UK Film Lab moving to Canada

Just had my first invoice from Carmencita. It has worked out quite a bit more expensive than previously with UKFL. I don't think the exchange rates have helped since the referendum, but there ya go. It is what it is. I now await the scans back which apparently are up to 7 working days (I was sure I had read 5 days elsewhere). With the additional postage and wait time, it's not ideal.
 
I guess they are moving to Canada as there a plenty of wild bears to photograph and have developed. Being a less populated country I wonder at the wisdom of the move. They will more than likely loose all their UK clients and the Canadians may well resent new people taking away some of their own home grown clientel..
The grass is not always greener on the other side, as the saying goes
 
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realspeed said:
I guess they are moving to Canada as there a plenty of wild bears to photograph and have developed. Being a less populated country I wonder at the wisdom of the move. They will more than likely loose all their UK clients and the Canadians may well resent new people taking away some of their own home grown clientel..
The grass is not always greener on the other side, as the saying goes
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As a couple folk have said though, I think the decision to move is a personal one as opposed to a business one. They both just love Canada and have the opportunity to live there. They are taking the business with them of course. I hope they do well.

If Canada or the USA would have me, I'd move there tomorrow.
 
Those countries are too big, I would hate to have to drive 300 miles to go shopping each week
 
realspeed said:
Those countries are too big, I would hate to have to drive 300 miles to go shopping each week
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What? Is this meant to be tongue-in-cheek?

Most Americans or Canadians are definitely not driving 300 miles to go shopping each week.
 
skysh4rk said:
What? Is this meant to be tongue-in-cheek?

Most Americans or Canadians are definitely not driving 300 miles to go shopping each week.
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But guys say that can drive in the US (well I suppose away from the east coast) and drive 200 miles between a decent town. :eek:
 
Was this guy using a horse and cart or one of those new fangled motor vehicles? There are a lot of town/cities in America now since it was discovered a few years ago ;0)
 
stevelmx5 said:
Was this guy using a horse and cart or one of those new fangled motor vehicles? There are a lot of town/cities in America now since it was discovered a few years ago ;0)
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;) but would think central US states wouldn't be as populated as the popular places like California etc
 
realspeed said:
Those countries are too big, I would hate to have to drive 300 miles to go shopping each week
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methinks someone has spent too much time watching various "wilderness" reality programs on Discovery Channel ;)

Okay, it's a big, sparsely populated area (Especially the Nunavut and Northwest Territories), but the majority of the population live in or nearby towns and cities, just like anywhere else. It's just that if you DO want to live 300 miles from a town, there's space to do so - though lots of people who do that, tend to have light aircraft for their transport...
 
Has anyone had any films returned from UKFL before? What kind of sleeves do they return them in? I'm assuming cheapy generic ones?
 
Carl Hall said:
Has anyone had any films returned from UKFL before? What kind of sleeves do they return them in? I'm assuming cheapy generic ones?
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Yeah, just those Kenro translucent paper ones. They're okay for short-term storage, but I prefer the clear polypropylene variety for long-term storage and contact printing.
 
skysh4rk said:
Yeah, just those Kenro translucent paper ones. They're okay for short-term storage, but I prefer the clear polypropylene variety for long-term storage and contact printing.
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Ahh great, cheers. That's good news because the "greaseproof paper" style ones are what I store my negatives in normally :D I tried the polypropylene ones but I soon got tired of trying to get the damn negatives in and out
 
Carl Hall said:
Ahh great, cheers. That's good news because the "greaseproof paper" style ones are what I store my negatives in normally :D I tried the polypropylene ones but I soon got tired of trying to get the damn negatives in and out
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Me too, the polypropylene type drive me nuts and I always swap them when they arrive back from the processors. I've been using the glassine neg pages since the 80's with no negative effects.
 
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RaglanSurf said:
Me too, the polypropylene type drive me nuts and I always swap them when they arrive back from the processors. I've been using the glassine neg pages since the 80's with no negative effects
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See what you did there!!! ;););)
 
Well grease proof paper ones don't seem to affect my negs for storage as some are at least 55 years old.
 
The only thing that I don't like about the paper ones is that if you hold the folder up the wrong way, some of the negatives do tend to slide a bit, and then end up poking out of the sheets by a quarter of an inch or so. But I still find them much easier to use.
 
