Wal-mart = awesome

Y

ywenz

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just got my roll of expired kodachrome and a roll of 120 Fuji Acros.. Paid $4.88 for the mounted kodachrome and $3.88 for the 120 (processed + printed). WOW!

Before I found out about walmart, I was paying $10 to process a roll of 120 like a sucker at my local pro photography lab.

Everyone - do your processing at walmart as much as you can to hopefully ensure they don't end this service anytime in the near future.
 
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Walmart does a great job of providing products/services consumed by the masses, at a price nobody else can match. But analog photography in general (and Kodachrome in particular) are not a growth industry. They are a niche. I wouldn't rely on Walmart for the future of film processing.

What happens when the pro lab goes out of business?

I would say it's guaranteed that Walmart will eventually end this service.
 
the pro photo lab wanted too much money for nothing extra compared to wal-mart. the day wal-mart end this service is the day i stop shooting film.....at current rate.
 
I remain convinced that the profitability of film processing in Walmart, Walgreens, etc., depends on the folks who buy those disposable cameras. That, in fact, makes me reasonably confident, because an awful lot of people only want to take photos once or twice a year and, hence, see no need to buy a digital.
 
but the future generations will all be computer savvy so digital imaging goes without saying...

i remain convinced that one day in the near future digital technology will be able to reproduce the look of every film stock exactly so there won't be any tears shed for the eventual extinction of film. Until then however, wal-mart will be a frequent stop...
 
You guys may be happy with Walmart, but my last photo experience with them (last July) was far less than awesome! :( Nasty scans! Dirty negatives! :(

That, compared to their record of having less than stellar citizenship makes me want to give them less of my business.

In all fairness, all of the retail minilabs seem to suffer from the same inconsistency. It's C41 roulette! Sometimes you get great scans and spotless negatives, sometimes you don't.
 
I took film to Wal-mart once and I'll never do it again. Scratched negs and crappy scans. What's worse, they misplaced a set of prints. If I hadn't stood there and waited for them to search until they found them, I'm sure the staff would have been happy to send me on my way and rely on their "not responsible for lost film" policy.
 
you talking about C41 that is done locally by walmart staff or the specialty film(non 35mm C41) that is sent out to FUJI and/or Dwayne's in Kansas(for Kodachrome) ?

I'm talking about the latter.

My Kodachrome was mounted and packaged properly and even a hand written note was attached outlining what was done. My 120 was processed, trimmed and placed into a plastic envelope.

Great service for less than $5 each.
 
ywenz said:
you talking about C41 that is done locally by walmart staff or the specialty film(non 35mm C41) that is sent out to FUJI and/or Dwayne's in Kansas(for Kodachrome) ?
Click to expand...

Actually, I'm just using it as an excuse to b*tch about Walmart!
 
ywenz said:
Cool dude, enjoy shelling out top dollars to your local pro lab.
Click to expand...

You can call me "dude" if you'd like :rolleyes:

My pro lab gives me rapid turnaround time for the "extra dollars". If all one wants is inexpensive I can respect your Walmart recommendation, but if one wants/needs quick turnaround than the "extra money" is often well-spent.

(I'm not talking about Kodachrome; I'm talking about MF and LF C-41, E-6 and B&W)
 
You're right ... I was talking about in-house 35mm processing. I don't even know if the ones around here do send-away 120. I'll check.
 
Walmarts and all other drug stores, Cosco, & Sams Clubs are hit & miss. Some take pride in their work and some, well it's a job. My local Sams Club is great, Local CVS is not so great, I got home and put in the cd and it was blank!:( But I can take the negs back and let them rescan them. My biggest beef was with Fuji. Don't let WalMart send XP-2 to fuji. They think it's E-6 process film. You will have to wait two and1/2 weeks like I did and they didn't even scan the negs. bummer.
 
There is a CVS between my home and work that does really well; a Walmart near my home that does OK, and a Walmart closer to my home that is terrible. My experience with Walmart sendout is the negatives coming back with no sleeves, and a little beaten for it. I guess it all depends on the personell.

Ed
 
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