Getting Wal-Mart to understand Kodachrome

[wjlapier]

A couple of Kodachromes scanned with a Coolscan V with ICE. ICE doesn't seem to be as destructive as I've read. First is from the 70's, and second was from this year.

The second shot was from a roll I shot after not shooting K for years. I may have to get some more.

As has been said, bypass the staff at Walmart and in the notes section, mention it's K64. Less than $5.00 not bad compared to Dwaynes prices. Took less than two weeks to get back.

 

[Sisyphus]

All roads lead to Dwayne's when processing your kodachrome.

 

[steverett]

Raid's on the right track---just fill out the envelope. drop it in the bin, and let the people at the sorting center, not the store, sort it out. From what I've read here, they invariably get it right.

Invariably is not correct.

I went in to WalMart to get some C-41 developed, but the in-store machine was broken. Since it would take a few days to fix, I decided to just mail it out. Since I scan all my negs anyway, I wrote "DEVELOP ONLY, DO NOT PRINT" (which cost $0.99 in the store).

My negs came back, along with prints, and a note saying "This service not available." I ended up having to pay $6 a roll, even for one that was mostly blank. 😡

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Something similar happened to me, but at least someone had the sense to correct it. I wrote in the envelope that I wanted my film developed with the K-14 process, and then scanned into a CD. Someone wrote "service not available"... but they did it anyway! 😕

Go figure... It costed $12, though. I won't ask for it again.

 

[andrewmore]

Here in the UK Kodachrome is only available process-paid - you have to send it to Kodak in Switzerland who forward it on to Dwaynes who then ship it back to Kodak Switzerland who send it back to the UK. If you cut the corner off the mailing envelope it comes back unmounted which is good as the card mounts are somewhat fluffy and if the film is a little damp when mounted the fluffy bits get stuck to the slide... Even though it's just one film per envelope my last batch came back all neatly packaged in just one box - somebody obviously spotted my return address on several envelopes and engaged brain.

Film is not widely displayed in UK photo shops any more but normally kept under the counter in a drawer - the largest chain in the UK (Jessops) have an automatic stock top-up system so the film always ends-up back in stock. Not the cheapest place to buy it though.

I hope this helps UK readers with Kodachrome.

Regards

Andrew More

 

[KoNickon]

Folks, the trick with Wal-Mart and Kodachrome is to fill out the envelope yourself and drop it in the slot for pickup. It may well go to Fuji, but if clearly marked as K-14 process the Fuji folks will send it on to Dwayne's. Don't deal with the in-store people at all, except when going to pick up your slides. $4.88 for a 36 slide roll of K200. Nice.

 

[sepiareverb]

What is this obsession everyone seems to have with Walmart processing? Just send the films to Dwayne's directly, they do the work, they should get all of the cost for processing. Walmart wouldn't offer the service if they hadn't worked out a cut rate for themselves with Dwayne's- who is likely getting a buck a roll or so to run the stuff sent from Walmart.

 

[Donovan]

What is this obsession everyone seems to have with Walmart processing? Just send the films to Dwayne's directly, they do the work, they should get all of the cost for processing. Walmart wouldn't offer the service if they hadn't worked out a cut rate for themselves with Dwayne's- who is likely getting a buck a roll or so to run the stuff sent from Walmart.

This idea came up recently over at Kodachrome Project. The general consensus was that it would be Fuji that negotiated a contract with Dwaynes, not Wal-Mart. The issue of Fuji supplying the mounts and boxes also came into play as to why the Fuji/Walmart price is lower. Not that I care as both Walmart and Dwaynes are non-union. I prefer to send my money to union based businesses but as they're both non-union it's 6's either way. Thus I'll send my Kodachrome (which I've just recently gotten involved with) to whichever is cheapest and currently that is Walmart.

http://www.greatplainsindustrialpark.com/index.cfm?c=17

 

[shadowfox]

What is this obsession everyone seems to have with Walmart processing? Just send the films to Dwayne's directly, they do the work, they should get all of the cost for processing. Walmart wouldn't offer the service if they hadn't worked out a cut rate for themselves with Dwayne's- who is likely getting a buck a roll or so to run the stuff sent from Walmart.

Simple economy, how much is Dwayne's charging for K-14? 7 to 8.50 USD + shipping?

Through Wally's, I paid $4.88 + tax.

Also, at Wally's you can drop your E-6 120 rolls and it will come back developed (not mounted, thankfully), and I still pay $4.88.

