Hi Bill,
Yes, Qualex uses a cine process. I can't imagine running 10,000 C-41
rolls per night on a dip and dunk! When I was there, the cine ran at 60
feet per minute. At that speed, a 36 exposure roll is really moving.
The thing that made me very nervous when I first saw the machine was the
idea of wet emulsion being squeegeed at 60 feet per minute. At first
glance, it appears that the emulsion is being rubbed.
After observing though, I noticed that the machine runs at least 20
minutes worth of leader before the control strip comes out. We checked
for scratches and make DAMN sure that the thing is in **perfect** control
(on a densitomiter, naturally) before we send customer film through.
Then the very first roll is behind another 15 minutes worth of leader
before it comes out of the last squeegee. That's a lot of time and a
film of surface tension from the water is really what removes the excess
fluid.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Sue Pearce [mailto:bspearce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 9:59 AM
To: jlamadoo@xxxxxxxx
Subject: lab question, from Bill, not Sue
Interested to hear you have spent time (been sentenced?) in a big lab. I
have a question, as Qualex has been my secondary choice, when I don't want
to spend the price of my favorite pro lab. How is the film processed? I've
always assumed it was still in a cine machine, as years ago, but don't know
for sure.
Thanks,
Bill Pearce
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