Kodachrome processing

venchka

venchka

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I read the following in the Misc. For Sale section recently:

Kodachrome 25 has been out of production for several years now and is very rare. Some consider it the best color film ever made, and I will not argue with them. Note that WalMart will process and mount 36 slides of Kodachrome for $4.88 tax included (takes two weeks).
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Wanting to shoot Kodachrome again after way too many years away from it, I was encouraged by the processing from Wal-Mart. I also knew that Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas was a Kodak authorized Kodachrome lab.

I purchased some Kodachrome 64 & 200. I shot the 200 speed roll late one afternoon at work. I took the exposed roll of film to my local Wal-Mart. They looked at it. Looked in their book. "Nope, we don't process this film."

No worries. I mailed the roll off to Dwayne's Photo for processing and HIGH RESOLUTION (15mb) JPEGs on a CD I also bought more K-64 film because the price was good and the shipping was only 40.25/roll extra. Total for 1 roll 36 exp. processing, scans on CD, 5 new 36 exp. rolls of Kodachrome 64 and shipping came to $53. Dwayne's turn around time is overnight for film processing only. Add 3 days for the scanning service. You can save on shipping by sending multiple rolls in the same order. $5.00 for one roll, $0.25 for each additional roll and that includes buying new film as well.

Dwayne's will push/pull Kodachrome and E-6 film. Details on the web page.

They also do B&W.

Dwayne's Photo
Today I found this in the same For Sale ad about Kodachrome:

Hi, yes that was a fascinating article. However I do not think this is correct information about Dwayne's being the only Kodachrome lab. Rocky Mountain Film Lab does Kodachrome for Walmart:

http://www.rockymountainfilm.com/
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I went to Rocky Mountain's web page to check their prices. YIKES! All they talk about is old film, weeks/months delivery times and mega-bucks prices. I couldn't find any mention of prices for current date Kodachrome or E-6 processing. I hope I'm wrong.

Lesson learned: Until proven otherwise, send your Kodachrome to Dwayne's Photo.
 
Kodak's prepaid mailers PK24 and PK36 are still available,
and quite reasonably priced.
You can find them pretty cheap if you shop around.
I hear Kodak even honors their "expired" ones.

I have read some complaints about turnaround time and quality,
but I have never experienced a problem with mine...

"Excelsior, you fathead!"
-Chris-
 
Wal-mart does send K-14 Kodachrome to Dwayne's and they can do 35mm or even Super 8 (if you have it). It really is an "all roads lead to Rome" situation as Dwayne's is the only place it will go no matter where you drop it off. Rocky Mountain used to do K-12 type Kodachrome, but if I recall correctly it was developed as black and white film as any roll of K-12 will be hopelessly outdated as far as color processing would be concerned. Just drop -off your Kodachrome at Wal-Mart it is the cheapest and most convenient place, just drop it in their "out-lab" bin and wait for 7-14 days.
 
wpb said:
Wal-mart does send K-14 Kodachrome to Dwayne's and they can do 35mm or even Super 8 (if you have it). It really is an "all roads lead to Rome" situation as Dwayne's is the only place it will go no matter where you drop it off. Rocky Mountain used to do K-12 type Kodachrome, but if I recall correctly it was developed as black and white film as any roll of K-12 will be hopelessly outdated as far as color processing would be concerned. Just drop -off your Kodachrome at Wal-Mart it is the cheapest and most convenient place, just drop it in their "out-lab" bin and wait for 7-14 days.
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Ok, I will go back and have another chat with Wal-Mart. However, Wal-Mart may not be tuned in to the high resolution scan service from Dwayne's. I don't have a film scanner at the moment. Getting inexpensive large jpegs and reasonably priced new Kodachrome film is worth dealing with Dwayne's directly.
 
Yes, having the scans done may be like pulling teeth. Just look at the envelope and check any Photo CD box you see and/or write in the "additional instructions" box "K-14" & "Scan to CD". Put your (real) phone number on the package so they can call you (Dwyane's or Wal-Mart) if there is a problem. Honestly as an out-lab Dwaynes should do the services requested, figure out the cost as agreed to with Wal-Mart, and send the completed order back. I would like to have an update as the quality of my Kodachrome scans, with a Scan Dual III, has always been a bit lacking. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Costco will also handle kodachrome- by sending it to Dwayne's.. I'll check the cd box next time and see what happens. I've done the costco kodachrome many times now with no problems, all comes back in Kodak boxes and mounts.
 
Dwayne's didn't do scanning at all until the last year or so. I read somewhere online, maybe here, that the scans they produce now are nothing spectacular, which I would expect since that isn't their forte. They are a high quality processing lab. That said, the next time I send off some K14 to them I'll get a scan to see how they do.
 
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