What's this obsession with using Dwayne's directly? 😛

 

[dmr]

What is this obsession everyone seems to have with Walmart processing? Just send the films to Dwayne's directly, they do the work, they should get all of the cost for processing. Walmart wouldn't offer the service if they hadn't worked out a cut rate for themselves with Dwayne's- who is likely getting a buck a roll or so to run the stuff sent from Walmart.

Not to start a political battle here, but I would much rather give the mark-up directly to Dwayne's. In my not so humble opinion, they do a good job for a fair price. I would rather give Dwayne's a bit more, since they support the Kodachrome community, than give some of it to Wally World, who -- well -- there's enough said on that already.

 

[shadowfox]

Not to start a political battle here, but I would much rather give the mark-up directly to Dwayne's. In my not so humble opinion, they do a good job for a fair price. I would rather give Dwayne's a bit more, since they support the Kodachrome community, than give some of it to Wally World, who -- well -- there's enough said on that already.

dmr, please pardon me being a little firm on this matter 🙂

If we are talking about supporting Kodachrome, then our goal is to generate the number of rolls going to Dwayne's.

Which one do you think would be more effective in achieving the above goal?

1. Tell people to *only* send it directly to Dwayne's and pay the premium price?

2. Tell people that they can just drop their rolls when they are shopping at Wally, which they are going to do anyways. At a lower price?

I submit that no.2 will get more people thinking about shooting Kodachrome because it's cheaper and more convenient.

Even better, let's do 1. and 2. both. And that's exactly what we're doing in this thread isn't it? So why the animosity?

Lastly, Dwayne's is obviously making some money, otherwise they are not going to do any deals through Wally, they are a business after all, not a charity.

 

[capitalK]

I got them back today, didn't send them through Wal-Mart but instead the local camera store. Price was about $10 Canadian so that's not too bad.

They look incredible on the light table, going to scan them in tomorrow on the Nikon CoolScan 4000 ED at work. My flatbed Epson 4180 just isn't doing them justice.

 

[LeicaTom]

The Begining Of The End For Film & Kodachrome Developing At Walmart - Very Depressing

The Begining Of The End For Film & Kodachrome Developing At Walmart - Very Depressing

Well, I just called my LOCAL Walmart *Winter Haven* Florida and they no longer develop film, they have a 3 day send out and as for slides (E-6) they said they are not doing them anymore and K-14 Kodachrome is out of the question........

Seems that the end of film is near here in the U.S.A. at least here in Central Florida, I hope that Walgreens stays with the programe, if they stop, then I don`t know what I`ll do with my business, while about 75% of all my work is still shot on real film, not digital.

Soon I won`t be able to do any crossprocessing anymore either and then everything left to black and white to start up a darkroom again, ugggh! what a pain in the a** to do.....
I guess that the end is coming faster than we thought, I gave film at least 10 more years, looks like it will be gone at least by doing it quickly (1 hour service) real soon, first waiting 3 days, then 1 week, then 2 weeks and then a month, it doesn`t look good for film anymore 🙁

I`m depressed, I depended on Walmart for "souping" the E-6 to C-41 crossprocessing and I wanted them to do my reserve Kodachrome stock I have left over, looks like it`s all over now for that. (I might have to sell off the few rolls I have left)

I read that the service Dwayne's gives (scanning is terrible) and that`s what I need from my Slide medium, I haven`t shot Kodachrome`s since I used the Stuttgart and Zurich offices for Kodak, so that tells you how long that`s been since I`ve done Kodachrome`s on a regular basis.

Who has done any Walmart Kodachrome processing in the past five days? Where are you and what Walmart was it? Are any left in Florida?

Tom

 

[sepiareverb]

Simple economy, how much is Dwayne's charging for K-14? 7 to 8.50 USD + shipping?

Through Wally's, I paid $4.88 + tax.

Also, at Wally's you can drop your E-6 120 rolls and it will come back developed (not mounted, thankfully), and I still pay $4.88.

What's this obsession with using Dwayne's directly? 😛

Supporting the folks who are keeping Kodachrome alive is well worth the extra couple of bucks. Especially when those extra couple of bucks bring the assurance that your films will be run properly and not dropped into E6 chemistry. And Dwayne's will run your E6 anyway you want, and run it consistently well in excellently maintained chemistry.

Not to start a political battle here, but I would much rather give the mark-up directly to Dwayne's. In my not so humble opinion, they do a good job for a fair price. I would rather give Dwayne's a bit more, since they support the Kodachrome community, than give some of it to Wally World, who -- well -- there's enough said on that already.

