C-41 labs closing too?

Of course, Winogrand made a living as a photographer (and was prolific even when compared to his peers). If anyone wants to subsidize me, I'll shoot as many rolls of film as you want. Promise!

igi said:
Before there was digital, there was Garry Winogrand.

... and oh, shooting 1 or 2 shots a day is a sure way to kill film.
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goamules said:
Two rolls is an incredible 48-72 shots. About one or two shots a day. That's a lot of photographs, unless you're the type that takes many shots of everything you can think of hoping for a good one. With large format, I may only shoot 2 sheets of film twice a month. Digital has taught people to shoot a ton and look for a good frame among many bad ones that are quickly deleted.
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I shot a 25-pack of ilford in 4x5 over a weekend, must be doing something wrong :(

This is really more an issue of personal pace than anything.
 
I remember before the minilabs appeared. Film processing was always drop-off and send-out or mail order. Most people dropped off at a local store and returned several days later to pick up their order.

I think the overnight/4-hour/1-hour minilabs started showing up in the early 1990s.

Their prices were higher yet their quality was much poorer than the send-out labs.

I avoided the minilabs in the early days. Too many disappointments. Their prints were horrible and they faded fast plus the negatives were thrashed. Scanning those negatives now, 20 year later, it's apparent they probably were not even washed.

Plus I think it was before scanners appeared and they were printing optically.

Of course the minilabs were poorly operated.

Most opened up after someone read Entrepreneur or Business Opportunities magazines and had no idea what photography was. They could have just as well opened a sandwich shop.

By the time local (mom and pop) minilabs started getting good - no doubt due to vastly improved equipment - the Costcos, Walgreens and Rite-Aids of the world installed their own 1 hour labs.

Of course Mr. Mom and Mrs. Pop could not continue to demand their unreasonably high prices so they converted their stores to Subways or Starbucks.

Now the chains are closing down their in-store labs we go back to what we had for 75 years before the invention of the mini-lab.

Not so bad.

Most people wish they could return to life before yuppies and computers. We now have it. Embrace it.
 
You are unusually lucky. It won't last. Your Costco will quit processing and lay off the one good tech, and then you'll be bitching with the rest of us.

Gumby said:
I must be getting cheated; I get no fingerprints or scratches with my Costco processing.
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I've just dropped a roll off at BigW in Fountain Gate, Melbourne, $11 for dev and scan, it's certainly cheap enough, fingers crossed results are good.

It's about 10kms away from my house, but I'm OK with that if it's every so often, would prefer mail order, so recommendations are welcomed...

Cheers

Moray
 
C41 labs are not closing in my neighborhood. There are 4 one-hours within bicycle distance, and 2 full service labs with a 30 minute or less drive through town.
 
My wife just returned from my favorite local C41 shop -a CVS that does excellent, inexpensive work.

She still had the three rolls in her hand that she had left with.

The young gal behind the counter explained: "We just 'upgraded' the photo department, and no longer do film!"
 
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