a sad story about a sad Costco film processing machine

I just picked up 12 rolls of Develop to Scan only CD's...from Costco
I am happy with just a few shots...Two rolls weren't scanned at all and I have two rolls with double CD's...Two CD's had a line going through the image...I didn't see anything on the negs and the line was hit & miss in the images...
They weren't huge files but the same size that I would get from Ritz...1900x1200 or so...
Now, I get to go back and have them scan the missing rolls...
I'm not Happy...
 
I was just in Hunstville, AL for training. I got a roll of color developed there at Wolf Camera. Stupid me, I thought the price would be reasonable so I didnt' ask (here in Canada I pay around $5.50 for 36 developed and printed). When I picked up the prints, $15!!! And they are terrible. I haven't inspected the film, I hope its not full of scratches and what-not.
 
I've had excellent results with Costco and terrible results (and NO refund) from a pro service bureau. Not that it's always like that. The person behind the machine is in charge. Sometimes they're good, sometimes not. The person at my local Costco has done as good of a job as anyone I've ever used. It's always the same person there, so I know that they know what they're doing. I have them develop and scan, then if there's something I really want to print, I'll rescan it myself on my NIkon Coolscan V. That way, except for the developing of the film, I'm in control of my final output.
 
Surely like the Ferrai with cheap tires and 85 octane gas.

Pro labs are way better, but not perfect.

Digital is the answer. Again not perfect. Prints from the cheapest P&S look better than Leica negs negs processed by a consumer machine programed to improve your shots for you.

All you have to do is get WB correct and that generally means sunny, cloudy, incandescent. No differnt than buying daylight film or indoor film. Try buying indoor film today. I have 4 rolls of Portra 100 left in the freezer. That`s not a typo either. 100 was the indoor.
 
Yeah, I go the dev only/no cut option at Walgreens too. They don't have sleeves though. I had it good for a while. I had a local Long's Drugstore that carried roll sleeving, but Long's was gobbled up by CVS. I can't even find the photo department in the CVS!

I get some look pretty strange looks as I bob and weave my way through Walgreens and out to my car with my naked rolls of uncut film flowing all over the place. Frightful experience. Like a carrying a balloon through a cactus garden. Everything is a hazard.

If I need prints, I scan the film and send the files online to Target. They have them ready in an hour, and they do a good job too.

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Perhaps we should remember that one of the reasons digital colour pictures got early "traction" in the marketplace was because of the abysmal average quality level of the shop on the corner, running their own machine. Of course they could turn out better results, but frequently didn't/don't.

Look for Q-Lab certification, or an equivalent thing from Fuji.
 
julianphotoart said:
We use the Westlake Village Costco for colour print film and prints. They do a pretty good job. [...]
We agreed we should have a refund. Very sadly, the photo guy at CVS couldn't understand why we didn't like the prints!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least he gave the refund though.
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I use cotco all the time too, their machine scratch my negatives, but they are so cheap and the prints look good, I told them about the scratches they said they won't repair the machine and when the machine will break they'll just stop developing film....
today I paid 5.50 USD for 36 prints and developing ... cheapest place around
 
It's time to create a mailorder film processing lab directory on RFF,
with room for user reviews, recommendations and ratings.

Chris
 
A lot of people use Walgreens, Costco, etc., because there's no other lab within miles. The option of mailing out film is always available, but it adds on significant extra cost, and doesn't necessarily bring better quality.

That said, I'd guess the decision to replace a machine at a Costco store would be determined by the books, as suggested up thread.

There'a a Walgreens about 500 yards from my place so it is very tempting to drop film off there when I am in a hurry. But results are very, very mixed. Last time, it took 15 minutes and 2 phone calls before the clerk knew what to charge for processing-only.
 
When I started this post weeks ago, I despaired of Costco ever fixing the machine -- but they did.

At least where I use Costco (Westlake & Oxnard in Southern California), they have never damaged any negatives.

Also, their film development machines are set to NOT adjust or compensate at all. The analog version of WYSIWYG. This has made a big difference in NEVER having any trouble with film that was developed at Costco.
 
Well I'm not sure if Costco was the lowest bidder, but their results were very good. Better than a supposed pro-lab in one case. Unfortunately, they have indeed stopped processing and selling C-41, here in Quebec. Not sure about the rest of Canada.
 
julianphotoart said:
It was obvious that the print machine's computer had been set up to artificially lighten and darken things. The result was horrific.
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Ugh, I hate that. Today I picked up a roll from a place I wanted to try out. They did some VERY ugly lightening to the back of a friend's head. It looked as if i was shining a spotlight on his hair from a very short distance. Way to ruin a good portrait
 
There is a difference between having a discount place do your printing and having them just do your developing. The printing can be scary, it's hard to get the souping all wrong.
 
When I'm in Rochester, I have used a specific Rite-Aid where the photo manager is trustworthy. But it still makes me a bit nervous, as I know she won't always be the operator. I should be giving my C41 to Edgar Prauss, I suppose. But I'm moving to nearly all traditional b&w material, doing my own. Myself I trust, and if I make a mistake I can't blame anyone else.
 
Trius said:
But I'm moving to nearly all traditional b&w material, doing my own. Myself I trust, and if I make a mistake I can't blame anyone else.
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Same here , i have'nt shot any c-41 process stuff in almost a year since i cant process it myself. Theoretically i'm sure I could if i bought the chemicals , but then again I've got a digital camera for color.

I used to use the local supermarket overnight service and I only got one really bad roll back out of 50 @ around $5.00 with prints and a CD , but lately the machine has been perpetually broken
 
bit of a bump. but it seems that costco is discontinuing film processing in canada from what i have heard from locations in ottawa and nova scotia.

time to buy a coolscan I guess.
 
Costco in Wilmington NC stopped film processing earlier this year. Walmart does a decent job (I usually do develop,no prints). But I hate going to Walmart, too big, too crowded, too dirty and too many strange people.
 
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