Re: [Leica] Re: film and traveling

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

From: Bill Erfurth <m6rf@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 1999 06:16
Subject: [Leica] Re: film and traveling


> How do you judge the quality of the lab you are
> thinking about dealing with?

For simple development of film, there isn't a huge amount of variation.  They
all use the same machines and run them all pretty much in the same way.  Short
of badly scratching the negatives or something, there isn't much they can do
wrong.

I would tend to trust a large chain more than a mom-and-pop outfit, and a chain
that specializes in development more than a chain that sells everything from
cameras to CDs.  A chain that depends for its livelihood on developing film is
likely to be at least acceptable at it, otherwise it would not be competitive.
If nothing else, the constant practice makes it a bit more reliable.

All of this applies only to film development, though.  Prints are a waste of
time.  But then again, you don't need the prints--you just need the film
developed in order to eliminate its vulnerability to x-rays.

  -- Anthony