Is it normal for a developer to not cut and protect 35mm negatives? Usually I get prints when I develop, but its not practical if I am scanning them anyways, so I asked for the development only. I come back, give them nearly $20 for 4 rolls, and they hand me the translucent white film canisters that I dropped the rolls off in. I figured they must have at least cut them and put them in the canisters. I get home, and not only are they uncut (and obviously not in sleeves like what would be ideal), they are fucking taped together. The final image on the roll got fucked when I took the tape off. Is this the norm? Either way, what a kick in the nuts. They already had dust and hair on them before I even opened the canisters.

Posted by willskith I asked for the development only.

Doh!

I've seen negatives being mishandled at those drugstore minilabs, but I would not expect this in a proper camera store.

Definitely not normal. I'd be pissed just for the fact that they put the negatives in a canister like that. Then again, it's Ritz Camera. If you want something done right then find a pro lab that has a good reputation for doing that sort of thing properly.

I was under the impression that when you pay $4.50 a roll they also cut and sleeve your negatives... They also scratched 2 of the 3 rolls I dropped off last time, but I decided to give them a second chance. What a mistake.

CVS has scratched 3 rolls of my film, Ritz has scratched 2 and then given no care to 4 others, Bromfield (a local chain I tried) is way overpriced, Walgreens is incompetent, and Walmart doesnt sleeve the negatives. I'm considering learning to develop film myself, but honestly I'm probably just as incompetent.

Another question is what should I do next? I probably should go back and tell them to cut and sleeve them like they should have, and also bring up the fact that they scratched my negatives last time and get my money back.

I really enjoyed developing back when I used to do it by hand, but it is fairly expensive to set up and maintain.

If you do a lot, it would probably be cheaper in the long run, but you're really paying for the time.

it is definitely very very time consuming. also i had problems finding a place to dry the film so it was in a dust free area. otherwise i would get bits of dust stuck to the damn emulsion while it was still wet and soft, and then its stuck there forever. so i just pay to get my film developed.

Yeah, like I said, I'm paying them to do that because I cant. They are supposed to be able to take care of the film so I dont have to.

a lot of places don't cut them if you only want negatives. most people i know specifically ask for them to be uncut because the store will cut them in 4's and their scanners hold 6. as for the tape, that's just stupid on their part.

1. get your monies back
2. BURN THAT FUCKER DOWN!@#!@#!@
3. profit?

Im mostly worried about storing them. Are you able to buy those shitty plastic sleeves to put them in?

They are cheap too http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=negative+sleeves

I would say find a pro store or a family run store. It will likely cost you the same, if not less. At least that has been my experience. They will cut to whatever size you want. And give you nice binder ready sleeves.

The place I goto calls the cutting of the film and sleeving it 'archiving'. That is normally done as part of the developing cost.

Perhaps when you said developed only, they took the 'only' word very seriously.

Some people actually prefer the uncut film. It's helpful if you run it though a commercial film scanner where you can feed in the whole roll in one shot instead of each 4 frames of cut film.

I actually requested the uncut one time because I got the film developed with proofs only because I wasn't sure if the exposure was going to come out right or not. If I wanted to get any digital scans done, it was much cheaper for them to have the while roll intact to run through the scanner than to pay them to scan the cut film.

Makes sense. I went out and got those sleeves, Argonian, they are nice. And cutting it isnt too bad. But now I need to apply pressure for a while so that they arent curling. In your experience, people, how long do you usually do that for?

I worked in the lab at ritz for 3 weeks and it sucked.

Develop only I would always cut and put in sleeves.
Maybe they have someone retarded working back there?

Go to target.

Process only (no cut, no sleeve) is 99 cents.

Or develop yourself, especially if you shoot 120, the chemicals will pay for themselves quickly.

I got some sleeves for myself too.

Posted by willskith Makes sense. I went out and got those sleeves, Argonian, they are nice. And cutting it isnt too bad. But now I need to apply pressure for a while so that they arent curling. In your experience, people, how long do you usually do that for?

Stick the sleeves in between two big heavy books overnight. It will keep them nice and flat. Then just store them in a binder. If you are planning on scanning the negatives in the future, get dust off. It gets the job done for the most part.

Thats what I have been doing. I was using plastic gloves to handle the negs and my dog sheds like a beast and I never vacuum so i have been using canned air to clean them before they go in the scanner.

Brian: do all Targets have photo labs? I never noticed that before.

Posted by willskith Brian: do all Targets have photo labs? I never noticed that before.

Dunno.
All the ones I've been to have had them..

You have to decide how much you care about quality vs cost. I go to a little family run pro shop. They know me by name. They know that I prefer my 6x6 cut in 4 and put in sleeves that run lengthwise. They take pride in their work. Scratching negatives would be a big no-no. For example I once ran off a test print and they were upset with the way I handled it. I was being gentle, but allowing for a curve in the paper.

There really isn't much point in me comparing prices, because things are priced different in Canada. I can tell you that they charge relatively the same as the chain down the street. For some things it is even cheaper.

I just think if you are taking the time to use film you may as well spend an extra dollar or two to make sure that negatives are treated well.

Posted by argonian I just think if you are taking the time to use film you may as well spend an extra dollar or two to make sure that negatives are treated well.

True. I'm done with the chains, there are a few shops near me I am gonna try out.