# chilly day at the beach



## OmlessWanderer (May 13, 2007)

I'm not sure why some of these look true B&W, while others from the roll have a funky color cast.  Some of them printed looking like they had a significant red tone(You can still see it in 2 and 4 a little).  Is this because the local lab is far from a pro-shop or is it my exposures?  I've been using Kodak Professional BW400CN(C-41 color process) film.  Any advice?

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## OmlessWanderer (May 17, 2007)

Anyone have any ideas about my question up top?


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## schumionbike (May 17, 2007)

Hi, your question is a pretty technical question and I don't know a thing about developing film.  The only thing I can say is I really like your third picture, nice composition and contrast!!


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## OmlessWanderer (May 17, 2007)

schumionbike said:


> Hi, your question is a pretty technical question and I don't know a thing about developing film.  The only thing I can say is I really like your third picture, nice composition and contrast!!



Thank you for the complement!   Perhaps you are right about the technical aspect of the question... I should probably post a follow-up in the film forum... ^_^


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## montresor (May 17, 2007)

I've had this happen with C41 as well. I saw it described somewhere (maybe on TPF?) as an issue with the machines used to print at the lab. C41 B&W is really color film that just comes out B&W (Help me out here, Film Girl!), and the color machines the prints are made on don't always get cleaned as often as they ought to, probably due to workload volume, and there's some lingering chemicals hanging around in there and they can kind of make things orangey-brownish-reddish....

Or maybe there's some other reason. I wouldn't trust my hazy memory too much.

Sorry to get so deeply technical there!


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## The_Traveler (May 17, 2007)

I can't imagine this is anything but a lab screwup.
Just like you can't get color on a BW tc set, you shouldn't be able to get color on a BW film - unless the lab has failed its part.
Poorly fixed BW prints get a reddish brown cast; perhaps this is the equivalent?


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## OmlessWanderer (May 17, 2007)

Thanks!  That certainly gives me a point to go from.  I did notice that compared to the two proper prints, the reddish ones have a bit more detail in the shadows which tells me they were exposed slightly brighter... I thought that might have been the problem.  Now I realize that even if I had completely blown out the highlights, B&W is B&W...


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## mysteryscribe (May 17, 2007)

If it is a c41 type black and white it is a common problem.  I had it everytime I had a rush job and sent it through a one hour lab.  They use color paper with a filter pack.  Any change in exposure over or under even half a stop changes the color balanace.  At least that is what they told me.  You can see the density difference in the prints but you can in the negs usually


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## montresor (May 17, 2007)

mysteryscribe said:


> If it is a c41 type black and white it is a common problem. I had it everytime I had a rush job and sent it through a one hour lab. They use color paper with a filter pack. Any change in exposure over or under even half a stop changes the color balanace. At least that is what they told me. You can see the density difference in the prints but you can in the negs usually


 
That sounds way better than my screwy guess! :mrgreen:


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## motcon (May 17, 2007)

labs don't color correct for c41 bw film. i shoot an awful lot of ilford xp2 (love the stuff), but the prints from the lab have a color cast. the kodak version is _supposed_ to print in true bw, but i've yet to see that happen on a consistent basis. the best that you can do is to tell them to make sure they understand that it's bw c41 film and to color correct for it.


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## OmlessWanderer (May 18, 2007)

motcon said:


> labs don't color correct for c41 bw film. i shoot an awful lot of ilford xp2 (love the stuff), but the prints from the lab have a color cast. the kodak version is _supposed_ to print in true bw, but i've yet to see that happen on a consistent basis. the best that you can do is to tell them to make sure they understand that it's bw c41 film and to color correct for it.



The guy at the shop seems to enjoy what he does and he looks at each roll when I drop them off so I think he's at the very least aware that there are going to be black and whites in with the mix.  I asked him if their machine was one of those scan to digital then print machines and he laughed and said "No, I'll never do that.  We put light through negatives" Unfortunately it's also a half-hour lab so that he can compete with wal-mart and target so he said he doesn't usually have time to do any corrections... :thumbdown:


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## bluerangeriii (May 19, 2007)

yeah bw c-41 negatives dont have that yellow cast to them like normal color films so you will need to correct them.  they usually come out looking purple.  if you are going to an actual photolab you have the right to complain about their service.  if its a generic 1 hour photo place you practically get what you paid for.


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## psuphoto09 (May 20, 2007)

I worked in a mini lab for a while. It was probably the lab. They may not have set the machine developing the prints to BW. It may have been left on C41 which could account for the reddish tone.  Are all four prints from the same roll?

You might also want to shoot B&W film (not B&W c41) and get it out lab processed.


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## OmlessWanderer (May 20, 2007)

Yeah, they're all from the same roll.  I posted them in the order they were taken as well.


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