Walmart Medium Format Fake Price List

Noble · Apr 10, 2013

Recently I've been seeing an interesting price list popping up at various Walmart photo centers on their send out service kiosks. It's rather weird since the prices are no where near what you actually get charged. Last week I picked up a roll of 120 C-41 with prints ($2.09) and a roll of 120 E-6 ($4.88). Are you guys seeing the same mysterious sign? The posted prices are laughable. They are higher than the prices at premium labs! I'm glad the sign only appears to be decoration. If they were the real prices it would effectively end my love affair with their send out service... and reduce the amount of color I shoot.

rawhead · Apr 10, 2013

Sounds like an imminent price increase to me. That's why I Jobo.

Pfiltz · Apr 10, 2013

I had to get two 8x10 digital prints made, to check out a problem I was having . They were 9.00 a piece. My regular lab charges me 2.00.

EASmithV · Apr 10, 2013

for $20 i can get 10 4x5s, 4 120s, and 2 rolls of 35mm pushed, with maybe a little extra stuff thrown in

Truzi · Apr 10, 2013

I never liked sending film out, even though I only ever had one film mix-up at a super market when I was a teen. Personally I would be especially paranoid something bad would happen at walmart before or after processing.

I've never used walmart's photo service (actually, I don't really use walmart at all anymore).

noacronym · Apr 10, 2013

I don't go to Walmart. Seeing the humanity of that caliber makes me ill.

Noble · Apr 10, 2013

rawhead said:
Sounds like an imminent price increase to me. That's why I Jobo.

You Jobo because prices might go up?! Wouldn't it make more sense to wait for the actual increase? I've never found a means of processing C-41 that was a cost savings over Walmart send out service. If you get just developing for 220 it's something like 88₵. Isn't a new Jobo $3,000?!

I do send my special rolls to various premium labs. I look at my Walmart rolls as rolls I wouldn't have shot otherwise. Wherever they send them uses a roller system. I have had faint scratches in the periphery from that, but other than that they are perfectly developed. You get what you pay for. Most frames once you scan them in with a little digital ice are fine.

Truzi said:
Personally I would be especially paranoid something bad would happen at walmart before or after processing.

It sits in a kiosk until it's picked up. When it comes back it sits in a metal cabinet till you pick it up. It's a nice service for amateurs. I've never had a problem other than the the usual issues with roller systems but that issue has nothing to do with Walmart.

StoneNYC · Apr 10, 2013

The prices are accurate for me, the price listed is what I was charged for a 120 roll of C-41 cost me $8 at my Walmart

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

philosli · Apr 10, 2013

I hope this is not true.

I dropped off a 135 BW roll about a month ago and picked it up about 2 weeks later. It was still $0.88+tax....

Noble · Apr 10, 2013

StoneNYC said:
The prices are accurate for me, the price listed is what I was charged for a 120 roll of C-41 cost me $8 at my Walmart

Good to know. Is that a new thing or has it always been that way?

StoneNYC · Apr 10, 2013

Noble said:
Good to know. Is that a new thing or has it always been that way?

I don't know because I only went to Walmart after you guys talked so highly about the prices and so I sent it off lol, but this is the only one I've ever sent.

I'm afraid to send my E-6 now...

They also all say "will not return film" now...

I dunno, freaks me out. I don't have the cash to send off another "test" on E-6 only to NOT get it back.

I live in CT, USA so it's kind of expensive here.

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

removed account4 · Apr 10, 2013

if you do SEND OUT to fuji labs, instead of having your film processed in the store
i was told by fuji .. they return your 120 film. it is forwarded to dwaynes in kansas
as a special order ... if it is 35mm b/w same thing ... the only thing walmart won't return
( according to fuji ) is 35mm c41 ...
if you bring your film to a RITE AID drug store, you can refuse the prints at the time of pick-up
and only have your film processed there .. fuji told me THEY RETURN all film at RITE AID ...

if this isn't what is actually happening at the stores .. call fuji labs and find out what is going on ..

philosli · Apr 11, 2013

jnanian said:
if you do SEND OUT to fuji labs, instead of having your film processed in the store
i was told by fuji .. they return your 120 film. it is forwarded to dwaynes in kansas
as a special order ... if it is 35mm b/w same thing ... the only thing walmart won't return
( according to fuji ) is 35mm c41 ...