Precisely.

 

[bcostin]

Supporting the folks who are keeping Kodachrome alive is well worth the extra couple of bucks. Especially when those extra couple of bucks bring the assurance that your films will be run properly and not dropped into E6 chemistry. And Dwayne's will run your E6 anyway you want, and run it consistently well in excellently maintained chemistry.

In this case, believe it or not, Walmart is one of the "folks who are keeping Kodachrome alive". Not out of artistc merit, but because it makes money. Thank goodness.

Here's what I suspect is happening. A place like Dwaynes requires a certain volume of film in order to stay in business. If they drop below that volume then it's not worth the overhead costs of keeping the machines up and running. Volume is why Dwayne's is the last K-14 lab on the planet, and I suspect it's also why they have a film processing deal with Walmart and/or Fuji. Dwayne's likely has excess capacity that's costing them money, and these 2-week processing arrangements help bring in some extra bucks to cover those costs while still allowing them to charge a premium for faster and more direct service.

None of us know the terms of the deal Walmart (or Fuji) have with Dwayne's, but I expect it brings them a significant amount of film. And it probably makes Dwayne's some money, too, because they didn't survive this long by making a habit of bad business partnerships. We all must do what our own conscience demands, but in the end it all comes down to financial realities. Eventually, if lots of people stop using Walmart for their 120, E6, and K-12 film then the deal will no longer be profitable or useful for either party, and it'll go away. I'm not sure that outcome would be good for anyone involved.

 

[LeicaTom]

Eventually, if lots of people stop using Walmart for their 120, E6, and K-12 film then the deal will no longer be profitable or useful for either party, and it'll go away. I'm not sure that outcome would be good for anyone involved.

It`s already over here in Central Florida, as of this week so it seems, 120/E-6 and K-14 are gone 🙁

Tom

 

[Donovan]

Well, I just called my LOCAL Walmart *Winter Haven* Florida and they no longer develop film, they have a 3 day send out and as for slides (E-6) they said they are not doing them anymore and K-14 Kodachrome is out of the question........Tom

Hmmm, the general rule is never talk to the Walmart employees because they don't know jack. Has the kiosk (sic?) been ripped out from that Walmart? If not, and you can still drop off your mailer without talking to the Walmart employees, then they might just be confused. Or just making up answers that seemingly make their life easier. "Oh no, we don't do that anymore". Just a thought. If the Kiosk is still there maybe drop off a K14 role that doesn't have important photos on it and see what happens. The worst that would happen is they would return it undeveloped.

 

[oscroft]

Even though it's just one film per envelope my last batch came back all neatly packaged in just one box - somebody obviously spotted my return address on several envelopes and engaged brain.

I batch mine for sending anyway - it's only one film per envelope, but it's cheaper to then put all the envelopes on one large package than pay for separate postage for each envelope. And it comes back all in one box.

 

[sepiareverb]

In this case, believe it or not, Walmart is one of the "folks who are keeping Kodachrome alive". Not out of artistc merit, but because it makes money.

Made money is more like it. If they charge half of what Dwayne's does, that means Dwayne's is making a lot less per roll. My point was that I'd rather give Dwayne's a good profit, and if everyone had sent their film directly maybe Dwayne's might not cost so much today.

None of us know the terms of the deal Walmart (or Fuji) have with Dwayne's, but I expect it brings them a significant amount of film. And it probably makes Dwayne's some money, too

Some money sure. I'd rather give them their full price for the work they do. In a year how much more would anyone really spend by doing this? I shoot a fair bit of Kodachrome, but I'm still only at 10-12 rolls per year maximum.

Eventually, if lots of people stop using Walmart for their 120, E6, and K-12 film then the deal will no longer be profitable or useful for either party, and it'll go away. I'm not sure that outcome would be good for anyone involved.

Except perhaps Dwayne's, who would then make their full price per roll. Even if only half the Walmart customers continue shooting Kodachrome Dwayne's would likely see increased profit.

Anybody have a connection to someone at Dwayne's so we can get the real story instead of speculating ourselves into a closed thread?

 

[Donovan]

Well, Walmart raised their prices on Kodachrome developing to $6.88. At least in my part of the country. I said to the clerk at the developing counter that I've always paid $4.88. He said they just received a new pricing sheet and showed it to me. Damned if they didn't raise the price $2.00. What can you do! $6.88 is still reasonable but $4.88 was just such a bargain I hate to see it go.