Re: really no purpose anymore for traditional films (negative or diapositve) (by 2006) ?

babelfish <babelfish2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Then I should send you a Colorthink screenshot of our profile matched 
> against Costco's as proof of the difference. You would clearly see that
we 
> have about a 20 percent greater gamut volume, mostly in dark saturated 

I would have agreed with you a few months ago, but they have moved to a
richer
gamut themselves.  

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/custom/enhanced_labs.htm

Many, if not most of the Costco labs now use this.  Did you compare their
enhanced profiles or their standard [from only a couple of months back]?


> colors and deeper blacks. IOW, we print more color than they do. If
you're 
> serious about photography, and you must be or you wouldn't be here, then
you 
> shouldn't assume that all processing is the same except for the price.
The 
> mere pennies that Costco charges makes for quite a deal for the average 
> person who isn't concerned with getting all that is possible from your 
> files, but you DO get what you pay for. We drive our lasers harder to 
> achieve greater Dmax and color gamut, but this reduces the lifespan of
the 
> equipment and it's more difficult for our technicians as well. Our
workflow 
> places no restrictions on file types and we do any required profile 
> conversions and sizing as a matter of course. Anyone who comes to my lab
for 
> reprints with work that was done first at Costco immediately sees the 
> improvement, but most don't remain as steady customers because of our 
> increased cost of doing a great job. Consequently, we get the problem
files 
> and most im****tant images while Costco gets the quantity.
> 
> This is the world we live in where price is the ONLY thing that matters
to 
> most people and it's sad when even professionals and cor****ations are 
> willing to compromise the majority of their images to save a paltry
amount 
> of money. In this environment, anyone who attempts to do his best is
quickly 
> driven out of business and soon only the shoddy mediocrity of hucksters
will 
> remain.
> 

Still, I will be glad to do side by side comparisons pretty soon.  I value
the
quality over the price, in general.  I think you are likely correct, but
Costco does offer an incredible value for a color profiled option, and I
must
do the due diligence to rule them in or out.

-- 
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: D281 77A5 63EE 82C5 5E68  00E4 7868 0ADC 4EFB 39F0