Walmart no longer returns negatives !!!

<blockquote>

<p>I don't think the $1,000 figure is that absurd if you are trying to replace a decent 35mm Nikon film camera with a digital SLR that has similiar features. <strong>Lets assume a Nikon N80</strong>...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yeah lets...</p>

 

<table width="295" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><colgroup><col width="160" /> <col width="71" /> <col width="67" /> </colgroup>

<tbody>

<tr>

<td width="160" height="20"> </td>

<td width="71">Nikon N80</td>

<td width="67"><strong>Canon T3i</strong></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="20">FPS</td>

<td align="right">2.5</td>

<td align="right"><strong>3.7</strong></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="20">Exposure Compensation</td>

<td >1/2 stop</td>

<td><strong>1/3 or 1/2</strong></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="20">Viewfinder</td>

<td align="right">92%</td>

<td align="right"><strong>95%</strong></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="20">Max shutter sync</td>

<td>1/125</td>

<td><strong>1/200</strong></td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

<p>I didn't have time to do a full camera review but I can assure you regarding numerous "features" the sub $500 Canon T3i DESTROYS the Nikon N80. Why someone would feel the need to spend over 100% more than the street price of the Canon T3i to outclass the N80 is beyond me.</p>

<p>The T3i doesn't take Nikon AF-D lenses does it, Jeff? <br>

Jeff you missed my point completely and I am not sure what point you are trying to make. If the user of an N80 of F100 wants to get a digital camera with the same basic functionality- and use all their lenses in the fashion they are used to they are going to have spend in the $1000 range..<br>

I am sure the T3i is a great camera- but if a Nikon user bought one, he would have to get a new set of lenses and and if he used external flash, a new flash unit on top of that. It would be serious money to duplicate the same photographic experience the user already had with his film cameras. Even in the Nikon line, the sub $1000 dSLRs all lack the ability to autofocus with AF-D lenses and have only one control wheel (I suspect the T3i is the same in this regard)</p>

 

<p>Canon Dslr has nothing to do with Wal-Mart not returning film negatives.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>The T3i doesn't take Nikon AF-D lenses does it, Jeff?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Neither to 8x10 cameras. What's your point?</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p><br /> Jeff you missed my point completely and I am not sure what point you are trying to make.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The point I made was there will always be someone out there that will have some desire for a particular niche feature. It seems ludicrous to extrapolate that out and imply that EVERYONE that purchases a DSLR needs to spend $1,000 to get that one feature... while ignoring all the other features where the <$500 DSLR trounces the N80. I think the view finder and FPS are something the average user is going to use a heck of a lot more than a specific no motorized lens for a specific line of cameras.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>but if a Nikon user...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Nikon users are a minority. Most people don't have an SLR of any kind and of the people that do more people have Canons than Nikons. I didn't say every single person that owns a film SLR needs to dump their equipment and buy a Canon DSLR. I was just pushing back at the absurd notion that for the average person buying a DSLR means dropping a grand on a camera body. Switching from Nikon to Canon is expensive whether you are switching from film to digital or film to film. Being digital doesn't change that.</p>

<p>William Y made a very general statement. I was refuting that statement with facts. I can not address EVERY niche use of a film camera. Furthermore he just said the NUMBER of features. He didn't say this one specific feature. I don't know that anyone has done an objective "feature" count and declared a winner one way or another. To me it seems they both have tons of different features and raw count comparisons are meaningless. Frankly I've never heard of someone evaluating two very different cameras that way.</p>

<p>The Canon T3i is a very competent digital competitor to the N80 in terms of "feature" count. It may not have one or two of the exact features you are looking for but that does not therefor mean every serious photographer has to spend $1,000 on a DSLR. That's nonsense.</p>

<p>OK now I got the drift. Wally Mart is just going with the time and tried to tell me in a more gentle way that "Silly old man with that film SLR, we don't want your business, you're obsolete just as your camera".</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>OK now I got the drift. Wally Mart is just going with the time and tried to tell me in a more gentle way that "Silly old man with that film SLR, we don't want your business, you're obsolete just as your camera".</p>

</blockquote>

<p> Wall Mart is obsolete to me. There is nothing that they have to sell or a service to provide that I will accept. The store is completely dead to me. </p>

 

<p>I can't imagine why somebody who is a photography enthusiast would send his precious films to such a cheap and nasty happy snappers outfit to be processed.</p>