I'm not sure what is causing the frustration with the polypropylene negative sleeves. Mine are easy to use, easy to see through (i.e., to identify your negatives), and allow for easy contact printing without needing to remove the negatives from the sleeves. Simples.
 
It may be the brand used. I've found a variation in that some are rather more difficult to use than others. I don't know if film size matters in this respect, as I don't use 35mm.
 
Perhaps it's the brand that I've had in the past that's the issue then, as even the clear 120 sleeves I've had stick when you slide negs in. I've never bought any, I've just received them from film labs, so maybe they're using cheapy ones. Perhaps I'll push the boat out a bit and buy some clear Kenro ones when the paper ones I have now run out.
 
Carl Hall said:
Perhaps it's the brand that I've had in the past that's the issue then, as even the clear 120 sleeves I've had stick when you slide negs in. I've never bought any, I've just received them from film labs, so maybe they're using cheapy ones. Perhaps I'll push the boat out a bit and buy some clear Kenro ones when the paper ones I have now run out.
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I recommend the Clearfile variety; they're nicer than any sleeves I've received from any lab. They're available from Firstcall.
 
Got my scans back on Tuesday evening from my first order with Carmencita. Really happy with the service, turnaround time and feedback. Took a couple days longer because I had a roll of B&W there but overall, about the same as UKFL including postage but a little more expensive. I think I will continue to use them for anything serious.

Here's one from Danny & Katie's pre-wedding shoot. :)

1468424646418
 
gazmorton2000 said:
Got my scans back on Tuesday evening from my first order with Carmencita. Really happy with the service, turnaround time and feedback. Took a couple days longer because I had a roll of B&W there but overall, about the same as UKFL including postage but a little more expensive. I think I will continue to use them for anything serious.

Here's one from Danny & Katie's pre-wedding shoot. :)

1468424646418
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Saw this on your Instagram earlier. Superb shot! Love the feel of this.
 
Well, I've now received two batches back from Carmencita Film Lab. The first batch was a bit bright and lacking in contrast for my tastes, so I asked for them to adjust the second batch accordingly. The second batch, which I've just received, look much better in those respects and I was generally pleased. That said, there were a few photos with—what I thought—were considerable magenta casts, which I wasn't as happy about.









A quick example of magenta cast:

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 10.22.57 2.jpg
 
skysh4rk said:
Well, I've now received two batches back from Carmencita Film Lab. The first batch was a bit bright and lacking in contrast for my tastes, so I asked for them to adjust the second batch accordingly. The second batch, which I've just received, look much better in those respects and I was generally pleased. That said, there were a few photos with—what I thought—were considerable magenta casts, which I wasn't as happy about.









A quick example of magenta cast:

View attachment 69924
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Unsurprisingly I can see no difference between the 2 shots.... doh! :D
 
Ruffmeister said:
Saw this on your Instagram earlier. Superb shot! Love the feel of this.
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Thanks you. :)

skysh4rk said:
Well, I've now received two batches back from Carmencita Film Lab. The first batch was a bit bright and lacking in contrast for my tastes, so I asked for them to adjust the second batch accordingly. The second batch, which I've just received, look much better in those respects and I was generally pleased. That said, there were a few photos with—what I thought—were considerable magenta casts, which I wasn't as happy about.









A quick example of magenta cast:

View attachment 69924
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That's interesting with the magenta cast. The rest look really good of course. When I sent my first (and only) batch, I also sent examples of previous work so they were pretty close. What wasn't so great was the entire roll of B&W was flipped horizontally, so the engagement ring appeared to be on the wrong hand and his watch was on the opposite arm. :/
 
gazmorton2000 said:
That's interesting with the magenta cast. The rest look really good of course. When I sent my first (and only) batch, I also sent examples of previous work so they were pretty close. What wasn't so great was the entire roll of B&W was flipped horizontally, so the engagement ring appeared to be on the wrong hand and his watch was on the opposite arm. :/
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Wow, I'm surprised to hear about the flipped photographs.

