Why RGB Color is GREAT ;)


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Red Dawn

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2002
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Singapore
www.5stonesphoto.com
Hi

i decided to post my hearty endorsement of RGB Color after reading 2 threads here on not-so-positive experiences at other photo labs. For those who have heard me rant here before on this.....too bad! ;p

Now the standard disclaimer applies, tat i have no relation with RGB other than that of a very satisfied customer.

RGB Color is the best PRO lab I've ever encountered so far, especially for slide processing. Now there are a lot of other good pro labs around (one example is ColourLab at Adelphi, which was recommended to me by Ckiang, and one which i patronised until i discovered RGB), but RGB Color really takes the cake.

Why so? The most compelling reason is that they deliver express same day service at no extra charge - both slides and negatives. In fact, almost anything i send them can be collected on the same day. (of course don't go in at 6pm and expect same day service) when their closing time is 7)

It's remarkably refreshing to hear "u can collect at 3 pm" instead of "collect tomorrow at 6pm". i came back from China with 8 rolls of slides...2 of them are Provia 400F that requires pushing 1 stop to 800, and all 8 rolls came back on the same day, 3 hours later. In fact, i had to collect them LATER than the time they were ready, cos i was at work and can only collect them later in the day.

Which brings me to the second compelling reason: slide processing there is cheap compared to the rest. $4.80 for normal processing; add another 50% more for any number of stops of pushing, up to 3 stops.

Which means, pushing a roll of slides any number of stops up to 3 will only cost u $7.20 at most per roll. Some other labs i know charge 50% extra for EVERY stop pushed. Some charge 100% more! NONE of the other labs are able to give u back the pushed processed slides within the same day.

RGB does it all. And so far, after over 10 rolls, all slides came back clean, unlike 1 roll which i sent to ColorLab which came back extremely dusty and with some mounted slides not properly mounted. good thing that was only a test roll, and not something important. (this seems to be an exception though, Colorlab usually gives very good results)

Yesterday i knew i was going to be late for collection of a neg i sent in (this was shot in China too). While on the way there, i decided to try my luck and called RGB, asking if they could somehow wait for me a while. They said no problem, and took down my order number. They really waited. I checked in 20 minutes past closing time. All of the staff had gone home, except 1 lady (whom i presume to be some kind of supervisor there), and she was packing up the shop while waiting for me to collect.....get this, just ONE roll of Press 800 that was pushed one stop to 1600. They have already prepared it for collection so there was no searching, no fuss.

And guess wat, she let me examine each print one at a time, and allowed me to take my time satisfying myself that the roll had been properly processed. All past the official closing time of 7 pm. Now this is wat i call excellent professional service!

They are having a promotion ongoing now - if u buy Velvia or Provia from them for $9:50 and $8:50 respectively (standard rate, no markup), you can get your slides processed normally (no push) for just $2.40 (half the usual cost). i think it only applies to Fujichromes though.....

RGB decided to give me 3 of the 8 processed rolls for $2.40, though i bought the extra slides from them only later. :cool:

I think some have said that RGB's method of slide processing will result in a stapled last frame, or badly mangled last frame cos they use the clip and dunk method (or something like that). I examined all my slides closely and could see no evidence of clipping or stapling or any form of abuse on the very last portion of my roll of slides.

Anyway my 1v seems to always leave the last bit untouched and will not give me more than 36 exposures per roll, so in that regard, my last frame will always be unexposed and there's always going to be a leeway between the 36th frame and the very end of the roll.

Lastly, this post is not meant to be a knock on other labs, just something for works for me. I think colorlab offers slightly cheaper negative processing. (but not one day service). ColorLab at Adelphi also offers very good service - they even brought me into their room to see their machines, scanners and computers in action and explained their workflow to me. In terms of price however, RGB is definitely cheaper and faster than ColorLab (for slides especially).

Your mileage may vary, as will your preferences.
 

I totally agree with you on RGB's outstanding level of service. The 2 ladies there at the counter are terrific people.

Love their 2 huge light boxes.

The new deal is great for Provia and Velvia. Just a tiny touch more if you'd bulk-rolled yourself....very worth it. Picked up 10 rolls of Provia and 5 rolls of Velvia from them yesterday. Its got to be the BEST deal in town.

I also tried FotoHub on the 3rd floor of OUB Centre (Raffles Place) THAT is also one fantastic place for processing flim. I've been extremely pleased with their enlarging work. Not so cheap for E6 though.

In conclusion, RGB gets my absolute vote for E6 whilst Fotohub gets my enlarging and scanning business.

ed
 

The only things I don't like about RGB:

1. Not-so-convenient location (Beach Road branch).
2. Expensive neg-to-print and scanning ($0.50 per 4R with processing, $0.55 without).
3. Expensive slide scans (forgot how much, quite a bit more than the rest).
4. The risk of getting the last frame stapled (I routinely get 38 frames per roll)

Otherwise, they should be pretty good. And I have 15% discount there as well, so probably I'll try them when I don't get 38 frames per roll. ;p

Regards
CK
 

Originally posted by ed9119
I totally agree with you on RGB's outstanding level of service. The 2 ladies there at the counter are terrific people.

Love their 2 huge light boxes.

The new deal is great for Provia and Velvia. Just a tiny touch more if you'd bulk-rolled yourself....very worth it. Picked up 10 rolls of Provia and 5 rolls of Velvia from them yesterday. Its got to be the BEST deal in town.

ed

Any idea what's the model # of the 2 lightboxes (I remember they're JUSTs, a 'branded' lightbox ) and how much they cost? My 5x7" is getting too small. ;p

Incidentally, the Nikon 8x loupes they are using are OEM Peak 8xs. :)

Regards
CK
 

Have been using RGB to process my slides since the beginning. Fast consistent processing and frenly service. Not not mention free empty canisters!!:)
 

Originally posted by kongg
Have been using RGB to process my slides since the beginning. Fast consistent processing and frenly service. Not not mention free empty canisters!!:)

i always let them throw away my canisters ;p
so u've been picking them up? haha :)
 

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