Indeed, it has been three quarter score days since my last post, and for that I apologize, an accusatory finger pointed towards work. With three or four projects to juggle, I've had none of the little relaxing interludes I've come to cherish so much.

I think I will make a series of smaller, themed posts, rather than one gigantic pile of talking. It's no less work to write or read, but it feels like it. This one will be photographic in nature.

So. The Pink Cow is doing well. I've shot twelve more sheets of film with it, but haven't yet developed any of them. I hope they don't suck a lot. I'm still really happy with the camera and I'm glad I built it.

Those twelve sheets of film will hopefully be easier to develop now that I bought a UniColor drum and motorized base on eBay. I always thought automated development was super expensive (the cheapest Jobo unit costs $750 new, $300 used on eBay), and, though I longed for it, I resigned myself to sitting in the dark and shuffling sheets of film in open trays. Then the same guy who helped me build the Pink Cow clued me in to these UniColor drums, which are available for next to nothing; I got mine for $32. They're intended for developing 8x10" paper prints, not film, but a little bit of modification allows them to handle four sheets of 4x5" film at a time. They lack the temperature control of the expensive Jobo units, so I can't do color negative or slide film, but for that price difference, I'm perfectly happy to let labs continue to handle my color film.

Of course, after my recent experience with my first roll of 35mm Velvia, I'm a bit wary. When I dropped off the roll about two or three weeks ago, they warned me that it might take a while because they wait to run the slide film developing machine until they get enough rolls to make it worth it. I said that was fine. But after two weeks with no word, I called to ask if it was ready. They said it should be back that evening, and that I should call the next morning. I did so, and they said, "I've been looking for your roll all day. It seems to be lost. Was it important?"

I didn't think that was a sensible question to ask a customer. Aside from the fact that a photo lab should treat all customer photos as important, there is the fact that regular color negative film processing costs $3, while slide film costs $10. I'd think it's safe to assume that if I used a type of film that costs three times as much to get developed, then yes, I consider it important.

She asked me to call back the next day to see if it turned up. We'll see what happens. Even if it doesn't turn up, I don't think this will prevent me from using them for my color negative film — I assume that it was the infrequency of their slide film development runs that led to the loss. Negative film gets done in 24 hours, so they don't really have time to lose it. Still, that's strike one, and I don't intend to allow them three.