Prints from D70

[sameerj]

I recently graduated to Nikon D70. When I got the first prints from a photolab, I was very disappointed. I then realised there is no way to calibrate the printer that does not belong to me.

Does anyone have any hints/tips on how to get good digital prints from a photo lab?

Thanks,
Sameer.

[Photo-John]

Did you do anything to set up the files before you took them to the lab? What kind of printer did the lab have?

I haven't done any local minlab prints from a digital camera for a long time. I usually have mine done online. But if I were to use a drug store or department store, I'd set up the image as usual on my computer, and then I'd convert it to the sRGB profile before saving the file for printing. Color management is very important and the safest bet is te sRGB profile, if your using any consumer output device. And ask questions. If you find a good lab, stick with it. Some labs are careful about controling their chemicals and caibration. Some aren't. When you find a good one, don't mess around. Stick with them.

[hellinvader]

most photolab uses the tranditional chemical process even for digital prints, it also go thur the filteration just as film neg. does. there's two way to avoid the problem u got, 1st way is simply look at the prints u got and spot wutever colour problem u got and tell them the problem and have them to reprint it (most big lab would do it for free). the 2nd way is except for pro level labs like london drugs, most big labs like costco nvr change their filter setting, they had a standard filter which would suit most cases. for example, the costco lab nearest me's print r always too blue, so u can print a sample print from them and try to match your monitor's colour w/ their meachine. just like u match ur monitor w/ your own printer.

[DownByFive]

I've gotten several prints (8x10) from my D70 done at Walmart and they turned out pretty good, they weren't perfect, but the color was pretty close to what it was on my monitor. One thing I've learned about cheaper photo labs is that they aren't very tolerant of Photoshopping, so I just try to do the bare essentials to make the photo look good, and stop there. But if you could say what exactly disappointed you about the prints, that might give me a better idea of what the problem may be...

[OldSchool]

I recently graduated to Nikon D70. When I got the first prints from a photolab, I was very disappointed. I then realised there is no way to calibrate the printer that does not belong to me.

Does anyone have any hints/tips on how to get good digital prints from a photo lab?

Thanks,
Sameer.

Hey Sameer,

Post-processing and color management are both important steps from camera to print. To make things harder for us D70 users, the images tend to come off kind of flat (to me) when using all the D70 default settings. Further, the D70 purposely underexposes from 1/3 to 1/5 EV to avoid blown highlights. It's my thought that Nikon expected that the D70 users would more sophisticated and PP all images before printing.

There is hope though if you are interested in using your camera in more of a point and shoot mode. Check out this thread:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=12212734

I use the Photogenic's P&S +3 custom curve (uploaded to the camera with Nikon Capture) and really like the images so much more straight off the camera.

Good luck,
Tim