I bought some film from Huron Camera today and they told me that they have
experienced some Kodak film with holes in the emulsion.  They said it has not
been found in the Kodak professional films, but in their lower cost films.

I ended up buying Fuji 400 HG professional print film for a trip out west.

11 responses total.

McPoz, be thankful you don't live in Rochester, New York, the home Of Eastman
Kodak.  Over there, almost all the camera stores sell Kodak film exclusively!
Talk about corporate greed!

All in all, I think Kodak has made great quality strides.  They used to be
second choice to Fuji, but I think they are both a toss up now.  (Other than
the holes in the emulsion)!

I've always liked Kodak film, but have mixed feelings about Huron Camera.
Have you been able to _verify_ there is a problem with "holes in the
emulsion" on some Kodak films?  Was it only Kodak films purchased from
Huron Camera?

Don't get me wrong, I have no beef with Huron Camera, they certainly have
some good merchandise.  I've just always found same quality cheaper (locally)
and have gotten the feeling from a couple sales perns there that they were
on the line of 'used car salesmen'.  When I was recently doing extensive
comparison shopping, they were not only the most expensive on each and every
item on a long list, but their prices were based on large perchase (items
prices would be more if bought individually) and they were _very_ protective
not to let me look over a shoulder at the mfgs catalogue which showed their
costs next to the msrp (four other local shops allowed me to see the same
catalogue with little discomfort).  That kind of 'service' just doesn't
leave me with a warm feeling.

No, I have never experienced any holes in emulsions.  It was a comment passed
on to me by the sales person.  I agree that Huron is high, but they will drop
10% if you buy complete packages from them.  Then as you buy additional
accessories, they will gladly give you the 10%.  

Hmmm...   10% off a price inflated by 18%-20%...   pretty good deal   ;)

You certainly can buy cheaper and if it meets your needs, you're that much
the better.

After thinking about my response, I need to elaborate:

I took a set of negatives to 4 different processors, including Kodak.  I admit
I favored Huron, because it is local.  The prints from all four show only two
that have good color, contrast and lack edge darkening.  Those were Kodak and
Huron.  The cheaper prints were ok if you viewed them alone, but alongside
the Kodak or the Huron, they were clearly inferior by anyone's judgement. 

I did the same type of experiment 25 years ago and I still have those prints.
At that time, I used Kodak as a "favored" and compared to local which included
names you don't see anymore, such as "Hite over Nite".  Kodak then won easily.
The interesting thing is the other prints have now turned brown, but the Kodak
has not.  

Huron uses papers which are color guaranteed for 40 years.  I have not
completed this test, but I'll let you know in yr 2030.  

I just took 300 or so pictures of the southwest and if you saw a sampling of
them, I would wager a Heinekens that you would reconsider buying by price.

btw, I have also used Photo 1 and they were very good, just not as convenient.
As I remember, they were quite expensive, but superb quality. 

When I require special processing/handling I take my film to Meteor Photo in
Madison Heights.  There's another lab I used a few times in Farmington Hills
(or was it Southfield) but Meteor by far was both more reliable, and with
better reproducibility of results.  They even were able to specially process
some old Ectachrome 400ASA (fastest at the time) at 3200ASA!  They wouldn't
assure the colors, and I admit most of the photos had wide color shifts, but
I have some of the best "natural light" slides of Siegal Schwall and John
Mayall taken from front row center seats at Masonic Auditorium.
        No, I don't only buy for price...my price comparisons were for
identical items priced at different stores.  I didn't compare processing (and
have yet to do so).  btw - does Huron do its own processing in-house?  Is it
the same folks who used to do Sun Photo processing (I had lots of problems
with them, and the main guy from Sun Photo is now at Huron)?

Huron has one of the $70,000 Fuji auto processors - same as does Meijers. 
Both of which apparantly do a good job!  I have not priced Meijers, but photos
seen at work are very sharp and pleasing.

Sun Photo had really cool old Dip-and-Dunk processors, but they were
probably past the end of their useful life before the store finally
closed.  I know that the Asian looking chief sales guy from Sun did (and
may still) work at Huron Camera.  But I don't know what happened to the
lab staff from Sun.  I'm pretty sure the owner of Sun retired.

I worked there in the summer of 1989, and was laid off a few months before
the end.

You probably are referring to Eason Chun (or Chung?).  I first saw him at
Quarry photographic.  When he saw me 20 yrs later as I walked into Huron
Camera, he greeted me by my first name.  What a memory!

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