The Sudden Death of Local C-41 Processing

[eng1er]

Pssst...........Seen any music stores recently?

Many. I can think of about 10 locally where I buy CDs regularly. That doesn't include numerous stores I visit when I'm out of town.

 

[Fixcinater]

True that! Bob, can you please relocate to San Francisco area? Preferably the east bay, so I may use your services?

I do have to send out some color C41 film though. Neg development only. Imagine I'll use Dwayne's or Richard Photo Lab (I like the ring of that one) unless someone recommends a different place?

I've used NCPS because they are local to me. I've also had good results with my 120 and 35mm dropped off at Gaslamp Photo, also local to me in San Diego.

I'm not a big fan of the mail out work flow so haven't tried any of the others aside from Dwayne's which was fine as well.

 

[kxjiru]

The Costco closest to me still does 1 hr photo. I sometimes ask for their film cartridges for crafts and usually half the box are kodak disposable white rolls. No idea if the other 3 Costcos in the area develop but there's a lot of demand. The boxes are HUGE.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Thanks Brian and Richard.

I once had an interview at Icon labs in LA about building a black and white lab there... I was going through a messy divorce and the lab did not currently have a BW specialist.

I was really considering the possiblility of the move.. I decided against this opportunity as I started considering power and water issues that may occur in CA. I also concluded that I loved Ontario and I could lose the messy situation with time and we have sufficient water and power supply.
The biggest problem I am seeing these days are people are buying up very old stock of film that has been reluctantly sitting in professional photographers fridges for over 10 years.. This film is so dam
curly and brittle that loading is becoming a real problem. I make sure my heavy hitters only use fresh film- you can tell immediately when trying to load if you have old film or new film..
So a mail order business where the company (like mine ) which does small batch one shot process and loading on reels - we can have big issues.
the big mail order business's are doing dip and dunk- which means the one end is clipped to a holder then the other end is clipped with a weight and hung.. this takes all the issues out of process.

I will say that I have considered a Jobo Technolab for dual purpose C41 and BW process and actually start mail order and have one week colour , one week bw.. If Toronto Image Works ever decided to completely get out of film process this may spark me to think about this option

so never say never.

Bob


I tried a bit of long distance film processing and most times it was great, but once it was more hassel than worth. Even though I still process , I am about to take the price list off my site and basically quote project based process only.. I have long standing clients that build up film and bring it in batches which allows me to concentrate on the film process properly.

True that! Bob, can you please relocate to San Francisco area? Preferably the east bay, so I may use your services?

I do have to send out some color C41 film though. Neg development only. Imagine I'll use Dwayne's or Richard Photo Lab (I like the ring of that one) unless someone recommends a different place?

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Many. I can think of about 10 locally where I buy CDs regularly. That doesn't include numerous stores I visit when I'm out of town.

I'm certainly willing to admit if I'm wrong. I do know I've not seen one in my urban driving in many years. Not just small town Sarasota, but Denver ca. 2007.

I stopped buying CD's at least a decade ago. You can get the same quality with WAV's or MP3's and you get to put them on your computer or itty bitty devices to listen to anywhere.

If I want physical music sources, I do vinyl...........

 

[Paul Verizzo]

@ Bob: "The biggest problem I am seeing these days are people are buying up very old stock of film that has been reluctantly sitting in professional photographers fridges for over 10 years.. This film is so dam
curly and brittle that loading is becoming a real problem."

Really? I've never had any film base issues with old film. I'm presently using some seven year old mostly frozen stocks just fine. My processed fifty year old films are fine, as are my 1927 family 16mm films.

Not trying to be argumentative, just wondering how you arrived at that particular conclusion.

 

[Bob Carnie]

I notice you are from Florida.. what is the normal relative humidity there year round? up here in Ontario 6 months its high, 6 months its really low...
I think this may also have a bearing on where and how the film was stored.

I just loaded 60 rolls of fp4 film in a humid room and boy it was fast.

same client four months ago it took me twice as long..


I have seen this time and time again in the last 7 years and right now basically do not accept film - specifically 35mm which I expect is very old.

so to answer your question it could be two problems mixed into one.

@ Bob: "The biggest problem I am seeing these days are people are buying up very old stock of film that has been reluctantly sitting in professional photographers fridges for over 10 years.. This film is so dam
curly and brittle that loading is becoming a real problem."

Really? I've never had any film base issues with old film. I'm presently using some seven year old mostly frozen stocks just fine. My processed fifty year old films are fine, as are my 1927 family 16mm films.

Not trying to be argumentative, just wondering how you arrived at that particular conclusion.

 

[removed account4]

film and its processing has become a niche market.
rite aid will send out to fuji labs ( and dwaynes ) and they will give
you back your film, you can "refuse" the prints and get
"process only". i am lucky, i have a lady down the street from me
who i take all my 35mm c41 to, she does a fantastic job. i also have her
make prints for me if i need them done, again, i can't complain one bit.
i think that is the solution, to find a lab locally that you can trust. if i lived in
toronto i would gladly bring everything i do to bob to process and print, but
( i have a print he made for me and it glows ) but for now i will take my work locally
until she stops, and when that happenes i will look to the west (toronto).

 

[CatLABS]

You can process C41 at any of the MANY small time yet very pro custom labs that have popped up in the past 2 years, all across the US, and in other places around the world (IE - Australia, NZ, Germany etc,). Their service is top notch in most cases, you can have simple or high end scans, and the price is only marginally higher then whatever the pharmacy/one hour joint was, + shipping (but no tax if you send out of state). Or places like Bob's shop which has been around for a long time offering top notch service.

