"I know that a lot of poeple on this list
like Fuji film, but I never liked the colors on their
print film and being in Rochester I would feel like a
rat bastard if I bought Fuji for my first slide film."
I'm certainly not the first one to make this statement on the list, but I
think it bears repeating. It is virtually impossible to judge the color
balance of a print film based on viewing prints. It is possible to judge
saturation, especially when using something like Ultra 50, but with print
film, there are just too many variables. There are a variety of papers in
common use, from Kodak, Fuji, Konica, Agfa, and Mitsubishi, just to name a
few. The predominant differences are contrast, but there are differences in
color balance as well.
The biggest difference is in the printing. Assuming you are making
judgements based on custom prints (judgements made on machine prints are
simply invalid), no two skilled printers will judge density and color
balance the same. They will likely be in the same neighborhood, but there
will be a difference. I work with one custom printer, and we know each other
well enough that I can give him a negative and tell him "print best color"
and know I will get a satisfactory result.
I have noticed that some one hour labs do have tendencies to a warm or cold,
light or dark balance, but it is not dependable. No matter what machine they
use, all it takes is one operator to make a dramatic change. Even the much
heralded Fuji Frontier is operator dependent. I just saw one installed in a
local Sam's Club, and I wonder how the highschool dropouts that are running
things will do.
Bill Pearce
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