Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jim, this is excellent advice, all of it, and I'd like to add this; Part of that chain of confidence is absolute familiarity with your camera, the film type, and your lenses. Those moments are NOT the time to be experimenting with a camera or film stock you have never shot. Regards, Sonny From: "Jim Brick" <jim@brick.org> > I realize that this is not possible for everyone, but I have said, on the > LUG many times... > > When serious about photography, when spending money traveling, when > encountering fleeting moments, when photographing these moments and other > non-reproducible events... One has to be extremely careful not to break the > chain of confidence. > > This is why I do not use Kodachrome. It's not the film, it is the fact that > the film must be sent, by someone, to someone else, of whom, I know nothing > and know not where. All a recipe for possible disaster without any > culpability by the perpetrators. > > When I use a lab, I only use a lab that I can walk into and talk to the > actual person the will be processing my film. When they know me by sight, > there is more chance that they will be careful with my film. Even then, I > have had the occasional glitch. Mostly dirt which was easily re-washed off. > For awhile, Fuji Velvia curled more than other films during drying and if > they weren't left to cool before mounting, the mounter would put a fine > scratch on the base just inside the sprocket holes. They solved that with > my help. > > All of my life, except for a few years between 1992 and 1997, I have > processed everything myself. And yes, I have goofed on my own film. But > never on film that was expensive and impossible to re-du. Photographs of > fleeting moments in far away places. > > I personally process everything that goes through my cameras. I take my > time and double check everything. If there is any possibility that the > chemistry might be too old, I walk outside my house and quickly shoot a > roll of the same film type (E6, C41, or B&W), I include a MacBeth color > chart when appropriate, and process it as a single roll in the questionable > chemistry, wash and dry it, and inspect it. Then proceed from there. > > The labor of travel, finding the proper light, being somewhere special, > having that flash of insight, being at the right place at the right time, > and I could drone on forever here... is too much to waste on letting some > unknown person, in some unknown place, who doesn't know me from Adam, > process my film. There's just too much at stake. > > And I understand that it is not a choice for some people. But if you do > have a choice, you should make the right choice. > > Are you going to continue using that lab Pascal? > > Jim > > > At 08:33 AM 10/9/2001 +0200, Pascal wrote: > >Friends, > > > >got back from the lab the slides I had taken while in Switzerland two weeks > >ago. > > > >First, one film was missing from the batch I received. But no worry, they > >said, it will turn op. Indeed, a phone call to the lab (Littocolor, this is > >the offical Kodak lab in Belgium) confirmed that the last roll would be sent > >the next day. > > > >Second, when I received the last roll the next day, I immediately noticed > >something weird when opening the package: the supplied box was not the usual > >one, plus the slides had been put in slightly different frames, and there > >were no numbers and dates printen on the frames. > > > >Third, while a normal roll gives me about 37 slides, in this last film I > >only counted 34 slides. > > > >Fourth, nothing would be wrong if image quality was, at least, untouched. > >But when projecting the slides with the Pradovit P2002 I noticed that the > >slides of that second roll had a somewhat different " temperature color" > >(e.g. yellowish gras had become almost brown). Plus, and this is by far the > >worst part, I had taken on a particular morning when all conditions were > >perfect (one of those seldom days) a series of shots of the upcoming sun > >against the snowwhite peaks of mountains and blue skies etc. Now, while the > >slides are technically perfect, they have somehow managed to ruin *all* of > >these with their machinery. Big brownish stripes (thicker than the usual > >scratches) show up on the slide, it is almost as if the rolls of their > >machines made a handling mistake. Plus, one of these slides is cut off to > >the right, leaving white space in the frame (and this is not the last frame > >in that film). > >To cut a long story short: they have ruined at least part of my images. As > >for the other rolls, some of the slides exhibited (the all too often usual) > >scratches which are, of course, quite visible especially on even parts like > >a sky. > > > >My question: what are my rights in this matter ? What should I be advised to > >do ? Can I reclaim part of my travel expenses because they ruined some, > >unique to me, shots ? Note that I am not a pro photographer, but that > >shouldn't devalue my work IMHO. > >Thanks for informed suggestions. > > > >Pascal > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html