The end is near.

[mr8mm]

It appears that FUJI USA is down to only one large lab in North Carolina. The west coast(USA) Oregon lab has closed. All film submitted for processing at Walmart and other retailers now goes to the N. Carolina Lab. This adds many days to the return of film submitted for processing. It looks like that within a year if you want film processed you will have to send directly to the lab, adding an extra cost and an incentive to switch to a digital camera. Bye, bye film.

Coincidentally, I asked the N.Carolina lab if they still accepted 8mm movie film and they responded that they are still accepting 8mm movie film. So, in theory if you leave your 8mm film at Walmart it should be processed.

John S.

[grainy]

zzzzz.... I remember first hearing "the end is near" about film back around the year 2000, when 2 megapixel digital still cameras came out at consumer prices.

Anyone who is into super 8 has to realize it's no longer a mainstream format.
I can think of two big, fulltime labs off the top of my head without even trying who process super8 daily (alpha, spectra) and are doing great.

Conversely, WalMart is a nasty, mean-spirited organization that has run down thousands of small towns in the US. They also censor music, and have terrible labor pratices.
I wouldn't expect them to develop 8mm or super 8, and wouldn't patronize them either way.
G

[beamascope]

I must agree about Wal Mart. I never even considered using them for ANY film let alone something as old school as 8mm or S8. I wouldn't be surprised if in ten years there are only one or two places left that process small format movie film but I'm guessing it will still be available. Dwaynes, Yale and the two mentioned above makes 4 and I know there are more than that. My point is I can still buy oil paints if I want to and it's been 150 years since photography was invented so photography didn't kill painting like many thought it would. Sure the price will increase as demand decreases but I say just plan your shoot better! Oh and I can also still by vacuum tubes 50 years after solid state electronics took the world by storm. Hell people even make NEW amps that use tubes now. You can even get an iphone tube amp for gods sake.
http://hifiaudiogear.com/ipod-iphone-docks-amps-7/
I don't mind informing us that a lab has gone bye bye but I say enough of these "the sky is falling" post.

[super8man]

If the price of shipping your films to be processed is the breaking point, I believe it's safe to say this hobby is not for you. Stop drinking Starbucks for a couple of weeks and use the premium coffee fund to support your hobby. Heck, put off getting a hair cut for 4 weeks and use the money for processing film.

[jorgerondao]

"Stop drinking Starbucks for a couple of weeks and use the premium coffee fund to support your hobby. Heck, put off getting a hair cut for 4 weeks and use the money for processing film"

You forgot to remind of cigarettes! Lol.!

[super8man]

Yup - pick something.

[mr8mm]

My point not well articulated was that the end is near for film in general. When the mass merchandisers like Walmart stop handling film products the market may shrink to point where Kodak and Fuji can no longer afford to produce raw film. I think Kodak has already tossed in the towel on 35mm film for the mass print market. The point is that manufacturing film requires a certain critical mass and when that market gets below the critical mass the cost of production exceeds sales and bye bye film. It is not just the big boys like Fuji and kodak but small suppliers like Taylor Reel that supplys R8 and S8 50 ft spools to the processing labs. Taylor Reel no longer supplys R8 50 ft reels and 200 ft 8mm reels. The molds broke and the volume does not justify new molds for the plastic injectors. When Alpha cine and the other labs mentioned can not get the equipment and chemistry needed for processing because Kodak has decided the market is not large enough to supply the materials, then it does not matter how many are involved in S8. When the big labs disappear, the market may no longer support film in any form.

You just can not beat the convenience of dropping your film off and picking it up a few days later. I don't own any digital cameras. So, I use film for all my pictures. Unfortunately Walmart is the only place left where that can be done.

I neither like nor hate Walmart. I am just using Walmart as an example of where things are heading. --- J.S.

[Tscan]

I shoot mostly still film, but the only Fuji product I use is Velvia. Am I missing something? Does Fuji negative use a special process? I Have two independant labs in Portland that do excellent processing and printing. Citizens Photo and Blue Moon Camera. They process everything in house that I turn in... Ilford B&W, E6 films, Lomo negs and slides, Kodak negs, cross processing ect... They sell Fuji negative stock so I assume I could get it processed there too?

Anyway, I just got a new Fuji digital camera as a gift, 14MP. It takes good pictures for things like posting FB shots of my baby for family members, but the pictures don't hold a candle to the film I shoot with my Pentax K1000. I would never kick my film camera in place of digital, hell no.

[mr8mm]

If you live in a large metro area, there are independent labs that do great work. I live in a small foothill town in No. Calif. No labs good or bad within 50 miles. Without Walmart I would be finished. I can get prints, slides and movies processed. However, that said, I must admit that Fuji still film processing is not the best.

John S.