<p>Has it been clearly determined that all Wal-Marts are not returning negatives, or is it just happening in some stores or regions? From reading through the posts in this thread is seems like its not clear yet what is going on.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I can't imagine why somebody who is a photography enthusiast would send his precious films to such a cheap and nasty happy snappers outfit to be processed</p>

</blockquote>

<p>For the BILLIONTH time the Walmart send out service is just a cheap conduit to get your film to Dwayne's or similar. Walmart does NOT process your film themselves. Ever use a Fuji Film mailer? Same thing. Develop Kodachrome any time in the last 5 years? Same thing. Every thread we have to explain this to the thread crappers.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Has it been clearly determined that all Wal-Marts are not returning negatives, or is it just happening in some stores or regions? From reading through the posts in this thread is seems like its not clear yet what is going on.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Psul, your assessment unlike that of many other posters in this thread is correct. After I read the wailing and gnashing of teeth in this thread I went to my local Wally World and sent off a roll of 120 Portra to see what would happen. In about a week we should have results. In the mean time I did NOT see anything at my local Walmart that indicates there is any kind of change in policy. This may be a store specific policy or it may be in the process of being rolled out. What would be helpful is if people would physically go to their local Walmarts and check. If there is a change a picture of the change would be nice.</p>

<p>I'm not really sure. I went to a local Wal-Mart to check (Secaucus, NJ), but some moron phoned in a bomb threat and the store was evacuated just as I got there.</p>

<p>I'm dropping off a short roll of 35mm Fuji C-41 at the nearby CVS which still has a minilab. I never used that store before, so I will see what kind of a job they do. I'm sure the quality will not be up to Costco's standards. </p>

<p>My local WalMart in Iowa has only drop off envelopes that clearly state negatives will not be returned.<br>

<br />Regarding CVS, they are building their first store in my city. It will be interesting to see if they offer film processing. Currently the Walgreens locations in my city DO offer film processing on site in one hour.</p>

<p>Forewarned is forearmed.</p>

<p>If you take any film to Walmart, after having been warned, do not come here crying your eyes out that you didn't get your negatives back.</p>

<p>If you want to play the try-and-see game then it's just for your own entertainment at this point. Not that the rest of us won't be entertained as well. :)</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>do not come here crying your eyes out</p>

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<p>Errr... Slow your roll Captain Negativity. Who is "crying their eyes out?" <strong>Are we not allowed to verify internet rumors?</strong> Or should we just take one anecdotal story on the internet as the gospel truth? There is no law against going to your local Walmart and checking the kiosk is there? Who get's hurt? The Walmarts I checked showed NO evidence of any change. Furthermore I sent a roll of 120 film. Even if the send out service works for me I cannot guarantee it works for 35mm C-41 film. I use Sam's for 35mm C-41. Someone else will have to do the 35mm C-41 test somewhere.</p>

<p>Give me a week and I will report back. I also attached a picture of the send out envelope. There was no change it it from my previous visits. <strong>It would really be helpful if someone could post a picture of the alleged new no negatives send out envelope</strong>.</p>

<p>I think the dichotomy here has to do with the relative population density of the area in which the Walmart is located. In more populated areas, such as the northeast and west coast, the courier service is more efficient than paying the $40 or so to send the packages out FedEx to the lab in TN. In more rural areas, there might be 30+ miles between Walmarts, so it's not worth it to send a courier on two 1-hour trips to pick up the film and deliver the prints. <br>

<br />For the record, my Walmart in Willow Grove, PA (a suburb of Philadelphia) says nothing regarding negatives not being returned. I'm headed to a more rural part of the state later this week, so I'll try to stop by the Walmart up there and see what's going on.</p>

<p>This morning I dropped by the Scarborough, Maine Walmart to check it out. There was no sign on the drop box about not returning negatives so I asked the guy about it telling him what I'd read here and other places lately. He said they always returned the negatives, that nothing had changed nor had he heard of anything like that coming along. Who knows how much he really knows of course but he seemed to know what he was talking about. At least I didn't have to explain what they were when I asked if they still did slides and medium format through the drop off (the answer is yes, they do) :). He did mention that this was the twentieth largest store in the country so if it is going on that may have something to do with it or it could be a regional thing. We'll see I guess.</p>

