Worked in a photo lab for a while. Developed some very old 127,620 and 35mm rolls that were found in family member homes after they had passed. Some successful and some not, but many images not great were still able to be printed and family members able to remember the moments. Depending on how they were stored makes a huge difference. If they were stored in an attic where it got hot, not good, in a cool place like a refrigerator much better. I would get them developed without printing them. Look at the negatives and then decide which images you want printed. The first couple were generally terrible but the deeper into the roll the better they got.
Had and experience with my Kodak photo printer using aftermarket ink cartridges. They literally destroyed my printer. Thought I would save $$$'s buying aftermarket cartridges. The savings was huge so thought I would give them a try. Don't buy aftermarket or refilled cartridges they junk up the print head to the point where it costs you more to get it fixed than the printer is worth. Now I only buy genuine ink and am in year 4 with my printer with no issues. I learned from a bad choice.
Have purchased many thousands of dollars of equipment and cameras from Cameta and never had any issue. I prefer them over B&H and Adorama as I have purchased from them also. Cameta just to me seems to be more helpful with knowledge...
Kodak use to be a good company. Kodak actually came out with the first digital camera and the idea was scrapped because it would have destroyed their film business. Kodak bought a company Qualex for a film processing business and I believe also Konica. They had many processing plants across the US and Europe. Kodak had many photo labs at one time in various places like CVS, Walgreens, RiteAids, Targets, Walmart and many photo shops. They lost a lot of business to Fugi and HP in their labs. To date the only place I know of with a Kodak digital lab is CVS. Almost all labs have turned to digital for a couple reasons the first is digital has become the way to go and second the disposal of the chemicals needed to process film became to costly. Even capturing the silver from the film didn't cover the costs. They came out with digital cameras a bit to late companies like Canon and Fiji etc. ran with the ball. They were behind the times and playing catch up. In all fairness Kodak still makes a great photo printer their 6400,6800 and 8100 make a great print. Remember the Kodak Crank Camera? Poloriod won that law suit and they were forced to discontinue making the film cartridges for them!!! Made the cameras for all that owned them useless...
Have been dealing with Cameta Camera for years, their customer service is outstanding. Have never had an issue with them. Before purchasing my last DSLR I researched a lot of different companies B&H included. It appeared to me most cameras, lenses etc. of good quality are pretty much fair traded items. If using Canon gear you have the option of using Canon USA. If the price seems to good (by hundreds) it's probably a gray market product. 47th Street had such a deal. I was very unsure because of that...My last purchase was with Cameta for a camera and a new Sigma lens. No problems and I love them both.
Shorty50,
I am also a long time Canon user. To start I would suggest the Canon T5 or T5i. The kit comes with an 18-55mm lens, which is a fine lens to start with. The person and the lens behind the camera is what makes it work. I would spend less on the camera body and more on the lens. My absolute favorite walk around lens is my Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 lens. The lens will cost you more than the camera body but in my opinion the results are much better. I deal with Canon USA and Cameta Camera for my needs, both are great...Check out the refurbished section at Canonusa.com for savings. Good luck...
I have tried a few third party inks and refill companies. None of them can compare to the genuine cartridges. Color quality is not the same. Most ink printers in best photo mode use large amounts of ink. FYI using third party inks voids the warranty on the printer. Was doing research and found the best photo printers for what I needed believe it or not were made by Kodak. First I purchased a Kodak 6400 about 3 years ago (not ink) small format printer, have never had a problem with it. Each roll of paper and ribbon prints about 500 prints. You do need an SCSI card to run the printer. If you want the more recent version it's the Kodak 6800 and for large format printing the Kodak 8800, which is my next printer purchase of choice. These printers put a coating of lamminent over top to prevent fingerprints etc. I also have a Kodak Office Hero 6.1 for everyday wireless printing and scanning. This is also a photo printer which I have used it for and does a good job. This is an opinion after years of using Epson, Canon, and HP printers which I will not go back to. For thoughs that need prints on the fly try Pandigital no ink needed, it's in the paper.
Have been using Lightroom for a while. There are many courses out there to explain it...Once understood it's very easy to work with and you can use Photoshop with it...By itself it is a fine program...I have use elements and, personally like this better...Just a matter of choise.