developing requests (orders?)to the developer

iceturd · 03-04-2010

Hi....just getting started with a holga after getting interested after running into articles by accident and being on hols with no option but old 35mm film camera. anyhow....have read that places will " fix" my photos as they think they should be...not going to the local
1 hour developing kiosk cause there aint one here that does 120 film. will send it to a place that seems to know what they are doing. will they still try to fix stuff that i might want to keep or they know people want their holga photos "as is" or should i say or do i actually want certain things corrected? or is it easier just to explain all this to the dude there and he'll be able to steer the correct path.
but anyway, good to be informed so i know more......thanks....
also, i got 2 little kids, a fulltime job and a parttime business so developing myself is pretty far out of the question........

kully · 03-04-2010

They'll only be able to correct as far as pulling and pushing the film - for example if you accidently shot 400 speed film as 200 or 800.

The other corrections you mention are probably at the scanning stage, most probably the scanner will be on auto. If you want them to do each scan manually carry some more money in your wallet.

degruyl · 03-04-2010

Drop it off at the lab and see what it looks like. If it is color negative film (and you have no business shooting slides without aperture and speed controls) it will probably be printable / scanable.

In other words, developing is not likely to need changing. Especially if you shot ISO 400 in daylight. (I think. I don't actually remember that much about this cameras shutter speed / aperture values. I think it is supposed to be f/8 or f/11 switchable and 1/60 second. Not sure, so do not use this as a reference.)

If the scans come out horribly, take the film back and have them run it through the other direction. The first frame is used to set the exposure for the scanner, I believe. To help with this, you can ask that they sleeve the film instead of cutting it.

If you are getting proofs and the prints are bad, and they are being printed optically (possible, but doubtful at this point) ask them to redo the prints with an eye towards making them printable. I suspect they will be scanned, though.

You did fail to mention what type of film you have been shooting. Black and white or slide can be adjusted for the conditions it was shot at (successfully) but you have to know what those conditions were with respect to the film speed and exposure. Plus or minus 2 or even 3 stops are possible.