I confirmed this. They return films except 135 C-41. I sent out through Walmart in mid-Feb. this year 120 C-41 & E6, and 135 BW & E6. Not a problem. The envelops said they won't return negatives. But again, that only applies to 135 C-41.

And the price I got (as of Feb./March this year) was so great as quoted on the Web: $4.88/$6.88 for 120/135 E6, <$2 for 120 C-41 plus prints.

So if someone has more recent experience (than OP's), please kindly update.

wildbill · Apr 11, 2013

So, the company that helped shut down the pro labs is now charging more than the pro labs that no longer exist? I feel so sorry for you guys.

philosli · Apr 11, 2013

wildbill said:
So, the company that helped shut down the pro labs is now charging more than the pro labs that no longer exist? I feel so sorry for you guys.

Back in the hey days of films when many pro labs thrived, the pro labs were not hurt by Walmart at all. Otherwise they would have disappeared much sooner. Pro labs and Walmart/cheap minilabs serve different market segments. The demise of pro labs is because most pros now shoot with "film-less" cameras.

TheFlyingCamera · Apr 11, 2013

Well, here in DC, Calumet Photo (nee Penn Camera) still has same-day/next-day minilab processing for 120 - I can get a roll of 120 C-41 processed for $5 and change, about $6 with tax. My local pro lab charges $8/roll, and I get it back in 3-4 days if I'm lucky. Guess who I'm using?

Two23 · Apr 11, 2013

philosli said:
Back in the hey days of films when many pro labs thrived, the pro labs were not hurt by Walmart at all. Otherwise they would have disappeared much sooner. Pro labs and Walmart/cheap minilabs serve different market segments. The demise of pro labs is because most pros now shoot with "film-less" cameras.

Exactly. I once worked for Fuji TruColor, the place that mass processed film for Walmarts and many grocery stores etc. It was an entirely different crowd that took film to a pro lab rather than a retail chain. I am lucky in that I still have a local photo store that processes 35mm and 120. They get their share of business from me! I just picked up a roll of HP5 that I ran through my Leica IIIc.

Kent in SD

StoneNYC · Apr 11, 2013

But Walmart sends its stuff to Dwayne's ... So, it's not crappy at all and is probably better than the local lab in consistency and quality. My local lab doesn't even do one hour photos anymore because they only run film every few days when they get enough in to make it worth processing.

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

philosli · Apr 11, 2013

TheFlyingCamera said:
Well, here in DC, Calumet Photo (nee Penn Camera) still has same-day/next-day minilab processing for 120 - I can get a roll of 120 C-41 processed for $5 and change, about $6 with tax. My local pro lab charges $8/roll, and I get it back in 3-4 days if I'm lucky. Guess who I'm using?

That is great price!! My local pro lab charges twice more. Although their E6 is great, their 135 C-41 processing is so so. At $8 per roll, I got the same level of quality of the Target nearby, which no longer processed C-41 films...sigh.

StoneNYC · Apr 11, 2013

philosli said:
That is great price!! My local pro lab charges twice more. Although their E6 is great, their 135 C-41 processing is so so. At $8 per roll, I got the same level of quality of the Target nearby, which no longer processed C-41 films...sigh.

Yea but if we could find a lab to process E-6 at .88¢ per 120 roll like some people claim, we could shoot TWICE as many rolls and still come out ahead, it would be wonderful!

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

Noble · Apr 11, 2013

desertratt said:
It seems to me that some people are spending too much energy trying to transform Wal-Mart into a custom photo lab. Film, my friends, is out of the mainstream -- the parade's gone by for it. One needs to adjust to the realities of the cold, cruel wrold.

Who in this thread is "trying to transform Wal-Mart?" Wal-Mart is what it is. Even if any one of use wanted to "transform" the largest retailer in the world I don't think even collectively we have the knowledge nor resources to accomplish such a task.

wildbill said:
So, the company that helped shut down the pro labs is now charging more than the pro labs that no longer exist? I feel so sorry for you guys.

