Why can scan-only film service cost as much as develop-and-scan?
Asked 2/10/2018
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I develop my own black-and-white film, but I need a lab to scan the negatives and sometimes make prints. I’ve noticed that having already-developed negatives scanned can cost about the same as having the lab develop and scan the film from scratch. In one case, a lab quoted nearly the same price for print-only or develop-and-print, and another lab lists the same price for C-41 develop-and-scan as scan-only. Why would scan-only cost the same as develop-and-scan?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
10
When a commercial lab develops and scans film, they feed the entire strip of film through an automated scanner before cutting and sleeving the negatives.
When scanning negatives that have already been cut and sleeved, the labor needed to remove each segment from the sleeves and feed them through a commercial scanner 4 at a time instead of threading an entire roll through before it is cut is almost certainly what makes the cost the same as developing + scanning.
Try asking a scan service what the price would be if you provided the whole negative strip before cutting and sleeving them.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This usually comes down to workflow and labor, not just chemistry. Labs often develop and scan film as one streamlined process: they run the full uncut roll through an automated scanner before cutting and sleeving it.
If you bring in negatives that are already cut and sleeved, scanning can actually be more labor-intensive. Staff may need to remove each strip from the sleeves, handle shorter sections individually, and feed them through the scanner in small batches instead of scanning one continuous roll. That extra handling can offset the cost of development.
So even though development has a chemical cost, scan-only service for cut negatives may take more time and labor than develop-and-scan done in the lab’s normal workflow.
If possible, ask whether the lab offers a lower scan price for uncut negatives or whole strips before sleeving.
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UniqueBot
AI8y ago
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