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RE*AC*TOR · 10-09-2009 8:29am #1

Been shooting some E6 recently, first time I've used it. Dropped it into the Fuji place on Abbey St. They are pretty expensive, even for C41, of which I had a couple of rolls as well.

Obviously, it's easy enough to get better prices for C41- but E6? (€8.50 a roll - Dev only).

Specifically can anyone recommend a mail service?

image1960 · 10-09-2009 9:11am

Fact is..it is very expensive to maintain an E6 service. I am from Photocare in Abbey St, so we painfully aware of the costs. This is the reason there is nobody else left in business.
It is all to do with the volume of rolls. A few years ago we were processing over 2K rolls every month. Now we have to devide the same overheads to a qtr of the volume.
We will maintain the service, which is highly valued by our customers, as long as it is viable. So for as long as enough Irish Photographers see a value in a local service, we will offer same.
Sure it can be done cheaper by sending to the UK, but when that becomes the only option, it will not be so attractive in the long term.

RE*AC*TOR · 10-09-2009 9:22am

I appreciate that. This wasn't intended as a put-down of any particular business, more searching for lower costs.

For an amateur / hobbyist photographer, like me, having to weigh up costs of film processing, it just looks less and less attractive to bother with slide.

Fajitas! · 10-09-2009 9:24am

To be fair, €8.50 for E6 isn't all that bad, other places can and are charging 12 quid for the same, which is waaaay too much for a dev-only process. The problem with a postal service is, while you might get your developing down to about €6 (Or more likely €7), you're still paying for the P&P, and running slightly more risks of damage to your envelope, on the way there and back, along with depending on our postal service...

If you're still interested, a good few people over here use Peak Imaging, but I think it'll work out cheaper for you to use Photocare - Developing over here is quite a bit more expensive than it is back home (And I'm talking double the price in a lot of places :-/ )

If you wanted, you could always learn to develop yourself? Rymus and Elven on here process their own slide film, it's a bit of an initial investment, because unless you're anal about temp's and rotations, you're going to be buying a simple enough processor and a tank for it, along with the chems, but after that, it's not too much hassle!

RE*AC*TOR · 10-09-2009 9:29am

Fajitas! wrote: »

If you wanted, you could always learn to develop yourself? Rymus and Elven on here process their own slide film, it's a bit of an initial investment, because unless you're anal about temp's and rotations, you're going to be buying a simple enough processor and a tank for it, along with the chems, but after that, it's not too much hassle!

I'd give it a go. Already do B&W.

Fajitas! · 10-09-2009 9:43am

No reason not to give it a go then - There's more chemicals involved, and it's a lot more specific than B&W, where you have a lot of leeway with times and temp's - With colour neg/slide, any variation will give you a colour cast.

Keep an eye on eBay and the likes for a second hand Jobo processor, something like this, second hand, in good nick, won't be too pricey, they're usually kept in quite good condition too. I think I've seen a few of them go for less than €200 inc. everything but the chems. Chems work out about €40 in Gunn's. Those chems should do for about 20-25 rolls of 35mm - So for, say, 240 quid, you can develop 20-25 rolls of film, and 40 quid for another batch of chems afterwards.

It is awkward, and you'll see why people use labs, but hey, it's worth giving a go if you're interested.

You can use the processor for your B&W developing too, so you'll be flying through the process in no time.

DaireQuinlan · 10-09-2009 9:55am

image1960 wrote: »

Fact is..it is very expensive to maintain an E6 service. I am from Photocare in Abbey St, so we painfully aware of the costs. This is the reason there is nobody else left in business.
It is all to do with the volume of rolls. A few years ago we were processing over 2K rolls every month. Now we have to devide the same overheads to a qtr of the volume.
We will maintain the service, which is highly valued by our customers, as long as it is viable. So for as long as enough Irish Photographers see a value in a local service, we will offer same.
Sure it can be done cheaper by sending to the UK, but when that becomes the only option, it will not be so attractive in the long term.

That's a pity. I thought it was only the mailers that were €8.50 as opposed to drop in which was €6.50. switched a while back though after a short hiatus which was probably when the prices started to go up.

