Mail order processing (update)

[john_van_v]

The sands keep shifting! Walgreens had been good to me for a few years doing c-41 for $2, which has delayed my shift to b&w home developing (bw400cn).

But the chain kept churning the staff (based on "productivity") to the point where there was no quality control, and then doubled the price, and then doubled again for 36 exposures.

I see a few online developing for about $3, such as Chrome and Bluemoon.

Has anyone had any experience with these or others? Do any offer high volume discounts (I can shoot 10 rolls a week, easy).

John

 

[oftheherd]

You don't say where you are located. In my general area, CVS still normally does good work and does development only. I guess everybodies prices are going up. In fact, it seems everything is going up but the cost of living (?).

 

[john_van_v]

You don't say where you are located.

True. It is now both US and Canada!

No CVS in either location, and the "herd" mentality is against Walmart, which, of course, is everywhere.

I want to try mail order, I figure the corporate churning strategy would probably be absent as mail order tends to be cottage-based.

Besides churning, inflation is also a corporate/capital goal (read the papers) even though it is painfully obvious that letting the dollar sink is the quick fix to "Chinafication."

 

[patois]

I can second (or third) cvs. I've been building a database of labs that process film to reward labs still doing good work but the going is slow. I have vaguely good notions of either labs you mention. I send stuff away to photoworks in sf or clark because I'm in the northeast and clark does an ok job and isn't too far away.

 

[ethics_gradient]

I also use CVS for my 35mm developing; there's one within a half-mile of where I live, and a 36exp roll runs a bit under $3 for develop-only. In general the 'techs' really have no idea what they're doing or how to handle film, but for the price and convenience I'm willing to deal with a scratch or two on occasion.

 

[john_van_v]

Walgreens was great, in two locations, but, then, the death of film seems inevitable. From what techs told me, it is the disposable camera that is keeping it alive.

I will attempt to locate a CVS in the US, and here in Canada, I will give the super-supermarkets a shot. I still have a few rolls of riteaid 200 film I use as a baseline to test labs and lenses.

The two mail order developers hit you with shipping and handling prices, which they don't reveal on their websites.

If I were doing mail order for lightweight product such as film, I would reward bulk orders with free shipping, but then the average business model seeks to get you on the hook, and then consume you as a resource (capital model).