Wallmart and E64T

[El Jeffe]

I know this subject seems to really get people into debate mode. I tried to send off some E64T film through wallmart and it came back undeveloped with a note checked: service not available Ektachrome 64T.

Just a heads up

[Evan Kubota]

Did you write anything under special instructions? This is somewhat disheartening since earlier posts indicated that it was possible.

[reflex]

I'll save everyone a bit of time and summarize the upcoming responses:

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #1] "See, I told you Walmart was the den of evil. This proves it."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #2] "It's a shame that Ringo was so under-rated. I loved his snare sound, especially on Revolver. Or maybe it was the groovy sitar thing on the White Album. Still, his best work was the narration of Thomas The Tank Engine. Simply brilliant."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #3] "Woah. What the heck is this thing on eBay?! I mean, I've seen them with foam but never that shape."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #4] "I'm not surprised Walmart doesn't process it. This is a sign that Kodak is bringing back Kodachrome."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #5] "They obviously didn't like your composition and the blocking is weak. You should include more extreme closeups and dolly shots. I liked the bit with the sheep, though."

[ANONYMOUS NEWBIE #1] "Dude. Get over it. They stock minDV tape."

And as a serious aside, has anyone successfully received E-64T back from Wallyworld?

[Evan Kubota]

"And as a serious aside, has anyone successfully received E-64T back from Wallyworld?"

I've probably asked this five times with no reply. It looks like no one has.

[freddiesykes]

I'll save everyone a bit of time and summarize the upcoming responses:

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #1] "See, I told you Walmart was the den of evil. This proves it."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #2] "It's a shame that Ringo was so under-rated. I loved his snare sound, especially on Revolver. Or maybe it was the groovy sitar thing on the White Album. Still, his best work was the narration of Thomas The Tank Engine. Simply brilliant."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #3] "Woah. What the heck is this thing on eBay?! I mean, I've seen them with foam but never that shape."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #4] "I'm not surprised Walmart doesn't process it. This is a sign that Kodak is bringing back Kodachrome."

[ANONYMOUS MEMBER #5] "They obviously didn't like your composition and the blocking is weak. You should include more extreme closeups and dolly shots. I liked the bit with the sheep, though."

[ANONYMOUS NEWBIE #1] "Dude. Get over it. They stock minDV tape."

All I can do is laugh and try to figure out which member I am from that list....hahahaha :lol:

[El Jeffe]

Here is what I wrote on the envelope: Super 8 movie film Process E6

I received a nice memo with the film when I went to pick it up, and this memo had a list of all the services not available and they wrote Ektachrome 64T in the remarks part. So I am pretty sure we won't be getting it developed from wallmart.

I have done a few rolls k40 with them so this wasn't my first time developing film through them.

[Evan Kubota]

Too bad... I wonder if anyone can find out from Dwayne's?

[Nitschtskt]

Hi,

I sent Dwayne's an email to ask for 64t development through Wal-Mart. They informed me that they are not developing 64t through Wal-Mart.

[marc]

Is it possible that if you do not specify the processing (K40 or E64T ) that it will go through? Maybe when you specify that the super 8 is E64T, they are seeing something that they are not used to because it is a relatively new service of Dwayne's and traditionally the only super 8 that went to Dwayne's was for Kodachrome.

[Angus]

I suspect Dwayne's know whether or not they are taking 64T from Wal-Mart.

To be honest...I would be VERY surprised if they did.

But then I was very surprised to learn that they did K40 that way!

[marc]

I suspect Dwayne's know whether or not they are taking 64T from Wal-Mart.

To be honest...I would be VERY surprised if they did.

My mistake. I misread the post. I was looking at it like it was a letter sent to Walmart. Although, if they are getting paid and Walmart is simply taking a loss on it like they were with the K40, then I don't see why it would be such an issue.

[Angus]

Dwaynes was the ONLY lab outside of Swizerland that could take K40.
All north American K40 carts probably went to Dwaynes.

Now consider the following points...


1)There will likely be quite a few labs even within the USA taking 64T.

2)Total number of 64T carts sold will likely be SUBSTANTIALLY LESS than K40

So we have less carts, spread between more labs. Can you see why Wally-World can't be bothered to go through the hassle of arranging a deal with Dwaynes...or vice versa?

Is Wal-Mart anywhere stocking 64T in super 8?

[marc]

Dwaynes was the ONLY lab outside of Swizerland that could take K40.
All north American K40 carts probably went to Dwaynes.

Now consider the following points...


1)There will likely be quite a few labs even within the USA taking 64T.

2)Total number of 64T carts sold will likely be SUBSTANTIALLY LESS than K40

So we have less carts, spread between more labs. Can you see why Wally-World can't be bothered to go through the hassle of arranging a deal with Dwaynes...or vice versa?

Is Wal-Mart anywhere stocking 64T in super 8?

First, you have to assume that E 64T will not be as widely accepted as K40. It is too early to tell but the last time that I checked it was the only color reversal super 8 movie film manufactued by Kodak. Secondly, regardless of the fact that there are many labs processing E 64T, Dwayne's always offered the best prices through Walmart and any other chain that sends it out to them. When Kodachrome finally gets the axe for good what will Dwayne's be? It will be all about E 64 T in terms of Fine grained (or as fine as we can get for the moment) color reversal film. I am sure that they will grab another deal from Walmart if they can negotiate as sweet a deal as they had on K40 to get the business. And I hope that they do because that will force the other labs to lower their prices to compete with Dwayne's.

[Evan Kubota]

"1)There will likely be quite a few labs even within the USA taking 64T.

2)Total number of 64T carts sold will likely be SUBSTANTIALLY LESS than K40

So we have less carts, spread between more labs. Can you see why Wally-World can't be bothered to go through the hassle of arranging a deal with Dwaynes...or vice versa?"

Not really. K40 processing was a legacy arrangement. It had nothing to do with sales volume, and as Marc pointed out, that will not likely radically change considering that 64T (why was decided on, BTW? K40 isn't referred to at 40T) is the only color reversal S8 film Kodak produces.

If Dwayne's processes 64T at the same price point as K40 (which they do), arranging a continuation of the processing through Wal-Mart should not be a big deal. It simply requires a minor change of instruction to Qualex - forward "E6 process movie film" to Dwayne's as well as "K14 process movie film."

The "more labs" thing hasn't really borne fruit either. I think Pro8 recently got an E6 processing machine - not sure where else does it in the US at this point, but it certainly hasn't driven processing prices down to the level that we enjoyed with K40.

I have no clue where your last comment comes from. Wal-Mart didn't sell K40 either.

[Angus]

If the majority of people using K40 were on a budget, especially amateurs...the fact that 64T will cost twice as much will mean volume is lower.

There will also be the effect of the fact that it is less convenient to use...and doesn't even work in most super 8 cameras under auto exposure.

Based on my own situation I imagine I'll shoot half the number of carts I used to shoot in K40...at the moment even if I buy without processing and hand process...64T is more expensive than K40