countspatula
TPF Noob!
I am not a professional, but I do have a degree in motion picture filming and know what I'm doing. I have taken a lot of great pictures with my Pentax SLR, but I have been getting really frustrated over the last few years because I can't seem to get decent looking prints from a roll of film. I usually take my rolls to a 1 hour-type photo place and have had no problem with getting fine prints. Over the last 3-4 years I have not been able to get decent prints. I have lived in NYC for 3 years and this is really where I have had problems. I have taken stuff to a pro lab (L&I, C-Lab) and they turned out great but were outrageously expensive and I can't afford pro lab prices. So my question is multi-pronged:
1) I assume most little labs are using some type of digital to film system and I think this is the problem. How do these work? My biggest gripe is that at the worst, I have actually seen aliasing on 4x6 prints from a negative! At best, I have noticed that particularly skin tones have this weird look, like they have almost been solarized or a 'softening' or 'blend' tool has been used. I bet there is some kind of 'skin tone algorithm-thingy' going on, we have a similar function on higher-end video cameras.
2) Do those of you in NYC, particularly NOHO, have suggestions for a decent small lab for the amateur photographer? Once again, I have gone to L&I and C-Lab and they are great but way too expensive.
3) Am I crazy? :crazy: Is this happening to you too? I can understand this happening with cheap-o digital enlargements, but regular prints should look good. It's discouraging and makes me not want to waste money of film, but I love it and don't really like shooting digital, but it kind of freaks me out because I fear that for the average Joe, digital to film prints are going to look better than film to digital to film prints.
Thanks in advance,
Sean
1) I assume most little labs are using some type of digital to film system and I think this is the problem. How do these work? My biggest gripe is that at the worst, I have actually seen aliasing on 4x6 prints from a negative! At best, I have noticed that particularly skin tones have this weird look, like they have almost been solarized or a 'softening' or 'blend' tool has been used. I bet there is some kind of 'skin tone algorithm-thingy' going on, we have a similar function on higher-end video cameras.
2) Do those of you in NYC, particularly NOHO, have suggestions for a decent small lab for the amateur photographer? Once again, I have gone to L&I and C-Lab and they are great but way too expensive.
3) Am I crazy? :crazy: Is this happening to you too? I can understand this happening with cheap-o digital enlargements, but regular prints should look good. It's discouraging and makes me not want to waste money of film, but I love it and don't really like shooting digital, but it kind of freaks me out because I fear that for the average Joe, digital to film prints are going to look better than film to digital to film prints.
Thanks in advance,
Sean