Costco to quit C41

[JohnTF]

Was surprised to see they were doing a fair amount of C41 + scanning of film, plus when the machine was working, they made some decent prints for me in B&W.

Had a big problem one day with all my prints green like St. Patrick's day, they did not seem to have much technical knowledge, and could not tell me when they changed their chemistry, so I assume they have someone come in? Four hours later, they got most of the prints right, IOW, we had time to talk. ;-)

They told me then they were closing up their C41, though they will still scan and print from film.

No news as to when, or whether it will be across the board for all their labs.

Regards, John

 

[bwcolor]

They have been closing C-41 locations for a long time. I suspect when major investment of money is needed for repair, the wisdom of such an investment comes into question. My location expects to be out of the C-41 business within a year. Same goes for WallyMarts.

 

[Ranchu]

Faack. I'm going to have to learn how to do that.

 

[nikon_sam]

If they shut down the one I went to they'd be doing all film (C-41) photographers a favor...

 

[dfoo]

I'm sad to say that my local costco recently quit processing C-41 🙁

 

[Chris101]

Costco sucks at everything except the dollar hot dogs. I take C41 to Walgreens, and they say they have no intention to discontinue film processing. According to the techs at the store near me, film is a significant part of their photo business.

 

[CopperB]

I wish we had Walgreens up here.

 

[Keith]

On the positive side if you can be bothered, a C41 kit from Freestyle costs around $17.00 and will allow you to process fifteen rolls of film and possibly more.

Since developing my own C41 colour I've realised what a bad job most of these places are doing.

 

[ray*j*gun]

The Costco around here is a joke............ I wouldn't let them process my recycling.

 

[Spyro]

Ι got 30 out of my last $17 Freestyle kit. My decision to stop there was kind of like munching on the 10th slice of pizza and thinking hmmmm I know I can do more but I should probably stop now 😀

 

[dfoo]

I've got 2 of those freestyle kits. I haven't tried processing any film since I've read that they go bad quite quickly and I don't shoot that much color. So... how quickly in your experiences DO they go bad? 🙂

 

[Keith]

Ι got 30 out of my last $17 Freestyle kit. My decision to stop there was kind of like munching on the 10th slice of pizza and thinking hmmmm I know I can do more but I should probably stop now 😀

I recognise that feeling ... what is it about pizza?

Then two hours later you're groaning and wishing you'd stopped at five or six!

😀

 

[Keith]

I've got 2 of those freestyle kits. I haven't tried processing any film since I've read that they go bad quite quickly and I don't shoot that much color. So... how quickly in your experiences DO they go bad? 🙂

My current batch has six months since mixing and still seems to be fine after ten or so rolls.

 

[Jamie123]

Well, if they still scan and print they will probably still accept c-41 film and just send it away for processing. I have a hard time believing that a store would tell a customer "Yes, we'll print them for you but you'll have to process them somewhere else".

I'm so happy to have a pro lab in walking distance from my place that does c-41 and E6 in a couple of hours. I even found out recently that they're processing is dip&dunk.

 

[bevels]

Fantastic news!!! Hopefully that'll force people to process their own with the Tetenal colortec C-41 kit which will keep it in production so I can keep using it ;-)

 

[Keith]

Seems like there's quite a few people using these Tetenal kits!

Colour C41 is simpler than black and white IMO ... it pongs a bit but the results seem to be idiot proof and the film always dries cleaner for me!

And ... it scans beautifully!

 

[sig]

Keith, where would you get the c41 kit in australia? Or do you use freestyle?

 

[Keith]

Keith, where would you get the c41 kit in australia? Or do you use freestyle?

I've only ever sourced them from Freestyle ... I have one on the way currently with the Oz shared film order.

B&H sell them too from memory.

 

[JeffL]

My Costco shut down their C-41 a month or two ago. I now use the local Supercenter and was pleasantly surprised. The girl on the C-41 machine was a film fan and user. We discussed different films we have used and liked.

 

[bevels]

Keith, where would you get the c41 kit in australia? Or do you use freestyle?

I buy mine from Vanbar.. ends up being cheaper than purchasing from the internet when you factor in shipping.

Keep in mind you can use the chems for faaaaaar longer than instructed, especially if you're scanning the negs. I think I'm on my 35th-ish roll of Pro 400H 220 with this kit and it's still doing a very nice job. I've heard of people putting through 100+ rolls over the course of a year and only noticing very slight colour shifts that were correctable in PS. I don't doubt it after my own observations.