Where to proccess Super-8

[Super15071]

I've not been able to find a lab to process my Super-8. I'm on the East coast, in VA. Does anyone have some answers for me?

thnks

[rollemfilm]

www.cinelab.com

Also, in New York; Color Lab...
I don't have the info on them.

[corey13]

If you bring it to Wal-mart they'll send it to Fuji color processing in Arizona for only $4.88 and Sams will do it for $4.28. It takes about 2 weeks.


Corey

[Alex]

We probably should try to make a distinction, based on different posters' experiences, if the processing place in Arizona (which I believe is where Walmarts and perhaps Target sends their film to) is "good enough"

About 10 years ago I briefly worked at Super-8 Sound as a Post-Production Supervisor for Rank Cintel Transfers...(this was before Super-8 Sound had their own rank)

Just before that six-month stint at Super-8 Sound...I had witnessed a five year spiral of Kodak Super-8 processing of Kodachrome 40 as it changed names and owners from "Kodak" to "Kodalux" into "Qualux" and into out of lucks.

Basically, the processing service on Kodachrome went from overnight to TWO WEEKS!

Emboldened because I now worked at Super-8 Sound, I contacted "QUALUX, which had moved the original Kodak processing from LA to San Francisco, where it was called Kodalux, then to Texas! where it became Qualux.

The rumor was that Kodak originally agreed to sell to "Qualux" with the strict stipulation that Kodak machinery and personnel remain involved in the processing of Super-8mm film.

Well by moving the operations a few times....Kodak and it's personnel were basically removed from the picture.

OSHA was real strict about Worker Safety and chemicals in California, and apparently, Ectachrome developing formulas were to be phased out in California because of OSHA.

So the various moves by "Qualux" resulted in Kodak not being involved anymore and also eliminated the restrictive conditions placed on Film Developing by OSHA in California.

Phil from Super-8 Sound was pretty cynical that I would have any luck contacting Qualux in Texas to see if they could develop the Kodachrome quicker than 1-2 weeks....

...AND HE WAS RIGHT!

Basically, we were told back then that they needed 2000 rolls of film to do a "processing run", and frankly, even 200 rolls from us was a drop in the bucket!

Phil discovered another Super-8 processing place in Arizona, (it may be near the Grand Canyon, and they may have enjoyed processing the Super 8mm shot by tourists of the Grand Canyon on a daily basis).....

and at first the processing was abysmal...(pity the filmmaker and Super-8 Sound, your choices were either wait up to two weeks for halfway decent Kodachrome processing, or risk less than subpar developing and get it right away.)

Before giving up on this lab in Arizona, I believe (this is conjecture on my part, I was left out of this process...pardon the pun) that Super-8 Sound tried to get the Arizona lab to practice better quality in relation to their developing....

at first things seemed better, and then they settled back into a level of mediocrity that was unsettling for the LA super-8mm filmmaker working on a music video.

In the meantime, Yale LABS in Hollywood (they since moved to North Hollywood) had a monopoly on BW and Ectachrome, although time was running out on Ectachrome because of CAL OSHA.

In my opinion, their was a general consensus back then from film students that Yale scratched their share of student film processing...that was then...I don't know about now.

Sometime in the early 90's, Fuji labs (I believe) bought the lab in Arizona...but I'm not sure the quality of processing improved.

I've read there is a lab in Switzerland that is actually a Kodak lab, and they do good work, is this true?

Apparently, that Kodachrome processing machine in Hollywood, may have stayed where it was, and became part of A & I developing...or it may have been moved to San Francisco.
(where is it now?)

I've heard that it was the best made Kodachrome processing machine ever, and I can definitely vouch for the quality of processing I used to get when Kodak did the Kodachrome processing in Hollywood.

Whatever happened to that machine...who knows...although the Kodak personnel definitely made for a winning combination.

So lets hear personal accounts of who likes what and why in regards to Super-8 processing.

Alex



[This message has been edited by Alex (edited January 11, 2001).]