Did you run a pro lab or speak to the owner of a pro lab recently? My local pro shop owner told me a very different story. He points the finger directly at digital. He never mentioned Walmart. As far as I know send out services of all kinds have existed my entire lifetime. For most of their existence they coexisted quite happily with pro labs. I frankly use both. If a pro uses Walmart for their film developing they deserve to go out of business. That would be insane. I can't imagine anyone that values their professional reputation doing that.

StoneNYC said:
Yea but if we could find a lab to process E-6 at .88¢ per 120 roll like some people claim, we could shoot TWICE as many rolls and still come out ahead, it would be wonderful!

I've never seen anyone on this forum make such a claim. Please post a link to the source of this claim so we can get in on that deal. The cheapest I've found is $4.88 (plus tax) for 220 roll of E-6. Sadly I can no longer obtain 220 rolls of E-6 at reasonable prices so the best I can muster at the moment is $4.88 (plus tax) roll for 120 E-6.

ME Super · Apr 11, 2013

I've seen their price list at stores in Central Illinois. Before they put this out, I had switched to a small chain store (6 or 8 stores total) for my E-6 because they turned it around faster and it was worth it to me to pay a few extra bucks to get my slides back quicker. I get develop and mount + scans (and they don't charge extra for pushing film!) for $11.88, tax included. Judging from this price list, I would be paying almost as much through Walmart for just develop and mount!

Sirius Glass · Apr 11, 2013

TheFlyingCamera said:
Well, here in DC, Calumet Photo (nee Penn Camera) still has same-day/next-day minilab processing for 120 - I can get a roll of 120 C-41 processed for $5 and change, about $6 with tax. My local pro lab charges $8/roll, and I get it back in 3-4 days if I'm lucky. Guess who I'm using?

The problem that I have with them is that they are not able to raise the enlarger to remove [crop] the black edge from the film clamp for Hasselblad prints. So I take my 120 film to Samys in Culver City instead.

Sirius Glass · Apr 11, 2013

StoneNYC said:
But Walmart sends its stuff to Dwayne's ... So, it's not crappy at all and is probably better than the local lab in consistency and quality. My local lab doesn't even do one hour photos anymore because they only run film every few days when they get enough in to make it worth processing.

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

The repeated problems that I had with Dwaynes was dirty negatives for a while. They were able to improve on that by rpll after roll of film with explicit directions NOT to adjust the color, they would print the red rock as green rock because they thought that they knew better. That meant that I would have to pay to ship every thing back to be reprinted while they would kindly forgot to reimburse me for my postage.

The reimbursements, even though requested, I determined after many telephone calls to complain where ignored because those people in Kansas are illiterate. After I quit using them I wrote a strong letter and finally some of my additional postage was returned. They asked me to give them a chance and I told them that they had messed up so many times, that they did not deserve a second chance. They never got one either.

StoneNYC · Apr 11, 2013

Sirius Glass said:
The repeated problems that I had with Dwaynes was dirty negatives for a while. They were able to improve on that by rpll after roll of film with explicit directions NOT to adjust the color, they would print the red rock as green rock because they thought that they knew better. That meant that I would have to pay to ship every thing back to be reprinted while they would kindly forgot to reimburse me for my postage.

The reimbursements, even though requested, I determined after many telephone calls to complain where ignored because those people in Kansas are illiterate. After I quit using them I wrote a strong letter and finally some of my additional postage was returned. They asked me to give them a chance and I told them that they had messed up so many times, that they did not deserve a second chance. They never got one either.

Well I have to say the ONLY thing they are good at is chemistry control, and printing from digital files you have color corrected yourself. That's it... NEVER have them scan images or print film ... they are just awful at it... truly I agree... just like I couldn't even describe how bad... haha

I've been to the lab, I've seen them, they are quite specific about the chemistry work they do, and the printing itself from files you send in with the MeridianPro software which is them...), but the rest, don't bother.

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