.
Basically, if you have gone for option No 2, when you have the film back you can then use your own scanner, or take it to a local lab with a scanner and ask them to scan the slidefilm positive (from the film) to a digital file format - usually jpeg. (There will be a small fee for this and the scans may not be as optimal as you yourself might choose, but it is an option for people who don't have a scanner.) If an image is really great and you later get a scanner, you can always go back to the slidepositive original and re-scan it yourself to get the best image you think is possible. This can then be saved on a CD, or if you have scanned it with your own equipment, you can save it on, or WHEREever you like.
Cross-processing is basically where you put slidefilm in the chemicals used for print film. By doing this, you don't get a slide positive back on the film as before, but a film negative, just as you do with ordinary film. This is why the colour goes a bit whacky. Just like ordinary film, a film negative made from slidefilm can produce prints or be scanned to disc. If you don't say anything other than you want your slidefilm cross-processed (and you don't get a blank startled look!) when you hand the cannister in, labs usually assume you want prints and don't want scans.
I personally, specifically ask for scans only with no prints - that way I have the xpro film negs, and a disc of images. If I subsequently see an image that I think is worth getting scanned properly, I'd go back to to the xpro film negative original and use that for a re-scan with a decent scanner. It also works out to be much cheaper for me, because I can get 4-5 rolls of film scanned to disc which costs me 99p (about $2) and film processing without prints costs just £1.49 (about $3) per roll
It is common to assume that the 'colour cross' is just down to using different chemicals, but the temperature of the chemicals used also plays a role. Slidefilm is thicker than print film, and so too much of it in proportion to the print film will alter the dilution of the chemical proportions AND the batch temperature, which is critical. Usually a conventional lab who know what they are doing with 'cross-processing,' will stick a proportion of slidefilm for cross processing into the C-41 chemicals with the ordinary print film at the end of the day/or batch of chemicals. Partly because a) it's easier not to get them mixed up, b) it is easier to manage the ratio of print : slidefilm being processed each time, and therefore easier to monitor the temperature so not ruin the whole batch and finally, reduce the risk of trashing the chemicals before they've got the maximum out of them.
For most labs, the income is generated from processing print film. Although cross-processing is not particularly difficult, the potential to trash a batch of new chemicals or worse, a large batch of film for conventional processing (and hence upset customers who own that film) is a little higher. That, in combination with an often (but not always) transient and film photography naive staff group; can put them off from agreeing to cross process slidefilm under any circumstances. Hence the difficulty in getting it processed. Sometimes (if you are lucky), there are one or two members of staff who know what they are doing, and like to do something a little different and make you very, very happy because of that. Be very, very nice to these individuals if you are lucky enough to find them - they can not only save you a lot of money, but they are often (by default) interested in film photography and can have interesting things to say and share. if they haven't snaffled all the expired film in the lab, it's worth asking them about it!
Sorry this is a long one, but you did ask. Hope this makes sense and good luck.
Posted 55 months ago.
(permalink)
|
Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim /
Discuss
Feed – Subscribe to Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim discussion threads