Intro and Q on film development

sineadw

Hi all. I was steered here by one of your members (thanks Tom ) and have been reading and trying to find my way around the place. I was given an ancient SLR a few months ago (Cosina CT90 - I know I know, its mine and I love it though..) and I've been playing around with it and reading everything I can get my grubby little hands on and generally getting more than a little addicted to this whole photography thing. I've been taking so many shots though that I'm bankrupting myself with film and development. I wanted to ask you guys if you know somewhere decent that does deals if I were to leave in, say.. ten rolls at a time? Costs me 90 quid where I'm going, colour 36 exp. Also, I'm sick of gleefully running to my local chemist to collect the fruits of my latest efforts only to find out the girl forgot to put the rolls in the bag for the courier guy to collect. Again. Any ideas? I'm in Dublin.

Sorry if this has been asked loads before. I did a search though and couldn't find anything. Its good to be somewhere I can ask these things too. Am I allowed to bug you all? I'm a complete novice and it'd be good to ask some stuff if I get stuck.

Cheers

DotOrg

"ten rolls at a time? Costs me 90 quid where I'm going, colour 36 exp"

that's very expensive. you should find somewhere where the photo lab person knows about cameras and film and is prepared to do a deal with you for large orders like that. did you ask for any discount? also, don't give them to places that send them off with a courier, develop them where you can talk to the person who develops the film

for example, i work in City Pharmacy on Dame Street (opposite the Olympia Theatre) and I know most of the time, what I'm talking about and can give much better deals for big orders or for regular, repeat customers

Fajitas!

Of course you're allowed to bug us...It's pretty much all I do every day.

Gunn's could be your best bet... Though everywhere is pretty damn expensive these days.

If it's any good to you, back home in Waterford, Boots do a deal, basically, 36 roll of film, taken over 3 day's is about 5.65 or something to dev and print. But I don't know of any Boots up here in Dublin, nevermind their costs or if they do the offer.

The alternative is sending them off to a developer, you might find some on the net, or at the back of a photography mag, but again, you'd have to save up a fair few films to make the postage worth while, which means waiting longer again to get prints...

(Or if all goes to all, I guess there's digital...but I'm with you on the film )

Edit: Or do what Dotorg is telling you to do

bp_me

Fajitas! wrote:

If it's any good to you, back home in Waterford, Boots do a deal, basically, 36 roll of film, taken over 3 day's is about 5.65 or something to dev and print. But I don't know of any Boots up here in Dublin, nevermind their costs or if they do the offer.

Isnt there one in the Jervis St centre?

Fajitas!

As I said...I don't know.

I don't use Boots too often, nevermind the one in Dublin.

Fionn

my my...
I cant believe it's got that expensive!!

is it because it's such a shrinking niche market???
I can remember going to the local chemist every weekend collecting the efforts of the previous week-end - this was the seventies

but it was a thriving business!! I always wondered why the chemists done it (well in my town) and not anyone else!!!

however after a newfound interest in digital I shamefully have to admit I have consigned film to the realms of scholarly pursuits and experimentation of those who know more but are, I suppose in effect somewhat luddite in their outlook and look down at us, the great unwashed digital scum!!

good luck with your study!!

Zillah

If you're spending that much money on a regular basis then I can't reccomend getting a digital SLR enough.

sineadw

Thanks to all for the info - Dotorg I might be in this week or next. I really didn't have a clue where to go. Probable stupid question: why is it important the person I leave them with knows what they're talking about? Can I ask for special stuff to be done in processing? I know you can do all sorts when you develop yourself. Would a lab tech take that on?

Not a luddite lol. I have a digital (albeit not an SLR. I use it for snaps and for composition these days). I work as a graphic and web designer so I'm well used to digital imagery. There's something about film though. I think its the fact that even I can understand the physics, taking the camera apart and looking at all the bits has helped me understand all the settings and the way it all works. Its almost fully manual (just a battery operated shutter I think?) so its been nice and simple to learn. So far I've purposefully limited myself to the original 50mm lens, and only 200 colour film. I think if I had the full gamut of bells and whistles open to me I would have been impatient and tried everything, and it wouldn't have sunk in. Make sense? Plus I think really hard about each shot I take. With digital I think I'd be one for shooting lots and just hoping for the best. I wanted to really learn the stuff.

Plus I can't afford one Thats the real answer lol.

I'm off to check on my bid for a new lens on Ebay. Thanks so much for your input. I have to run tonight but I want to get on and read tomorrow.

Night all.

DotOrg

sineadw wrote:

Probable stupid question: why is it important the person I leave them with knows what they're talking about? Can I ask for special stuff to be done in processing?

no we can't really develop the film differently but you can ask for the pictures to be darkened, brightened, for the white balance to be fixed or not fixed, for something to be cropped in a way that makes the picture look good rather than someone who doesn't care a bit about your pictures. If there's a shot that's got very dark and bright parts, it's the techs job to decide which should be correctly exposed and which should be over or underexposed and that takes someone who cares and who knows what makes a good picture

sineadw

Ah I see - thanks again for that. I was wondering what I'd do about white balance. And the exposure thing makes sense - I left some rolls in a while back that'd been taken in bright sun but backlit subjects, and they came back bleached. My fault with the shutter speed and not using the light meter properly I know (and lesson learned) but they were a huge disappointment.

Thanks again I'll make a point of getting into town..