My initial impressions are that they are quite helpful and do pretty good work, but that their attention to detail and consistency might not quite be up to UKFL's very high standards. It is still early days though and the scans do look fantastic printed.
 
skysh4rk said:
Wow, I'm surprised to hear about the flipped photographs.

My initial impressions are that they are quite helpful and do pretty good work, but that their attention to detail and consistency might not quite be up to UKFL's very high standards. It is still early days though and the scans do look fantastic printed.
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THe other problem I have is, I was happy to pay just less than £1 to post single rolls from general shooting to UKFL. The cost of postage to Spain is prohibitive to that unfortunately, which means it will be a while between shooting and developing my general, walkabout stuffs. :(
 
Canadian Film Lab have just opened to accept orders, and they actually have a UK pricing section which is a fixed UK price rather than one that changes with currency fluctuations. I think the prices are the same as what they were for UKFL too (C41 120- small £9, medium £10 and large £12).

I've looked at prices to send a parcel to Canada and it's £8.75 with Royal Mail. I think for most people this makes it prohibitively expensive to send film to CFL, however, they have said on their website that they're in the progress of partnering with DHL to find cost effective and quick ways of posting film to them. I think it's unlikely to be a cheap enough option for me to want to use them (especially when Filmdev is so cheap and fast now), but it's interesting that they're trying to work out ways to retain their old UK customers.
 
Carl Hall said:
Canadian Film Lab have just opened to accept orders, and they actually have a UK pricing section which is a fixed UK price rather than one that changes with currency fluctuations. I think the prices are the same as what they were for UKFL too (C41 120- small £9, medium £10 and large £12).

I've looked at prices to send a parcel to Canada and it's £8.75 with Royal Mail. I think for most people this makes it prohibitively expensive to send film to CFL, however, they have said on their website that they're in the progress of partnering with DHL to find cost effective and quick ways of posting film to them. I think it's unlikely to be a cheap enough option for me to want to use them (especially when Filmdev is so cheap and fast now), but it's interesting that they're trying to work out ways to retain their old UK customers.
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I have literally just got in from a couples shoot so guess where my film will be heading tomorrow? Canada!!!

Noo doot aboot it! Eh!

What aboot that then, @sunnyside_up
 
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Carl Hall said:
Canadian Film Lab have just opened to accept orders, and they actually have a UK pricing section which is a fixed UK price rather than one that changes with currency fluctuations. I think the prices are the same as what they were for UKFL too (C41 120- small £9, medium £10 and large £12).
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gazmorton2000 said:
I have literally just got in from a couples shoot so guess where my film will be heading tomorrow? Canada!!!
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As a long-time customer of UK Film Lab, I must say that I've been missing Christian and Erica dearly over the past few months. Carmencita have been pretty good, but if there were a decent shipping option available, I really might consider sending my film over the atlantic.

It's been taking a week for items to make their way to Spain for me, so British Columbia couldn't really be much worse, could it?
 
skysh4rk said:
As a long-time customer of UK Film Lab, I must say that I've been missing Christian and Erica dearly over the past few months. Carmencita have been pretty good, but if there were a decent shipping option available, I really might consider sending my film over the atlantic.

It's been taking a week for items to make their way to Spain for me, so British Columbia couldn't really be much worse, could it?
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The quoted postage time isn't much different on Royal Mails site, but if they hook up with a courier, it could be even better? They said they will know more today/tomorrow so I'm going to sit tight to hear back.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
The quoted postage time isn't much different on Royal Mails site, but if they hook up with a courier, it could be even better? They said they will know more today/tomorrow so I'm going to sit tight to hear back.
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I will wait to see what they say about this courier.

My other concern is customs, which doesn't come into play for packages sent to Spain, but does for Canada. In theory, exposed film doesn't have any commercial value, but that doesn't mean that Canadian customs officers will necessarily see things that way when they spy a big bag of film coming through.
 
If UK film lab just use particular presets on the dev and scan machine can't a new lot with the same equipment not be guided into doing it how people want?

Air mail shouldn't be that slow but it won't be that cheap. I'd hope customs wouldn't start unrolling exposed film.
 
srichards said:
If UK film lab just use particular presets on the dev and scan machine can't a new lot with the same equipment not be guided into doing it how people want?
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UK Film Lab don't use presets; they scan and adjust each individual frame to your tastes.
 
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