Walgreens C-41 Shout-out!

[Vics]

I had two rolls of C-41 color processed yesterday at Walgreens because I got tired of paying a local camera shop $12 to process and scan (badly). Walgreens took one hour to do the job and did it for $8.48/roll. They did a very nice job, and I'll be doing all my color there now. The camera store took 24 hours and made me pay in advance!
I hope some folks here will give Walgreens a try if you haven't already.

 

[Classique]

If there is a costco near you, it is even cheaper! (Most of the time, negatives are perfect)
I pay 1.59 for develop only and I think with 4x6 prints, it comes out to be around 4 dollars.

 

[Noll]

Good to hear, but I suspect not every Walgreens does the same quality work. A few months back I had them do a roll - develop and print, and they misquoted me the 24 exp price first ($9 or $11), when it when it came to actually $15 in the end. The scan CD was at 2-3 mp (even though their minilabs can do much better), and the contrast and color were not good (overcooked)

It wasn't a terrible experience, just not that great. Whatever store you go to I'd ask them about their scan resolution first. With luck you might get to talk to someone who knows the machine.

At this point I just build up 4-6 rolls and ship it to Dwayne's.

 

[bgetty]

great to hear you found awesome service in your local store!

but as others have said, processing in the one hour photo labs varies greatly. a friend recently took in a few rolls to our walgreens only to find his negatives cut...mid-frame! and in several different points on the roll, no less. bad training, carelessness on behalf of the technician, double-exposures that made it difficult to judge the frame edge -- all plausible reasons for the error, but i don't even want to take the risk.

i used to take mine to target, until i found all of their film processing equipment removed roughly a year ago. 99 cents or cheaper per roll for processing, and i'd cut, sleeve and scan when i got home. those were the days!

 

[burancap]

It is definitely relative to the unique store! I have been quite happy with my local CVS for C-41 -not just for cost, but for performance on par with sendouts. I may be lucky, but I am going to ride this store as long as I can!

 

[zsas]

^ +1 re CVS, I pay $2 for C41 process only and a few'a the techs are even film shooters, real fun to talk shop, and get some candy on my way out. My Walgreens is a bit more expensive and far away, so CVS is my home lab...but the time or two I used Walgreens, the quality was top notch too

 

[anjoca76]

I wish I could say I've had luck with the Walgreens and CVS of the world, but I haven't, which is unfortunate because they are cheap. If I could find a good tech at one of them, I would be inclined to give them a shot again, for sure. But given the cost of film these days, I can't risk getting back scratched negatives, etc.

 

[axiom]

How much would it be to get CVS scan and/or print?
Any of them do E6?

My experience with Shoppers Drugmart (Canadian equivalent of CVS) has been mediocre: Mottling, slid scan, and worst of all - screwed up chemical

 

[charjohncarter]

If there is a costco near you, it is even cheaper! (Most of the time, negatives are perfect)
I pay 1.59 for develop only and I think with 4x6 prints, it comes out to be around 4 dollars.

I don't know where you live in CA, but my Costco has exactly the same prices. If I complain about the drying cycle dust they change the filter, and I hope they continue with this service at least for 15 more years.

 

[Vics]

It is definitely relative to the unique store! I have been quite happy with my local CVS for C-41 -not just for cost, but for performance on par with sendouts. I may be lucky, but I am going to ride this store as long as I can!

I liked my CVS as well. They did great work and even pointed out to me that if I requested it I could get higher resolution scans for no extra charge. Then one day it was all over. No more film service. Just like that. For me, Walgreens is the only game in town, though I am waiting (and waiting) for a couple rolls from Precision Camera. We'll see.

 

[Vics]

How much would it be to get CVS scan and/or print?
Any of them do E6?

My experience with Shoppers Drugmart (Canadian equivalent of CVS) has been mediocre: Mottling, slid scan, and worst of all - screwed up chemical

When CVS was doing mine, it was $6.00 for develop and hi-res scans. I just told them not to cut it.

 

[Vics]

I don't know where you live in CA, but my Costco has exactly the same prices. If I complain about the drying cycle dust they change the filter, and I hope they continue with this service at least for 15 more years.

I'm up in Santa Rosa, but I've never been into the Costco here. I'll check it out.

 

[Blooze]

I checked at my local Walgreens (actually two down the street) and neither do it in house anymore. It was going to be a little over $13 for 36 exp. developing only to send out. That's with no scans. Our local CVS sends out as well.

 

[Vics]

It seems the outlook for processing labs is a downward spiral. Has anyone run the cost of a home dev kit per roll? Tetenal e.g. at $49.99 for 1 liter, 12 films= about $4.17/roll? Then all I need is $600- $1000 for a scanner and $200 for software... I'm rooting for Costco or Walgreens!

 

[Cameron]

Lucky of you to find a decent "corner-store" to efficiently develop your rolls. Every Walgreens experience I've had has been bad. However, Costco has nearly always been perfect. The only downside is having to actually own a Costco card.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

CVS and Walgreen's definitely depends on the store.

Many are fine. But, had one CVS who didn't have a film leader retriever. So, they opened the film cassettes with a beer-can opener in the light! That was a low point!

My CostCo will scan my negatives, but no film processing. Their prints are great.

 

[dmr]

I do most of my film processing at Walgreens and CVS. One Walgreens convenient to me has a newer Fuji Frontier and one sharp person and a few non-total-bozo button pushers.

CVS seems to be steering their film business to one shop in the area which has a decent Noritsu machine and people who appear to know how to operate it

I haven't had any shop push back at a request for a DO-CD for a few years.