Re: [APML] Film Destroyed

[Robert Sherwood <photorob00@yahoo.com>]

As apparently the only person on list who has actually worked in a photo 
lab, I have to say the "advice" given by most of the others so far is 
somewhat less than intelligent.

(Disclaimer:  Any rants are not directed at you, Augie.  Your post is 
merely the most efficient one to respond to.)

True, the film lab is protected legally against any compensation beyond 
replacement of the film and processing if applicable.  If the lab were 
liable for every little problem, then there would be no film labs in 
business anymore.

Aside form that, how do you place a value on the film 
contents?  Astrophotographers spend 10s or hundreds of hours collecting 
their images.  Compare that with the landscape photographer who may have 
from seconds to minutes worth of exposure time, but what about the hours of 
hiking to get the shots?  How about the once-in-a-lifetime vacation photos 
from Bermuda or Alaska?  And of course the portrait photographer -- the 
only film which arguably has any intrinsic value, and rather ironically, 
the only film which has any realistic chance of being redone in a timely 
manner.  Who's images are more valuable?  They are all EQUALLY valuable in 
the eyes of a competent lab worker.

The people working in the lab are only human - unlike some of the people on 
this list who feel themselves to be gods - and are not immune to 
accidents.  Many lab accidents are not due to any person's negligence.  I 
have personally seen film affected by power failure, jammed leader cards, 
and unexpected chemistry failure (yes, chemicals CAN sometimes go bad 
almost overnight).  An alert person can often jump in and solve the problem 
before it becomes disastrous, but eventually, a roll will not be 
recoverable.  And trust me, NOBODY feels worse than the 
processor.  Why?  Because he is responsible for the film, and it was 
damaged while under his care.  Imagine how you'd feel if your best friend's 
pet died while under your care.  That's pretty close to the way I felt 
whenever anything happened to a roll of film - no matter how insignificant 
the problem.  And when a problem is due to human error, any decent worker 
would feel even worse.

Now what can you do?  Talk to the lab workers.  Find out exactly what 
happened, and work WITH them to make sure it doesn't happen again.  The 
odds are that this is not a recurring problem and they have already taken 
steps to prevent it from happening again - you would not believe how much 
I've worked to learn the cause of a previously unknown problem.

I wouldn't leave the lab forever except as a last resort.  Don't bother 
trying to threaten the lab this way either - it rarely has any positive 
effect, and usually by the time things get to this point the lab workers 
really couldn't care less where you go.  It amazes me that anybody would 
leave over a single roll of film - what about the hundreds of rolls that go 
through the lab every week without any problems at all?

If you do change labs, just remember that the new lab is also staffed by 
regular people who are just as prone to problems as the old one.

At 02:18 PM 3/12/05, you wrote:
>I just had a whole roll of Fuji Provia 400 destoryed
>at a local film lab.
>Has anyone ever had this happen to them.
>If so, what kind of action can one take against the
>film lab, if any?
>Augie
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