Re: PHOTO-3D digest 2292 -Reply

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

Bob Maxie write:

>> BOBBO'S ADVICE: Have Kodak process the
>> Kodachrome and mount it yourself. 

And Mike K. replied:

>I've been doing that for the last year or so, but part
>of the "sloppyness" I mentioned may still apply.  Part of
>the sloppyness is what looks like processing scratches.
>Not often but I've had some -- usually on the best image.

This seems to be a fairly common problem with "develop only" processing.
It has happened to me with both Kodak "Premium" and Fuji processing (E6
only), so it's not unique to either vendor.

My guess is that the scratching happens during the manual handling of the
film, particularly when they sleeve it and roll it.  The emulsion is
probably still somewhat soft from the developing process, and any amount
of abrasion will scratch it.  Probably the worst time to slide it into a
plastic sleeve and roll it into a tight spiral. :-(

Since I got my RBT and have taken advantage of Fuji's full-frame mounting
service, virtually none of my slides have been scratched.  I attribute
this to the fact that I'm using their processing line in the way for
which it is most heavily optimized, and eliminating the manual handling
steps.  When I choose to remount, I just zip open the plastic mount.
Since there's no discount for "develop only" processing, the only cost of
doing this is the small amount of waste from the mounts.

Kodak's Realist mounting service seems to me to be the equivalent route
for Realist-format users (at least eliminating the sleeving and rolling
steps), although the mounting process is much more manual than 35mm
full-frame mounting.

	-Greg W.


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