tragic waste

yellowcat · May 27, 2008

A photo lab near me closed at Christmas.

Going past the site I saw a large skip out side, having a look in the skip I could see the remains of(all too damaged to salvage) two dip & dunk processors a Kreonite paper processor a De-vere 108 enlarger a De-vere 504 enlarger and De-vere 10x8 copy camera.

That is just such a waste.

pentaxuser · May 27, 2008

I'll say. Hadn't they heard of e-bay? I suppose if it was a shop in a chain, with a salaried manager rather than an owner then any incentive to recover money is non existent. You'd have thought that before closure it would at least have put a notice in the window or sounded out its customers/ camera clubs etc.

A real shame.

pentaxuser

Photo Engineer · May 27, 2008

If you think that is a waste, you should see the stuff from Kodak Park that is being scrapped!

PE

yellowcat · May 27, 2008

It was an independent lab that had been taken over three or four years ago.
When it was taken over there was a bit of a drop in quality as experienced but expensive people were replaced.
Last year I saw one of the people who had been made redundant, he said that the new owners view was quantity not quality "Don't waist time on corrections, just get the work out".
Not surprisingly they soon lost most of their professional clients.

naknak · May 27, 2008

''...the new owners view was quantity not quality'' (yellowcat)

That is our way of living today.Isn't it?
Kyprianos

Ian Grant · May 28, 2008

Yellowcat, I think I know the lab you mean, I visited one in Bristol for work about 3 or 4 years ago, it had been a superb lab, but the new owners wanted capacity.

On a visit to my local lab (in the UK) 2 years ago I found the same as you whole LF enlargers in two skips, again unfortunately too damaged to salvage, I did get a few bits, and two turrets full of Componon lenses which luckily had been kept and put to one side.

Most of the old dunk-dip machimes have been replaced by minilab machiness.

Ian

wildbill · May 28, 2008

When Ford motors stopped shooting/processing their own film they had security watching the dumpsters as they through out the contents of their walk-in coolers. There were some scraps they left behind. Everything from xp2 in 4x5 to provia 8x10. It's in another freezer now.

yellowcat · May 28, 2008

Talking to a friend in the photo dept of Avon & Somerset Police, old dunk-dip machines have almost no value now.
They could not give one away - ended up paying Capix around £1000 to take it away.

tragic waste

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