[David M. Leugers]

I am first and foremost a film user and supporter of all things film related. However, John is making some points that most do not want to fathom. I know I don't, but one can not ignore what is going on. Film is rapidly being replaced by digital in both the acquisition and distribution for theatrical films and television. Still film is rapidly becoming not just hard to find, but impossible in most stores. The point is, small format is not just the only film to be threatened here. If no more 35mm film, bye bye 16mm and 8mm also.
Then there is a little thing called the rising cost of silver... I just keep on shooting film and try not to worry about it. I have no desire to shoot digital.

[MovieStuff]

I am first and foremost a film user and supporter of all things film related. However, John is making some points that most do not want to fathom. I know I don't, but one can not ignore what is going on. Film is rapidly being replaced by digital in both the acquisition and distribution for theatrical films and television. Still film is rapidly becoming not just hard to find, but impossible in most stores. The point is, small format is not just the only film to be threatened here. If no more 35mm film, bye bye 16mm and 8mm also.
Then there is a little thing called the rising cost of silver... I just keep on shooting film and try not to worry about it. I have no desire to shoot digital.

The problem isn't really about shooting digital. The problem is that digital isn't quite as good as it needs to be to aesthetically replace film on all levels. I mean, if we could all get the exact same "feeling" out of digital, I don't think most of us would care (though there is the whole "tactil" thing, which I would personally miss). But, at this stage of the game, we can't.

Now, in the past, I was lambasted by some for praising the digital manufacturers for even attempting to make digital look like film. But consider there are two levels of satisfaction for digi-film, to coin a phrase. There is the commercial satisfaction and there is the harder to achieve aesthetic satisfaction. No question about it, the commercial satisfaction has been achieved. People, both private and professional, have switched to digital by the millions, giving the digital manufactures the larger market share and, as a result, the larger revenue. But while digi-film may be "good enough" for commercial domination, it has not yet achieved total aesthetic satisfaction; it does not yet look 100% like film, which is what it would need to do to satisfy the die hard film lovers out there.

So, my praise for the companies trying to push the quality envelope for digi-film was because I knew that, once digital reached the point of commercial satisfaction, the clock starts to run out on film exponentially as illustrated by the hard to find stock and film labs closing down. I mean, let's be clear: There is really no practical, commercial reason for the digi-film companies to make their product any better than it currently is. They could simply wait for film to die on the vine and then we'd be "stuck" with whatever state that digital looks. That's a pretty awful scenario, IMHO. So any company that keeps pushing to make digital emulate film as closely as possible I think is doing so with good intent. They are going past "good enough" and trying to create a viable replacement for film that would be not just commercially satisfying, but aesthetically satisfying, as well. I say hat's off to them for even trying.

Roger

[CinemanUK]

I mean, let's be clear: There is really no practical, commercial reason for the digi-film companies to make their product any better than it currently is. They could simply wait for film to die on the vine and then we'd be "stuck" with whatever state that digital looks. That's a pretty awful scenario, IMHO. So any company that keeps pushing to make digital emulate film as closely as possible I think is doing so with good intent. They are going past "good enough" and trying to create a viable replacement for film that would be not just commercially satisfying, but aesthetically satisfying, as well. I say hat's off to them for even trying.

.....and here I am, not appreciating that they are so altruistic.

[Roster]

The last time I checked the B&H Photo website (this morning), there was still plenty of choice in 35 mm (still) film stocks. Mostly Kodak and Fuji but Ilford and Agfa too, among others. And Dwayne's still processes all sorts of different film stocks.

I too lament the loss of local retail photo shops. Heck, I used to work at one back in the day.

So convenience is gone, especially in quick turn-around developing, but so what? Oh well. The opportunity to shoot film is still ample if you're willing to use mail order. So just do it, enjoy it, treasure it... just exercise a little more patience.

[MovieStuff]

I mean, let's be clear: There is really no practical, commercial reason for the digi-film companies to make their product any better than it currently is. They could simply wait for film to die on the vine and then we'd be "stuck" with whatever state that digital looks. That's a pretty awful scenario, IMHO. So any company that keeps pushing to make digital emulate film as closely as possible I think is doing so with good intent. They are going past "good enough" and trying to create a viable replacement for film that would be not just commercially satisfying, but aesthetically satisfying, as well. I say hat's off to them for even trying.

.....and here I am, not appreciating that they are so altruistic.

As if Kodak and Fuji made their film stocks better and then offered them at a lower price? No company does anything for altruistic reasons. It's business. But, as I said on a different thread, when Kodak makes their films look better to sell more product, they are praised for pushing the quality envelope. When a digital company does the same thing, they are perceived as greedy and dominating; "forcing" a new product onto a market that ostensibly has no choice.

Roger

[super8man]

Interestingly, I just bought some 828 film from B&H. Go figure.

Oh, and who waits days to pick up film? I have a pretty good lab in the form of Costco and I pretty much wait the 1 hour for my dual set of prints along with a CD/DVD of the files for a whopping $10-ish. Can't be beat.

The nice thing about 1hour processing is you really are supporting their staff and local operation. In everything else though they are pretty mucha China-factory-direct outlet.