I had some conversation with one of the guys in camera exchange about this a while back. Years ago he was working (iirc) in that camera shop that used to be down abbey street on the corner near busarus. That one shop used to process IN ONE DAY the same amount of slide they now reckon is being processed in the entire city over the course of a year. Or something nuts. I might be exaggerating a little, I forget the details

I have to say though, I've put film into most places in dublin at one point or another (though never Gunns for some reason) , and Abbey street was the only place from which the film came back completely pristine, zero scratches, no fingerprints, perfectly processed. So I'd heartily recommend them. Plus, I don't know whether you guys are still doing that "drop it in before nine monday,thursday,friday and collect it that evening" but that service was pretty convenient.

As regards processing your own, I've never done E6. Done C-41 for a while now and have it down pretty cheap, which probably contributes to the lack of slide I shoot nowadays. That and Ektar, which is replacing slide for a lot of stuff that I might be tempted to shoot transparency with. It's a gorgeous slide-like C-41.

Fajitas! · 10-09-2009 9:58am

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

That one shop used to process IN ONE DAY the same amount of slide they now reckon is being processed in the entire city over the course of a year. Or something nuts. I might be exaggerating a little, I forget the details

I'd heard something like that too, except on a more national scale. It's crazy alright. There must be a horrendous amount of unused film cameras sitting in attics.

RE*AC*TOR · 10-09-2009 9:59am

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

That and Ektar, which is replacing slide for a lot of stuff that I might be tempted to shoot transparency with. It's a gorgeous slide-like C-41.

Am waiting on 10 rolls of Ektar at the mo. Looking forward to it.

i_am_dogboy · 10-09-2009 10:41am

Earlier this year I got 1 litre tetenal E6 kit for something like 12 euro on ebay to do some cross processing, you could always try find some of that and give it a go by hand before even investing in a proper processor.

I haven't shot slide, but I've been happy enough with the results from a few types of negative film that I've just not been tempted. Personally, I don't like the colour production in ektar as much as I did elite colour, but it is nice, and I do shoot quite a bit of it.

image1960 · 10-09-2009 2:43pm

Thanks for the recommendation DaireQuinlan!
We process Mon, Wed & Fri morning, so orders ready for collection at 4pm.
On home processing... while pleasing results can be achieved, if everything is exact, it is technically not an E6 process, which specifies nitrogen air burst. This adds a sparkle to the result.
However Slide film shooting and developing can be a journey to some, not just the destination.
Its true that nobody "needs" film anymore, it is a ( not cheap) hobby and art form.

duffarama · 10-09-2009 3:24pm

image1960 wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendation DaireQuinlan!
We process Mon, Wed & Fri morning, so orders ready for collection at 4pm.
On home processing... while pleasing results can be achieved, if everything is exact, it is technically not an E6 process, which specifies nitrogen air burst. This adds a sparkle to the result.
However Slide film shooting and developing can be a journey to some, not just the destination.
Its true that nobody "needs" film anymore, it is a ( not cheap) hobby and art form.

A sparkle eh?

I'm interested in shooting slide but didn't know where to get it processed, so it's good to know there are places that I can drop a roll of film into in Dublin. I've a fair few rolls of Ektar and Fuji pro 400h to get through first though :pac:

DaireQuinlan · 10-09-2009 3:48pm

image1960 wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendation DaireQuinlan!

No worries, as per our previous agreement, I'll expect my mailers in the post ASAP

duffarama wrote: »

A sparkle eh?

The nitrogen burst is just for agitation though, right ?

image1960 · 10-09-2009 8:29pm

Yep is is for "even" agitation
E-6 demands absolute consistency in agitation, and absolute control of temperature, which is an obstacle for home processing.
We get visits from Fuji Technical Dept from Euro Headquarters ( as we do the process paid service for them) and one of their checks, is the size of the air bubbles which need to be precise. Too little - not enough aeration of the chemistry, too much -can cause foaming which would result in streaks on the film.
Now...where did I put that envelope..

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