Colourcare
Several times over the last few years I have sent XP2 films for
processing by Colourcare via high street photography shops.
Once, after I asked for the usual sepia effect, I was told by
the shop staff that the prints would come back whatever colour
the operator chose, which did not inspire me with confidence...
The standard of processing seemed to vary from good to terrible.
Dust spots and parallel scratches were the main problems; somehow
the dust spots appeared both white (caused by dust on the negative)
and black (no idea how they were caused!!).
After having two or three rolls processed to a fairly good standard,
I had one back which looked like all of the buildings and people
in the photographs had been standing next to a nuclear explosion!
Faces were totally bleached out, and buildings lit by fairly diffuse
daylight looked like they had been whitewashed.
The last roll of XP2 I sent to them (only a few weeks ago) looked
like it had been printed in a snowstorm. Dust was everywhere:
in the sky, all over people's faces, and nearly everybody who saw the
prints commented on it. Most of the dust seemed to be
shredded particles of the sleeve the negatives were returned in,
and brushed off fairly easily. Unfortunately, several frames were
also ruined by marks and scratches.
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Colab
I rang the company directly to ask if they could handle a roll of XP2.
"No problem!", they said, "Just mark the envelope `Print as sepia on
colour paper'", which is exactly what I did.
Unfortunately, when the
prints arrived back in the post, they had been printed a nasty shade
of green; they even included a colour photo from somebody else's film,
perhaps as a hint to use a `proper' colour film in future!!
To be honest, I didn't really mind about the green colour, after all
I can print them in black and white myself, but I was most annoyed
to discover that one frame had been badly damaged during processing,
looking like it had been folded in half and dropped on the floor.
Of course, it's always the best frame on the film which is ruined,
and this shot in particular was the only `informal' picture I managed
to take of a friend's son as a page boy at a wedding.
On the whole, with the exception of one frame, the processing was
fairly good.
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City Photo
I had a roll of XP2 which I needed processed in a hurry,
and therefore I opted for the one hour service. I stated that two
sets were required, and the shop assistant wrote it down.
Fifty-eight minutes later I went back into the shop and asked for
my photos. "Oh", said the assistant, "They're not due for another
two minutes..." Fair enough, I waited for two minutes, and the
prints were handed to me - only one set though! I had to wait
another hour before my extra set was ready...
The colour of the prints was slightly on the reddish side but quite
pleasing, and the density was well adjusted. There were a few small
dust spots and one or two minor processing marks, but on the whole
a good job.
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Tripleprint
Tripleprint is a mail order company I use a lot for colour processing.
Recently, I decided to use them for a miscellaneous roll of XP2.
When the prints arrived back, there was a note enclosed explaining
that the Tripleprint service was available for colour negatives
only, and that my film had been passed on to their sister company
(Bonusprint) for black and white processing. I don't know why the
film couldn't be put through their normal C41 channel; it could be
for reasons of machine filtration calibration or something similar.
The prints were made on black and white paper (not the usual sepia
effect on colour paper), which was more expensive than the usual
colour processing. No extra payment was asked for.
The standard of processing was good, with the contrast and density
of each frame well balanced. Unfortunately the usual dust marks and
processing marks were there. Some of the dust spots were dried into the
negative and therefore could not be brushed away. Some minor drying marks
and short curved scratches were present on isolated frames. However,
the overall results were pretty good.
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