Film Mailers

Just wondering how many of you used film mailers for processing,

rather than a local lab. I just ordered some more Fuji mailers from

B&H.

For me, the reason is both econmic and quality. Even with the

stamps, the cost is half what the local shop charges. I have always

been satisfied with Fuji E6 processing. Am I wrong? Thanks.

Hi John,

 

I use film mailers pretty regularly, especially when I travel. I find that it's convenient to mail exposed film when I'm on the road. This also reduces the amount of exposure to airport X-Ray machines that the film receives.

 

I stick with mailers from A&I and from Kodak.

 

-Nick

My wife was cleaning and threw out all my kodachrome mailers. Its best to hide these things.

Don, one has to hide most things from one's wife.

 

John, I have used Kodak mailers off and on over the years and never have had any problems - until last week. I sent 8 rolls of Kodachrome to Fairlawn, NJ and got back a large express mail box of the processed and mounted slides. One by one I removed the envelopes, opened the boxes, and put the slides on a light table. They looked great. Midway through, one of the rolls started out with a few snaps of horses. I din't remember taking those, but sometimes I start a roll and stop midway and rewind, to finish the roll later - or maybe this was a roll that my daughter shot. By the 36th slide, all of the same 3 horses, I realized that these slides belonged to someone else. Examining the envelope, there was the owner's name. I sent them on directly - why give Kodak a second chance to lose the poor guy's film?

 

That said, I still love imperfect human old Kodak and I will still use their mailers.

I've used both Fuji and Kodak mailers for years with no problems at all. Only if I don't have a mailer will I send myt film to the local Qualex lab.

I've used tons of Fuji mailers. The processing was always top

notch. One time they sent me someone else's pictures. I

presume they got mine.

Depends where you live...in Portland, OR we have a good lab that does

E6 with a "dip and dunk" process that eliminates scratches. Also the

slides are mounted quite flat thereby eliminating projection problems.

Service is overnight and price about $6.50 for 36exp. Check around in

your local area to find who the professionals use. The buzzword is

"dip and dunk" E6 processing.

I've used Kodak, Fuji and A&I mailers. I wasn't satisfied with the

quality of the Fuji processing, but Kodak and A&I processing has

been quite good. Of these two, the Kodak proessing has been

about a dollar cheaper, but turnaround time to Sacramento has

been highly variable, often up to 3 weeks. I take my

Kodachromes to the local Target store. The cost is comparable

to the A&I mailers and the turnaround is six to seven days, using

the same New Jersey lab the Kodak mailers go to.

We used Kodak until the quality at Kodak's facility at1 Choke Cherry, Rockville "went South." We switched from the Kodak yellow box film to Fuji and we've used both Fuji and A&I since for processing. We tried Dale for a while, but the processed and mounted slides left much to be desired..

 

We're now using Fuji film for trannys and either Fuji or A&I for processing. For prints, we use Fuji Superia and the local Ritz Camera store that has Fuji Frontier processing capabilty to develop and to print the negs.

 

For those who live in the Washington, DC area, the National Geographic lab is superb, but you have to take your film there, personally, and then pick up the trannys.

I have used both Kodak and Fuji mailers and I was always satisfied with the quality of the slides. I was on vacation in Grand Teton National Park on September 11, 2001, when all hell broke loose. No mail was leaving Jackson, Wyoming, for several days after that. Then, when I got home, there was the anthrax scare. Mail service became slow and slower. Then I saw the post office was nuking packages around the NYC and DC area. I started using a local lab that offered same day service on E6. I don't shoot much color, so the extra cost is not an issue with me.

Wal Mart in my area sends E6 to Fuji for developing. The cost is $4.00 for a 36 exposure roll. How much is the processing by mailers?

The nearest Walmart is about fifteen miles away, and the local shops send their slides to Portland for overnight service and they charge about $8.00 for 36 E-6 slides. Th price from B&H is about $4.00 and change for Fuji mailers. I usually get 7 to 10 days turnaround. If I need them in a hurry, I can go local, of course. Locally, the price of film is quite expensive, too.

At the Target store I'm paying $6.45 including California & Sacramento County sales tax for 36-exposure slide processing. K14 or E6, it goes to Kodak in New Jersey. At B&H, the A&I mailer is $5.49 and the Kodak PK36 mailer is $4.59. Add shipping from B&H, postage for the mailer, the extra trip to the post office and the risks dealing with USPS, and I'd rather stop at Target on my way home from work and get quicker turnaround.