No, Scott, thank you for posting this information--I very much
appreciate it. As I have no current plans to digitize, this is
valuable information. My wife and I have been using the Wal-Mart in
Winchester for most of our processing. The "pro" shops in toward DC
charge about four times as much, and the difference is usually
negligible (if present at all). I give the rolls to my wife, she
combines them with hers, and then she fills out the information at
the W-M photo kiosk (she has better handwriting than I :) As I have
said here before, I have never even read the information at the kiosk
regarding digital processing.
Anyway, in the years we have done this, our results with print
processing have been very good. I wish they would offer good B&W
print C-41 processing, though. Those two rolls with the purplish
tint disappointed me. Perhaps print B&W C-41 is just too strange an
animal? I have been thinking of leaving my color print processing to
W-M, and trying A&I mailers for my B&W prints. Overall, their prices
are rather high (though not more than the "pro" shops), but since
they charge only $1.50 a roll more for traditional print B&W ($15.50
vs. $17.00), I may opt for that. I have heard that their work is
excellent ("Old Grumpy" had endorsed them). I welcome any further
thoughts.
Regards,
Glen
On Oct 10, 2007, at 12:51 AM, Scott Loveless wrote:
> Since we've been tossing around the Wal-Mart name a bit, and since
> I've
> been doing some scanning recently, this has been on my mind and I
> thought I'd share (with the other 2 of you who are still shooting
> film).
>
> When I was working in Hagerstown, MD I brought my E-6 to a little
> independent shop called FirstLook Photo. They had a 2 hour slide
> service than ran about $8. Drop off before my shift, pick up during
> lunch. It was wonderful and well worth the price. The finished
> product
> was mounted in plastic and filed in archival pages punched for 3-ring
> binders. They also still did B&W in house. Not having the volume to
> process it every day, the store owner would do it himself once per
> week.
> I think he just liked black and white processing and wasn't too
> terribly interested in making money from it.
>
> After moving north a bit, FirstLook became inconvenient. So I started
> looking around for another E-6 processor. I tried three different
> small
> shops. None of them did it on site, turn around was at least a week,
> and the end result was variable. Prices ranged from $8 to $12 per
> roll.
> So I decided to try Wal-Mart. In case you don't know, Wal-Mart
> sends
> everything that's not 1-hour C-41 to Fuji. As I have had good luck
> with
> Fuji's processing in the past, via mailers, I put a few rolls in
> Wal-Mart's send-out bin. Success! About a week, quality was
> consistent, and the price tag was $4.88. Turns out, sometime
> between a
> year ago and now, Fuji closed their E-6 facility and contracted with
> Dwayne's. I like Dwayne's. A lot. They do good work.
>
> Bottom line, Wally World send out goes to Dwayne's. 36 exposure 35mm
> (E-6 and Kodachrome), 120 or 220 E-6 is $4.88 per roll, and it usually
> takes 7 to 10 days. I'm a happy camper.
>
> FWIW - there are a couple of "pro" labs in the area, but I haven't
> tried
> them. They cater mostly to wedding photographers and don't seem to
> have
> much interest in developing a roll or two for guys like me. They're
> also considerably more expensive. I suppose I'd use them if I was
> being
> paid for it, but for the amateur crap I shoot, Wal-Mart is fine.
>
> Thanks for listening.
>
> --
> Scott Loveless
> http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/
>
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