<p>this is a long thread.<br>

last week I took a few of the send out envelopes and it has cnanged.<br>

it does not mention negatives. it does not say develop only as an option.<br>

I asked the middle aged ladies and they say they have lots of negatived<br>

in the bins. (( btw if you do not pick up photos PRINTS withing three<br>

months they will discard the PRINTS and save the nagatives)<br>

I called Bbentonville AR., after after that inocuous email about the digital age last week, I went thry a go round with the 800 number<br>

called the toll number and was sent to walmart com went back to the<br>

toll number and was routted to a voicemail of ???<br>

hope he or she gets back to me.<br>

bottom line?<br>

I do not know.<br>

I am investigating abcphoto( successor to mystic)., dwaynes., snap photo, vermont color and possibly dale's.<br>

all.. I hope someone has suggestions for a decent lab.<br>

I do not expect good news from this walmart person.<br>

I could get a c-41 kit. My present temp controlled homebrew tank still works.</p>

<p>For anyone still following, I picked up the prints from CVS. I had dropped off a 13-exposure C-41 roll a few days ago. First, CVS is still selling film. There were lots of single-use cameras on the rack, along with Kodak colour and b&w film, both Tri-X and the chromogenic stock, plus the CVS house brand.</p>

<p>The minilab did a reasonably well job. No scratches on the negatives, 4" x 6" glossies wet printed on Kodak paper--I like the Fuji Crystal Archive Costco uses better--and jpegs on CD (1908 x 1272 pixels).</p>

<p>However, the cost was way more than Costco. The receipt did not break down the developing and printing, but was $7.79, plus $3.49 for the CD, a pretax total of $11.28. The same roll at Costco would be $5.88.</p>

<p>Costco charges $1.59 to develop (or $1.19 if you order double prints), then 10 cents per 4" x 6" print, and $2.99 for a CD. The resolution on the Costco CDs varies, I've gotten anything from as small as 1544 x 1024 to as large as 3087 x 2048, very hit and miss and odd as they use the same scanner.</p>

<p>The minilab operator at CVS was not there, otherwise I was going to ask how many rolls she runs through in a day, any plans she's heard to pull out the wet lab, etc.</p>

 

<p>see the new thread "walmart DOES return negatives."<br>

that is wahat the manager told me at 2pm</p>

<p>Some do</p>

<p>Some don't</p>

<p>Someday soon</p>

<p>All won't</p>

 

<p>Just got my medium format negatives back...same price...under $3 with prints.<br /><br />Maybe 35mm is the only one that changed.</p>

<p>The Walmart where I live has in store developing, and always gives the negatives<br>

back.</p>

<p>My local Walmart also changed the send out envelopes and new ones do say "negatives will not be returned." I called Fuji customer service (the 1800 number on the Walmart send out envelope) and they explained to me that only C-41 color negatives will not be returned. The developed BW, E6, and medium format C-41 films will come back.<br /><br />So I sent out a roll of 35mm TriX through my local Walmart 2 weeks ago, and just got back my negative today. I didn't ask prints. It's $1.88 plus tax. Negatives were uncut and put in a film plastic canister.</p>

<p>just got back a roll of slides at Walmart. I marked the package "please return uncut, unmounted"....the slides came back mounted with a sticker on the outside that said "service not available.</p>

<p>Hi<br>

I live in the uk and send my filrs to club35.co.uk freepost. You can download an order form on line and so far no problems about getting negatives or prints back but retun postage per film is .95p so if you send 4 films that is £3.80, but the service is still relatively cheap. If anyone knows of a better or cheaper postal service in the uk I would like to hear from you.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"The reason we did it was film developing is great for business in that it gets you to come into the store 3 times for one roll of film. When you first buy the roll, when you drop it off and when you pick it up. Once a customer is in the store you make your money on all the other things they buy." <em><strong>Brian Q.</strong></em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>When I had my "brick & mortar" stores in the 1980's, this was the real reason for going through all the toil. <br>

Even utilizing an advanced amateur film processing company, and during a time when these processing companies provided regular visits from their representative (with customer service quality the main goal) there was a pretty good amount of "redo's" being handled at the customer counter.<br>

That said even today, <strong>you must have the negatives</strong> to REDO errant prints !<br>

<br>

Finally, it sounds like WalMart is running a regional/isolated "Beta" program to see if an attempt to curtail film processing affects the overall bottom line. (money on all the other things they buy)</p>