Costco still developing film?

I was picking some stuff at a local photo shop, and one of the employees

remarked that he had heard that Costco no longer develops film. Can anyone

verify this? What next? Just before Christmas, Costco stopped stocking VHS tapes

I don't think they sell film anymore. What ever happened to backward

compatibility? Last year Turbo Tax didn't make a version compatible with my 6

year old PC. It is one thing to upgrade products and another thing to force

upgrades. It increases my respect for Nikon for continuing to honor the F-mount

unlike Canon, when they orphand the FD system.

Check with your local Costco. Our area has stopped some in store service, namely prints from 35mm transparencies effective Feb 29.

 

They are still doing 35mm C41.

Eaggads! As long as Walgreens and CVS don't drop the service.

If Walgreens stops processing C41, I will be doomed. There is no other place that will process C41 for $2.15.

It's almost as easy to do C41 at home as B&W, You are only doomed if you want to be.

Off topic!

 

Egads,

 

Canon still getting grief over switching their mount some 21 years ago.

 

I bought my first Canon FD system back in 1971 at the Bitburg AFB Photo club. The FTb body cost $110, it was black. The 50mm f/1.4 lens was about $60. In the early 80's I upgraded to an A-1.

 

When the auto focus era started I let it pass me by. I did not go auto focus until the late 90's. I looked at all the systems and went with a Canon EOS system. I never took an opportunity to hold a grudge.

 

When Ebay came along I sold most of my FD stuff for near what I paid for it. I did sell my FTb to a friend for $20. His had crapped out but he wouldn't take mine as a gift.

Rite-Aid just bought out Eckerds... or at least the stores here in Asheville... they still offer 1hr service, although the Rite-Aid profit system appears to be through understaffing which means your photo-lab clerk will also be the store manager and the only person running registers... somehow I don't see this lasting very long.

Try using a non-AI lens on a random selection of Nikon digital cameras and then tell me about the "wonderful' compatibility of the F mount. One reason I went to Canon was that I could not get a straight answer about what was compatible with what from any Nikon official source. To my astonishment, after I got my Canon, I found out (from Bob Atkins among others) that I could use my old Nikons easily on the Canon.

 

It was also the case that Canon continued to support FD for quite a while after the EOS 650 came out. I just bought a nice AE-1 Program a few months back, along with a sampling of lenses for it, and that is the best way to use FD lenses ;)

My costco still developes film. I have to say... they are the best at it, so far as in store processing goes. I always get crisp scans with good contrast and excellent color saturation.

 

This whole concept of eliminating film really annoys me. Yes, let's put all our images on media that will be worthless and unreadable in 30 years! It just seems so consistant with the disposable society that we live in. Now we take 10,000 basura images on digital cameras, only to end up with 10 that are decent. Just throw away the rest. Do we realize what a miracle and what worth the image is?!! Painters would spend months, years! to just create the likeness of their subject. Now we click a button. When they dig up our civilization 100 years from now, they'll find my film in a sealed vacuum tank, flawless. But all the cds (100 years being the lifespan of archival "gold" ones) will be long dead, along with any method or possibility of reading them.

 

So let's not say goodbye to our old friend, film. It is the ultimate "RAW" image, or "Digital Negative". It takes no microprocessor to interpret, other than the one that each of us has been endowed with by the creator of our beings. Film is a miracle. So is the digital sensor. But I prefer the tangeable medium. Long live Costco film processing!

hmmm... yes, and they did it right and took over the photographic market... must have been a real stupid move ;)

 

Yes, of the available cameras, EOS are about the most useful for all Nikon and adaptable lenses (vintage too.. so on topic!).

 

>>Canon still getting grief over switching their mount some 21 years ago.

...

Try using a non-AI lens on a random selection of Nikon digital cameras and then tell me about the "wonderful' compatibility of the F mount.

I am still active with the FD system, and I have T90s, F-1, FTbs and a AE-1. My first 35 mm SLR was a FT-QL purchased in vietnam in 1967 for $65 complete 50mm f/1.8 lens. Still have it.

 

For my pre-AI lenses, I can use Nikon F and F2, and various Nikkormats. I enjoy using my AI lenses on later Nikon film SLRs and an am delighted that they operate well on my Nikon 200.

 

Many people on these forums poo poo film processors that cater to the masses. My experience with Costco has been that it is first rate at a low cost. I don't know about Walmart because I don't want to give one penny to this most un-American of companies. I despise them.

 

Digital everything has tended to make us the instant gratification generation. Impatience trumps quality.

Some people have gotten luck with Walmart... I havn't. Target was just as bad... they managed to scratch the negs BEFORE scanning them so now I've got useless negs and useless scans. Drug stores are usually a better bet than big box stores because I think the turnover rate for employees is MUCH lower. You get someone who learns the inner workings of the machines and one person who is responible for processing, printing, changing chemicals and customer service... that leads to a more dependable lab. The big box stores tend to have many people in the lab doing different parts of the job and no one gets profficient at anything. In this case, I think smaller is better!

I guess as long as human have eyes, we will be able to read image on film. For older folks like me, maybe a correction lens or two.

My Costco does still process film, and they still have some Fuji 400 in stock too. HellMart still processes film and sells it. But I avoid them for most things. If Costco stops film processing they won't get my membership dues anymore...even though I've had a free lunch there many times.

 

 

And to Hell (mart) with both Nikon & Canon!

I've never really been to Costco, mainly because there wasn't one close to where I live. Back in the day, I did used to go to FedCo once in a while though. But I never bought or developed film there. I wasn't into photography back then. When did FedCo go out of business? I'm thinking it was around 1999.

 

I've actually had pretty good luck getting color film developed at Walmart. Some of the best pictures I've taken were ones I took to the 1 Hour photo lab there. They've never damaged any of my negatives. I buy Kodak Gold 200 film from Walmart all the time. Sure, 99 percent of the stuff in Walmart is Made in China, but at least the film is made in USA, so I don't feel quite as guilty. But even the great Kodak isn't that righteous. I have bought a few Kodak films that said 'Made in China' on the box. I think it was 100 Gold. And I bought that film from a camera shop, not Walmart. So you really never know. Just because it's a major brand, that doesn't mean anything anymore. It used to be that only the cheap off-brand immitation stuff was made in China, but now it seems like everything is. So brand loyalty doesn't mean anything when that brand will sell out just like everyone else and outsource to factories in China. However, all the Kodak film I've bought lately was made in the USA. Anyway...I'm getting off the topic.

 

I just wanted to say my experience with developing color film at Walmart has been pretty good. Maybe it depends on the particular photo lab. I remember taking film to another Walmart and it seems like the pictures didn't come out as good.

Nikon mount non compatibility? D200 and D300 and D1, 2 and 3 all are backward compatible to ai lenses and will meter with them. D50, 70 and 80 will mount ai lenses but the meters don't work. D40 and D60 will mount non ai lenses (they won't meter). AF and afD lenses will mount on the F3, F4, F5, F6, Nikkormat FT3. . . .Very few camera brands, film or digital will still mount as many lenses from different eras as Nikon. If someone switched to Canon because of "incompatability" then they weren't a real Nikon user.

The local Costco develps c41 only and doesn't send out. Just '1 Hour'. They manage to pull off the hat trick: good negatives, good prints, good scans.