You can buy a brand new (or fancy used) minilab on ebay for less then 200$ if you really wanted to.

Alas, not all is lost, C41 is not quite dead yet, and for the most part, is easily accessible, albeit in a new way, which is more attune to todays market.

 

[chazum0]

Everytime I hear about another Walgreens or CVS mini lab closing, I always wonder what they do with their Frontier or Noritsu machines...

 

[CatLABS]

Everytime I hear about another Walgreens or CVS mini lab closing, I always wonder what they do with their Frontier or Noritsu machines...

it usually gets shredded.

 

[chazum0]

it usually gets shredded.

))):

I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[madgardener]

Look on Ebay, there are usually several for sale and reasonably priced.

 

[EdSawyer]

minilab machines are unrealistic for home use. the care and feeding of them is significant, and unless you are running 100+ rolls a day, every day through them, they would be total overkill and a huge hassle. Not to mention the size/weight/power/plumbing/etc.

best for home use is something like a Photo-therm SSK-4 or -8. (What I use). Or, one of the various Jobos (I'd probably choose an ATL-1500 if I was going the Jobo route.)

 

[Truzi]

Everytime I hear about another Walgreens or CVS mini lab closing, I always wonder what they do with their Frontier or Noritsu machines...

I asked a manager at my local Walgreens. He said the machine goes back to the company they leased it from, and they're returning the chemicals for credit. At least I tried

At first I was disappointed they were getting rid of the machine, but based on the film and prints I had them do a week before the change-over, perhaps it is a good thing; they were getting very sloppy.

 

[Xmas]

But c41 is a quick and simple process with a 1l tank and a set of reels or spirals you can batch process a days shoot easy? You can scratch mix.

The mini labs here have been vanishing for a decade.

 

[eddyd]

walgreens and walmart do not give you your negatives back. They scan them on a disk and throw them away. I go to pro labs that do a great job for both black and white and color.

 

[skorpiius]

Here in Canada there is a chain of drugstores called "London Drugs" which exists only in Western Canada (British Columbia - Manitoba). They, perhaps just by chance have ended up the being one of the last chains to process film. Speaking to a person at the local store, he said all of their stores, other than fairly new ones, still have C-41 processing machines, and two still have E-6 (luckily the one near me is one of the two).

The C-41 even does same day processing still, not sure if actual 1 hr photo though. E-6 turnaround is a few days. He said the one in my local store is kept fairly busy for C-41 and the E-6 is run every few days. I mentioned that it's lucky that every store has a C-41 machine so if one happens to break you could cannibalize the less busy ones for parts, and he said "they all break all the time". Sadly this is just for 35mm, a contract they had with a Vancouver lab for 120 film expired and it was not renewed, so for me to process 120 it requires shipping to Vancouver or Winnipeg, @$12-15 shipping each way.

Although I think there might be a few other places in town to get C-41 done, I'm sure there are many much smaller cities and towns in western canada (my city is 1.2 million) where London Drugs is the *only* local place to get it done.

Oh and LD definitely returns negs/mounts slides, as well as prints or scans.

 

[Jeff L]

Thanks. I'll check out London Drugs when I'm out west. I used to save my film till I was home. LD is a good option.

 

[MattKing]

Thanks. I'll check out London Drugs when I'm out west. I used to save my film till I was home. LD is a good option.

I'm surprised at the reference to London drugs still developing E6 - I thought they had been farming that out for years.

As a matter of coincidence, I was speaking today to a friend who is one of their longest term lab people. I asked, and he advised that about half of their stores still have C41 processing. As I understand it, it is limited to 35mm - no 120 processing left. I don't think they can do APS, but some of the labs might be able to do 126 or 110.

Their prints are all ink jet.

One of their stores is a 3 block walk away from where I live. I use them for 35mm C41 when I need something in a couple of hours.

 

[skorpiius]

I'm surprised at the reference to London drugs still developing E6 - I thought they had been farming that out for years.

As a matter of coincidence, I was speaking today to a friend who is one of their longest term lab people. I asked, and he advised that about half of their stores still have C41 processing. As I understand it, it is limited to 35mm - no 120 processing left. I don't think they can do APS, but some of the labs might be able to do 126 or 110.

Their prints are all ink jet.

One of their stores is a 3 block walk away from where I live. I use them for 35mm C41 when I need something in a couple of hours.

That's correct, they apparently used to send them all to Custom Color or some other place in Vancouver but they don't any more for whatever reason.

As for E6, in a way most stores probably do farm it out, to the 2 remaining LD stores which still have the machines.

Oh, and apparently they still do do 1 hr processing... seems I didn't notice something right in my face:

 

[MattKing]

Custom Color apparently has stopped all of their film services - although you wouldn't be able to determine that from anything but the prices on their website.

And I'll have to ask my friend about London Drugs doing E6 - in particular if they still mount slides.

 

[skorpiius]

Custom Color apparently has stopped all of their film services - although you wouldn't be able to determine that from anything but the prices on their website.

And I'll have to ask my friend about London Drugs doing E6 - in particular if they still mount slides.

Yeah I'm curious if the one I go to in Calgary, which is basically downtown has more services than other LD's. I do know that particular store mounts slides, I've had a few rolls done.