Seattle Film Works

[P3D Gregory J. Wageman <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I thought I'd share my recent experience with Seattle Film Works with
this list, in case anyone is contemplating using them for their 3D
work.

I took advantage of their "Free film" deal.  They send you two 20-exposure
rolls of their house-branded film, one 200ASA and one 400ASA.

(Now, before anyone starts in with the outdated Usenet folklore, in
the past SFW used to respool Eastman motion picture film.  THEY DON'T
DO THIS ANYMORE.  Their film is most likely Agfa, "Made in Germany" is
clearly displayed on the film can.  There's no telltale identification
on the film edge to prove this conclusively, just a number (and DX codes,
of course)).

I took their film out as well as some Kodachrome 25 and Ektachrome 100,
and spent a few hours shooting landscapes and railroad yards and
trestles near my home, in my brand new RBT X2B.  The Kodak films were
used as a kind of 'control' group just to show that there's nothing
wrong with the camera...  I wasn't expecting much so I didn't shoot
anything that I couldn't reproduce if desired.

I mailed the film back in their prepaid mailer at the local Post Office
on Tuesday morning, and ordered one set of 3.5x5 prints and slides.  They
give each customer an ID number, which you can enter on their Web site
to find out the status of your order.  They didn't begin to process mine
until the following Monday, it was supposed shipped on Tuesday, but
despite paying for Express Mail, didn't arrive in my mailbox until Friday:
total time, 10 days.  My local photofinisher turns around E6 in two days,
K14 in 5.  Strike one.

They do some things very nicely.  My order was packaged inside a poly
bag (inside the Tyvek Express Mail envelope), with a zip-open strip at
one end.  The slides, which are mounted in Italian plastic snap-closed
mounts, were enclosed in a continuous plastic sleeve, three slides to
a row.  The negatives come back with an interesting protector attached.
Not exactly a sleeve, it is a thin strip of plastic attached on the
emulsion side with a "Post-it"-like adhesive on the sprocket edge.  The
backing side of the film is unprotected.  A paper strip is attached
similarly on the opposite edge, with instructions printed on one side
of it for ordering reprints, along with SFW's frame number (which
doesn't necessarily match the film's).  I give them good grades for
packaging, if nothing else.

Now about image quality...  The prints were unexceptional.  The images
were reasonably sharp, but the colors were very subdued, even for print
film.  The slides were exceptionally grainy, almost as grainy as Polaroid
Instant Slide film.  Particularly in shadow areas, the grain appeared to
'float' in front of the image when viewed in stereo.  The colors were
more vibrant than the prints, but nowhere near the saturation of
either Kodachrome or Ektachrome.  And of course, since these are second
generation images made from a negative, the exposure was controlled by
their printing equipment, not by me, and contrast was distinctly lacking.
The worst of both worlds.  Strike two.

I wouldn't use their house-branded film again.  Their quoted prices
for developing and printing include a replacement roll of film, but
you can write "No film" on your order form and receive a discount of
about $2.50 for 36 exposure rolls, which makes their prices reasonably
competitive with other labs I've used.

They will process any chrome film (including Kodachrome, but I bet
they send it out; they tell you to add "5 additional days in-lab",
but they don't say whose lab).  They will make prints from chrome film,
but in this case they make an interneg, which they return to you, with
your slides, making those prints a *third* generation image.  They don't
dupe slides, either.

I haven't tried their two most-touted services: pictures-on-disk, and
pictures-by-email.  The down side of pictures-on-disk is that the file
format is proprietary.  You must download their software to display it;
it runs on Windows and Mac; no Unix version is available nor planned,
according to their Web site.  If you order pictures-by-email, they send
you an e-mail notification when your order is ready, along with a
password.  You can then log on to their Web site and download your
images, again stored in their proprietary format.  Except for the rapid
turn-around, and of course, cost, I see very little advantage to this
approach over having one's slides scanned to PhotoCD; certainly the
resolution is better on PhotoCD, and PhotoCD software is available for
most platforms, including my orphaned Atari.

In conclusion, my overall impression is that Seattle Film Works is
geared toward the photographic consumer who wants a mail-order
processor with a few digital gimmicks, sort of a "poor-man's scanning
service".  If you find yourself to be a good fit with their operation,
you will probably be satisfied with them.  I don't find myself to be a
good "fit" with them however.

        -Greg W.




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