Dwayne's K64 Processing Issue

[copake_ham]

....

Meanwhile, I can see no point in shooting my remaining rolls of Kodachrome and unless things at Dwayne's improve, I see my slide-taking future in a green box, not in a yellow one.

Disgruntled of Devon
(aka Steve)

Hopefully in the UK you have an alternative for the stuff in the green box. Here in the US - all the Fujichrome mailers are now forwarded on to Dwayne's. Been that way for a year now...

 

[braxus]

Great. I was just going to send my only roll of Kodachrome 25 off for processing, and I keep seeing threads like this. It doesn't give me a lot of optimism. I still have a K64 and 3 K200s to use up, so I don't know if their worth shooting now. I also have 6 rolls of K40 Super 8 to use up yet.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

This mess is probably due to the cutting and mounting machines. I only do process and sleeve with my K-Chrome and I have not had any issues, but the very few rolls I had done mounted had dust.

 

[copake_ham]

I just got back a roll of Fuji Velvia 100F from Dwayne's (i.e. via the old Fujichrome mailer that now goes to them).

The scans show a lot of "hair" on the slide borders and some (not a sh*tload - but some) dust specs. I can easily crop out the "hair" for posts here so that's not a big deal. But, it is what it is.

I only open slide boxes to scan these days so I don't think I could have introduced the dust.

Now, mind you, these slides are very well processed - but they do have some dust and "hair".

Maybe as the last processor around Dwayne's is just overwhelmed with work and aren't keeping their machines as clean as they should?

 

[Steve Roberts]

I'd still like to know whether PKM-25 did in fact bring this to Dwaynes' attention, as a response straight from the firm would be invaluable. I guess perhaps PKM-25 is enjoying a holiday and not picking up on this!
If that's the case, I hope he's getting better weather than I had!

Steve

 

[dmr]

I think Duggal will process k-14. The site (http://www.duggal.com/01photo.htm) states, "Turnaround: In by 4 p.m., ready by noon next day. Rush service available." Such a fast turnaround implies that they don't farm it out to Dwaynes.

That's very interesting. It does look like they do business by account only, as opposed to walk-in service, but it sure looks like, according to the web site, they do their own Kodachrome or have a close associate who does it!

They really don't give any company information, that I could see anyway, except a phone number to set up an account. (Their "contact us" link just reloads the current page for me.)

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Duggal does have walk-in service.

I suspect that may be out of date, but it's worth a call. When K-14 was processed in Fairlawn, NJ, it was common for the big NYC labs to offer one-day turnaround on Kodachrome as well as courier service for rush jobs.

 

[dmr]

Duggal does have walk-in service.

Looking more at their web site, they (Duggal) almost remind me of the place here (Omaha) where I occasionally have E6 done, Hamilton Color Lab. (http://www.hamiltoncolorlab.com/)

I don't have an account at Hamilton, so when I bring a roll in they just write my name on a yellow sticky and tell me when it will be ready.

When K-14 was processed in Fairlawn, NJ, it was common for the big NYC labs to offer one-day turnaround on Kodachrome as well as courier service for rush jobs.

Hasn't Fair Lawn been closed (for Kodachrome at least) for many years now?

I remember Fair Lawn was the Processing By Kodak<tm> center when I used to leave off film at the old Spiratone shop in the city on 31st (32nd?) on Saturday and then pick it up the next week. (Not to show my real age.)

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Fairlawn stopped doing K-14 a few years ago, but Duggal's website has been fairly static during that time. They may just not have updated it.

 

[Christopher Nisperos]

I hope this isn't too off-topic —and excuse my naïvity— but I've got a handful of Kodachrome processing mailers which have been floating around in a desk drawer for a few years. I'd assumed that they were no longer valid. Is this the case?

Best,

Christopher

..............

 

[copake_ham]

I hope this isn't too off-topic —and excuse my naïvity— but I've got a handful of Kodachrome processing mailers which have been floating around in a desk drawer for a few years. I'd assumed that they were no longer valid. Is this the case?

Best,

Christopher

..............

They're still valid - but will be forwarded by Kodak to Dwayne's.

 

[Christopher Nisperos]

They're still valid - but will be forwarded by Kodak to Dwayne's.

Thanks a million, Copake Ham. I suppose that I could just send them directly to Dwayne's myself?

Best,

Christopher

.....................

 

[clay]

If they are Kodak mailers, they are still valid. I found a stash of five when I was cleaning out a desk drawer a few months ago. They were bought in 1995. I called Dwayne's and they said they were still being honored. So I bought some K64 to use them while Kodachrome still exists.

As an aside, I was recently at my father-in-law's house, and he pulled out a shoebox full of slides from the 50's. I have been sorting through them, and it is amazing that all of the Kodachrome slides are still perfect - no fading or color shifts. The few Ektachrome slides from the same time period are pretty much gone. All pink and faded - very bad shape. Kodachrome is really amazing stuff. Too bad it is probably headed for oblivion in the next couple of years.

I hope this isn't too off-topic —and excuse my naïvity— but I've got a handful of Kodachrome processing mailers which have been floating around in a desk drawer for a few years. I'd assumed that they were no longer valid. Is this the case?

Best,

Christopher

..............

 

[copake_ham]

Thanks a million, Copake Ham. I suppose that I could just send them directly to Dwayne's myself?

Best,

Christopher

.....................

Probably.

Dwayne's also does Fujichrome's mailers processing now and, although I continue to send to the old Phoenix address, each time I get my slides back there is a notice that they go to Dwayne's and that I can send them there directly.

 

[kraker]

Just sent another roll of K-64 to Kodak Lausanne, which is just another forwarding address for/to Dwayne's. I will share my thoughts on the "processing issue" in about two weeks. That is, if the turn-around time is still within acceptable limits , and if I don't happen to be on holiday by then (which might just be the case... ).

 

[kraker]

I will share my thoughts on the "processing issue" in about two weeks.

Sure, there's some dust on the slides. Then again, our house is far from dust-free, so who's to blame, Dwayne's or me? Other than that, I don't see any issues with their processing... And actually, dust is not really an issue...

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Just got a batch of Kodachrome back from Dwaynes'. One roll K25, 4 rolls PKR (past date from B&H) and 4 rolls K200. I get them uncut as rolls, and this time they came sleeved, wrapped around plastic spools and taped, in a small cardboard box. Much nicer than the last batch. However, the cardboard box is of a rougher, lower quality, and the material can and does create a lot of dust. Now, add this in to the fact that the sleeving material is Super and I mean SUPER static. There is no way to remove the film without a huge static burst that pulls in dust from everywhere especially those boxes. I live in Hawaii, and normally static and dust are never a problem, most days have decent humidity. This combination has increased my dust issues on this batch. The film processing is stellar, all three types of Kodachrome look fantastic! No issue there! The K200 is particularly sweet, I noticed they still have some in stock, I'd get a few rolls if you haven't tried that flavor yet, it is very unique and especially nice in twilight.