Photo Lab Review #2: Sharp Photo & Portrait
Sharp Photo & Portrait
http://www.sharpphoto.net/
Location: Eau Claire, WI
Formats: 35mm, 120/220, APS
Chemicals: B&W, C-41
I first heard of Sharp Photo and Portrait on the Film Photography Podcast. An employee named Spencer had arranged for certificates for free processing scans and prints to ten winners. Michael Raso, the host, supplied the film rolls of frozen Ektar 25. But I digress…
The key allure of Sharp photo is the price of development only—C-41 rolls (and cross-processed) are a mere $1.49 while B&W is $4.99. Return shipping is a low $2.50.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting Sharp to be all that great. The website leaves a bit to be desired, since the order forms take a few clicks to locate (but you can find them here) and honestly, I consider a cartoon mascot to be a bit unprofessional.
I ordered a roll of C-41 development (120 film shot in my Hasselblad), the “high resolution” CD, and an index print. The grand total for everything was $10.94.
I’ll start with the index print. I wasn’t expecting an 8×10 contact sheet like I make in the darkroom, but I was at least expecting the full square image area. Instead, the index print gave the rectangular aspect ratio that you’d expect from 35mm film. A minor downside, though.
The scans themselves were in the correct aspect ratio, and they were really good quality. No dust or scratches, and the color was spot on. I shot a few frames underexposed, and as expected, the shadows started turning blue in order to save the image. But they still looked good. I decided to pit the results from the photo CD against the results from the basic workflows I use for my three photo scanning software options—EpsonScan, Vuescan, and SilverFast SE. I used an Epson V700, and you can see the results below:
The photos are:
A (Top-Left): Silverfast SE
B (Top-Right): Vuescan
C (Bottom-Left): EpsonScan
D (Bottom-Right): Sharp Photo & Portrait
The color balance of the Sharp scan is spot-on. I do like the warmer colors of the Vuescan image—notice the landscape in the far background—but the overall effect is far too orange. Also, there are seems to be no dust or hair marks on the scans.
I also noticed that the negatives were cut into small strips of two frames. Personally, I buy the PrintFile negative carriers that hold three frames each, so it would be nice to have 4 strips of 3 rather than 6 strips of 2. However, I don’t know if this is cut via machine at the time of scanning. I had placed an order with Richard Photo Lab and they did the same thing.
So, what’s my final verdict? Well, I don’t really have one per se. I sent in my order before I decided to do a thorough review of all these photo labs. I will have to see what their print quality is like, and also how well they scan cross-processed film. In short, though, I definitely underestimated Sharp before I saw their results. I’m looking forward to trying them out a second time, and at their prices, I can definitely afford to.
EDIT: I forgot to comment on the customer service. Well, I didn’t actually have to interact with customer service, but I wanted to show you what I received in the mail.
That’s a handwritten note. It says, “Your film & CD, sir… Please carefully tear into this package w/ unbridled joy & excitement.” I can’t offer any firsthand accounts, but intuition tells me that anyone who’s going to take the time to hand-write a humorous message on your return packaging is probably going to have a good customer service department.
