Kodachrome processing at Sams

I'm aware that Sams uses Fuji processing, but when Kodachrome is sent

in for processing (and you write on the note area of the envelope

"Kadoachrome slide" that Fuji subcontracts it to another lab and it

arrives back for pickup in about two weeks. The price if very good-

They did a good job of mounting etc. The only roll I sent in like this

was after expiration and there was an (expected) color shift.

 

(The only other roll sent in to Sam Club had its envelope filled out

by my daughter who apparently didn't know that Kodachrome was slide

film [shame on me- I didn't raise my daughter right]. Anyway, the

envelope was filled out for 4inch prints and no other note. I got back

a clear roll, obviously processed in CN16 with blotches of the jet

backing here and there on the film. I feel bad for the subsequent

customers whose rolls were in that same batch and probably were

compromised by the jet backing. And I feel bad for my lost vacation

photos.)

 

My question is- has anybody had good experience with Kodachrome in

date and properly stored and processed at Sams? The price is right

and I have a lot more Kodachrome as I often use a stero camera and

have almost a full brick of K64 in the refidgerator. I will be sure to

label the next envelope properly.

 

Thanks

Search here for 'Kodachrome processing.' ALL Kodachrome in North America, regardless of where it's dropped off, makes its way to a processor called Dwayne's in Kansas. Dwayne's is pretty competent. No one else on the continent has the proper processing equipment and chemistry. Prices can vary quite a bit according to the drop-off point. The drone at Sam's Club should have spotted the film.

Terence, as far as I know Kodachrome can only be processed at Dwayne's in Kansas or in some special lab in Switzerland.

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=9/6995/1095/1147&pq-locale=en_GB

I knew that the lab in Kansas was the only "Kodak approved" processor in the US, but that is not the same as saying they are the only lab as somebody else could be making their own chemistry without Kodak. (The formulas have been published for K-14 and I have seen the formulas.)

 

So, if that is the only lab then the quality is known.

 

Fuji is not talking about where they foward the film.

Does anybody know of any other unapproved lab?

Kodachrome requires specialized processing machinery. There used to be several options worldwide, including some Kodak-approved independent labs in the US like A&I in Los Angeles.

 

All of the Kodak labs have since closed down and Dwayne's, an independent, is the only K-chrome processor in North America. Unless Fuji is sending it overseas, it goes to Kansas.

I use the Wal-Mart store next door to Sam's Club. Just write "Slide Processing (K-14)" in the special instructions box. It's takes 7 or 8 days from TN til it's returned. I have had two minor problems with maybe a hundred rolls in the past year. All except maybe 10 frames were OK. For those, they gave me a free roll. You can't beat the price - $4.88!

 

I'm on emulsion numbers 3543 for K64 Prof, 1526 for K64 and 2661 for K200. All purchased fresh from either B&H or Adorama and stored in my freezer. They all look OK to me. They were exposed in either a Canon EOS series or a very old or very new Nikon F5. No troubles at all.

 

K-14 processing is also available from Costco, (if you are a member) Walgreens, Target, CVS, Publix, Krogers, etc. in this area, but they cost a few dollars more than Wal-Mart.

 

Good luck.

"Anyway, the envelope was filled out for 4inch prints and no other note."

 

They should have caught it anyway- that is a processing error.

 

I had a roll of Velvia developed (and ruined) in C41 processing by Qualex...when it WAS quite clearly marked! So yours wasn't the first.

There is one lab in Japan which does Kodachrome.

 

Lately there has been reports of KC with color shifts. KC should be very stable. I have seen stories of very old KC film which turned out just great. Is it possible that production runs are very seldom and because of that film is not as fresh as it used to be, so that the best before -date is now more important than before. This is just a guess, maybe I'm wrong.

I don't know that there is any other lab than Dwayne's, but I also can't imagine declaring that there aren't any. It wouldn't take much to buy a K-14 processor at the moment, probably wouldn't cost much more than the freight. Kodak would almost certainly sell the chemistry to anyone nutty enough to run it. I believe that you need to run a fair amount of film through a K-14 line to keep things in balance, and I don't know anybody that wants it done regularly, so I'm not going to set up for it. But absent a declaration from Kodak that they aren't providing chemistry to anyone but Dwayne's I sure wouldn't rule it out.

 

Van