From: uunet!jericho!brett (Brett Cheng)
Subject: Photolab quality problems - how?
Keywords: photofinishing quality
Organization: S-MOS Systems, Inc. (Vancouver Design Center)
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 17:46:55 GMT

I have a few questions regarding how a modern photofinishing machine works,
and how some specific quality-related problems might possibly occur.

The reason I ask this is because I just had 2 rolls of color print film
processed, and the results are quite simply the WORST quality I've ever
encountered. (and this is from a camera/photofinishing dealer I would
normally associate with being one of the better ones in town)

The problems with the processing were:
1) severe problem with dust on the negatives when printing - we're
   talking BIG specs of dust on the prints here...
2) on one roll, approx 4-5 frames of the negatives have been damaged
   on the emulsion side - to me it looks like they were improperly
   dried or handled when wet - the emulsion is crinkly or has minute cracks,
   and these cracks or wrinkles clearly show in the prints.
   In fact, one of the frames is so badly damaged they didn't even print it.
   A second one not quite as bad was printed, but it is plainly obvious that
   there is something wrong with it
3) on various parts of both rolls, there are irregular jagged scratches
   on the BASE side of the negatives - these scratches are NOT along
   the linear direction of film travel and are irregular so I know they
   cannot be caused by my camera. These scratches are quite visible
   in several of the prints as fuzzy jagged lines.

All told, a good 30% of the prints/negatives in these two rolls of 36
exhibit these problems (and I don't count the handful with minute bits
of dust showing either) - the person checking these must of been blind
or not looking. 

Okay, so I know theres a bunch of you out in rec.photo land that have
experience with these modern photofinishing machines.
I have enough experience in a B/W darkroom to recognize dust problems,
improperly dried negatives, etc, but I don't know how color film is 
processed these days. 

So the QUESTIONS I have are:

	-> what is the basic flow of processing film in
	   one of these machines? (from film canister in to prints/negs out)
	-> how is it possible for these problems to occur?
	   (human error? machine problem? both?)
	-> is there much human interaction/handling in the processing or
	   is the process mostly automated?
	-> is the processing in the "sealed" machine - i.e. where is
 	   it possible for dust to be introduced?
	-> how long does it take to process a roll?
	-> how is the film dried?

The sales guy at the store when I returned the prints/negs to complain
_appeared_ sympathetic and said that he couldn't understand how these
problems could happen, as the negatives come out of the machine dry. 
He said that the photolab person would look into it.

They've had a couple days now to look it over, and I've still to get an
explanation/resolution to the problem. After a couple unreturned calls
I finally reached the salesman I originally spoke to, and I was told 
yesterday that the lab person was "too busy with a backlog" of processing to 
investigate my problem. I find it unlikely that I would experience problems 
on 2 rolls and be the only one, so it seems to me this lab has some serious
quality problems, or at least they did on this particular day.
Why they would put priority on clearing a backlog before
solving or at least investigating a quality problem is beyond me
(I guess $ is the bottom line, and they have mine!).

I'm expecting them to call today with results of their investigation.
Any help from you on the net in understanding possible causes
for these problems and how these machines handle the film would
be appreciated. If things are not resolved quickly, I'll probably
write a letter of complaint to the manager. Considering the damage
to the negatives I'm inclined to also demand a full refund on the processing
(after all, they claim "satisfaction guaranteed" - hopefully they mean it)

Any other suggestions/advice?...

Thanks.

Brett




-- 
Brett Cheng
uunet!jericho!brett    brett%jericho@uunet.uu.net