Opinions of Dwayne's?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I'm going to be sending some Kodachrome to Dwayne's...their rates seem quite good, and I figure I might just save up some other film too and get it all done together. Generally with neg film I just get the negs and a CD of scans...Dwayne's offers a $4 scan CD for negs or slides...anyone have any experience with them? Are the scans decent? Is turnaround fairly fast? I'm on the east coast of the US.

Thanks!
John

 

[dazedgonebye]

Seems a good price for the scans.
No experience with them at all, but if you're shooting Kodachrome, aren't they the only game in...well, in the world?

 

[MMc]

I have used this company a few times for B&W and some C-41 rolls. I was pleased with the results. It was about two weeks from initial mailing to receiving the prints via US Mail.
Mike

 

[varjag]

It's not like you have much choice here.

My few test rolls of K64 are on the way there. We'll see how it works out.

 

[acall]

John,
I just had a few rolls of Velvia 50 and 100 processed and scanned by Dwayne's, I was pretty pleased with the results of the scans. There are a few examples here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8124495@N08/

Cheers,
Alan

 

[eavis]

Their development is great and their service is great BUT their scans are really not worth getting. With a reasonable scanner, you can do much better yourself. As one friend who uses Dwayne's explained it to me, Dwayne's scans shd be used like contact sheets only. The problem is, Kodachrome is hellish to scan at home, but the job you can do at home with a good scanner is still way better than what Dwayne's does for Kodachrome slides. I no longer order the scans. Great place, though.

 

[aparat]

In my opinion, Dwayne's is a superb service for a really good price. The turnaround is good, the slides are clean, with no dust or scratches. The scans are decent. Good enough for an 8x10 print, but might need some color correction. You may want to indicate on the mailer that you don't want auto sharpening applied. This will sharpening artifacts in your file.

Best,
aparat

 

[dmr]

I use Dwayne's for Kodachrome and I've always had very good results. I never get their CD mainly because they say to allow so many days extra, and I want my slides NOW! 🙂

I'm about 200 miles due north of Dwayne's. If I get the film out in the Monday morning mail, it's usually back to me on Saturday, sometimes on Friday.

I know there have been concerns on occasion about dust and such, but mine have always been just fine.

I've been thinking of trying them for E6, but since I can (still) get same-day E6 locally, I haven't.

 

[raid]

Each scan file is of size 4 MB or more, which is an excellent deal for "$4". I use Dwayne's for B&W developing and scans.

Real Cost: $6.25/roll when sending them 20 rolls.

 

[michaelging]

I found them to be very good on Kodachrome, and found the scans to be worth the $4 extra a roll, they are 8.5mg files. I am looking at a 11x14 off of a scan right now as I type this, and it looks good to me.

 

[bmattock]

I'm going to be sending some Kodachrome to Dwayne's...

Where else could you send it?

 

[sooner]

Isn't there a place in Colorado that also does Kodachrome? I used Dwayne's once on my own, and it took about two weeks even though I live 4-5 hours away by car. However, when I sent two rolls of Kodachrome via my local Wal-Mart, the slides came back exactly one week later...and for less money. Knowing how Wally World negotiates all their subcontracts, I suspect normal folks get bumped. But you may not have a Wal-Mart near you on the East coast.

 

[bmattock]

Isn't there a place in Colorado that also does Kodachrome? I used Dwayne's once on my own, and it took about two weeks even though I live 4-5 hours away by car. However, when I sent two rolls of Kodachrome via my local Wal-Mart, the slides came back exactly one week later...and for less money. Knowing how Wally World negotiates all their subcontracts, I suspect normal folks get bumped. But you may not have a Wal-Mart near you on the East coast.

I believe that's it for "Kodak Certified" labs. Perhaps there are others, but I don't know about them. That film recovery business I think you are talking about in Colorado charges $36.50 per roll.

http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/index.html

http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/k14.htm

 

[eavis]

Get the scans first time. Then do your own (if you have a good scanner). Then make your choice. I am pretty certain you'll opt for the DIY scans.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Where else could you send it?

Nowhere, of course. Like I said in the original post, I'm thinking of sending my other film there, too, along with the Kodachrome.

I'm not using my scans for printing--if I want prints, I'll get them done directly from the negs. I just use them for posting stuff online, or looking at pics on my computer. The local grocery store does very decent 1500-pixel scans--less than a MB--without scratching my negatives, and if those have satisfied me more or less, I'm sure the Dwayne's ones will seem far better.

I'm just a hobbyist; I don't own my own slide/neg scanner, or even a nice printer. Someday, maybe.

Thanks everyone!

 

[andrewmore]

Here in the UK we have to send Kodakchrome to Switzerland - I believe the film is then shipped to Dwayne's and then back to Switzerland and then back to the UK. A very slow process that takes three or four weeks. The films I got back last Summer were absolutely terrible - the processing was fine, but the card mounts had rounded edges inside cutting down the picture size. The slides were clearly mounted when the film was still damp and thus sticky as card debris had stuck to the film surface. Next time I shall ask for develop only and mount my own - a shame there's no rebate for having to do this.

Regards

Andrew More

 

[wjlapier]

Isn't there a place in Colorado that also does Kodachrome? I used Dwayne's once on my own, and it took about two weeks even though I live 4-5 hours away by car. However, when I sent two rolls of Kodachrome via my local Wal-Mart, the slides came back exactly one week later...and for less money. Knowing how Wally World negotiates all their subcontracts, I suspect normal folks get bumped. But you may not have a Wal-Mart near you on the East coast.

I'm curious if you talked to the folks at walmart before sending the roll. I asked today after reading this thread and they said they don't know how it gets to Dwaynes, or if it can. They said it gets sent to Fuji in Portland, OR. and might be forwarded to Dwaynes from there.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Back to Dwayne's... Send them your stuff. They are diligent and good at what they do. Since I lost my local lab, they have done my E-6 film as well. If I send the film on Monday, I get it back the next Monday, more often than not via UPS.

 

[dmr]

I believe that's it for "Kodak Certified" labs. Perhaps there are others, but I don't know about them. That film recovery business I think you are talking about in Colorado charges $36.50 per roll.

There was speculation on another system that there are still military labs which do Kodachrome, but obviously not for the public, and that military use was helping to keep Kodachrome alive. A follow-up said something like "let's not go there", but I don't know if the poster was BS-ing or not.

Maybe a year or so ago somebody posted a link to an on-line ad offering a K-Lab (Kodachrome processing machine) for sale. The manual for those is on line, and is actually an interesting read. It's a bit more complex than the Fuji or Noritsu mini-lab. 🙂