beginner - getting b/w film developed? help!!

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greetings!

i am *very* new at photography, basically just trying to get things in focus and exposed properly.

i shot 3 rolls of kodak tri-x 400 film and today went to have them developed. this is where i started to get confused...

seems i can't drop it off at cvs and for $8 get back 24 purty pictures. i have been searching the net and a lot of places for $8 will develop and give you a contact sheet

what does this mean? i take it develop means just the negative but the prints are extra?? and what is a contact sheet? i don't know the first thing about any of this!

also, the guy at the photo place said that they can only develop c-41 film in house. now they sell a kodak b/w that says c-41 on the box. does that mean that joe schmoe photo lab can do it?

thanks for your time!

-jen

-- jen dickert (mintcure@geocities.com), March 13, 1999

Answers

I'm pretty much a beginner too, but maybe I can help a little. A contact sheet is a largish print made with all the negs flat on the paper, so the images will be just as large as the negs. This will allow you to see generally how the pics turned out, as well as which ones are over- or underexposed. Then you can choose which ones you want printed for real. So your negs get developed and you get the large index/contact print. The C41 black and white films can be processed at any color lab, however, I think some labs (non-pro) probably have never seen it, and don't know what to do with it. I'm new to black and white, and will probably start using the C41 b&w film until I can assemble some sort of darkroom. Anyhow, good luck to you and let us know when we can see your purty pics!

-- Greg Morey (gmorey@ziusudra.com), March 14, 1999.

If you really want to learn black and white photography you are going to have to bite the bullet and develop and print your own. Its not hard to learn. Maybe the best way is to look for a basin photo course at a local community college. Lacking that, a trip to the library is in order to find out about film tanks, developer, fixer etc. For a start, you neednt have an enlarger. Make contact sheets (your whole roll printed on one sheet of paper) Any closet that you can darken will serve for loading film. For making contact sheets, the laundry room or the bathroom will do. The C-41 "black&white" films are actually single layer (I think -- others please comment) color negative films with a different color background mask. They process in the 1 hour machines, and usually print with a sepia tone. They will also print just fine as a black and white negative, with perhaps an adjustment of contrast filters. The lady at the drug store will probably give you a strange look when you bring it in. Just tell them to call their parent lab, they should be up to speed on this film by now.

-- Tony Brent (ajbrent@mich.com), March 15, 1999.

I'm going to throw out a link here for an excellent place. They are one of the best if not the best out there. But you are going to have to pay for the quality work.

http://www.photogs.com/dalmatian/

-- Jim Mitrovgenis (Old Gray Beard) (jmitro@hotmail.com), March 17, 1999.


Just a minor caution on the C-41 process B&W, which I use often. Any 1 hour or other lab that does a decent job on color negatives will do an eqully good job on the B&W. The film processes identically, BUT making prints isn't so clear cut. The printing machinery is set up to work with color negatives, with their orange mask, and often attempt to adjust color for good facial skin tones. Obviously, that doesn't fit the B&W. Kodak recommends a specific filter pack for use in printing T400CN. Many labs don't use it. Probably most never even know about it. Mainly because there are so few rolls of T400CN processed relative to color neg. The result is that you can't always judge your negatives by the prints you get. I have found that the "clueless" lab prints tend to be muddy, low contrast, and dark no matter what the subject or exposure (within reason). If you can find a good professional lab near where you live, give them a try. But they ususally do cost more. You may be surprised to find that the results are better than you had thought. Have them process some film, and also print some of your "less than loverly" negatives to compare with the cheaper labs. If you are lucky you may find the "mass production" lab has been doing a good job. Or you may find that your images are better than you thought. Either way, you'll learn from the comparison.

-- Richard Newman (rnewman@snip.net), March 17, 1999.

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