Digital BW, The Print

At 10:32 AM 5/19/2003, Anthony Atkielski wrote:
>Nowadays, the quality at decent one-hour labs is extremely constant, and in
>fact I know that many pros have development done at one-hour labs,
>especially on tight schedules.  Sometimes I do, too, depending on whether
>the client is paying or I'm including it in my fee (pro labs charge a lot
>more for nearly identical work).

My own experience, in central Utah, is that the one-hour labs have about 
the same quality of processing as the pro labs, probably due to 
standardized chemicals, machinery, etc. However, the difference arises in 
the handling of the film. I often use a one-hour lab when testing a new 
camera, lens, etc., prior to using it for real. And I often find scratches, 
lint, and dirt on the film. That doesn't bother me when I'm testing to make 
sure that the shutter actually fires at something close to the indicated 
value or other simple test, but there's no way I would risk film shot for a 
serious purpose. I either soup it myself or take it to a pro lab.

Stan

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Photography by Stan McQueen
http://www.smcqueen.com