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The answer may be.......YES!!!!!
I have tended to favor Super-8 businesses making money over us filmmakers getting whatever we need in Super-8 as cheaply as possible.
If businesses are making money by offering Super-8 products or services...then Super-8 won't die. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
However, if Wal Mart or Sam's Club can offer Kodachrome processing for $4.88 a cartridge...just how much of that is ending up in Dwayne's pocket?
Not very much.
Perhaps as little as one to two dollars ends up in Dwayne's pocket per cartridge processed. Perhaps such a low cost, somehow, some way, leads to a drop off in quality.
The question I have is, what price are you willing to pay to significantly reduce the possibility that your precious Kodachrome film is developed to a standard that would rival Kodak's processing facility in Switzerland?
I love the fact that if I had to, I could Fed-EX Kodachrome Super-8 to Dwaynes in Parson's Kansas, and have it arrive there, be developed, and then be sent back to me within 40 HOURS!
But what is the point of this if there is a chance the film comes back in less than pristine condition?
What is an acceptable price you would be willing to pay to have Dwayne's equal the quality you have come to expect from Kodak motion picture products and Kodak processing?
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Well,
I just sent them 4 cartridges direct based on all the wonderful stuff I've been hearing about them. I think $9.00 a roll directly in their pocket should be enough.
It's kind of a Cosmic Irony. Dwayne's was a wonderful place until two days after I tried them for the first time. Did the mere act of me sending them film destroy them?
It's kind on like the morning after I put Slick-50 in my car I read in the paper how it clogs up oil filters and starves the engine for oil! (60,000 miles later, no problem!)
How many magazines have I ruined just by subscribing to them?
But Seriously Folks, I haven't been 100% delighted with Kodak either. They have a tendency to chop too much off the end of the reel, and I recently got a roll of Kodachrome back from them that was way overprocessed. (I don't think it was the camera, the cartridge before and after were fine)There has been some dirt on the film here and there as well.
I've been pretty insulated from this because I've been shooting a lot of Black and White lately, but how I wish there were more than two choices for Kodachrome!
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Nine dollars is plenty according to BolexPlusx.
My premise is that all of those rolls coming in from Wal Marts and Sam's Club at $4.88 each (and that does not all go Dwaynes) is dropping the overall amount of money that Dwayne's is receiving to such a low level that quality may be suffering as a result.
Perhaps Increased volume at super low prices equals a drop in quality?
Interesting comment you made that Kodak may be cutting off too much at the end of each cartridge of film that they process. You start to wonder if some of the people who work at these places truly understand how much we cherish the memories and images we can and do create with motion picture film.
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I'd certainly be willing to pay $9 each just for the guarantee of getting the film back safely. Minor imperfections don't bother me. What Mike described was more than minor so that was not good to hear about
Once my stack of PK59 mailers run out I will be shooting more B&W
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Mikey,
Your humor is perfectly logical. Think about it: you have this big expensive plant with all sorts of expensive machinery and employees you pay by the hour (plus utilities, taxes etc.....). The last thing you want to see is any of this standing idle. So you do what the airlines do and offer your idle capacity at a discount (standby). Better to make a little than nothing.
Now you have two kinds of business: You have the folks that come in at $9 a pop and you promise a one day turn around and the work goes out with your name on it. You have this second group that pay some percentage of $4.88 a pop which gets 2-3 week turnaround and somebody else's name goes on it. Question: Who hits the process first? (Translation, who gets the fresh chemicals?)
Maybe this is the answer to the eternal question: "Why would you spend $9 to process a roll of film when you can get it processed at the same company for $4.88?"
It will be interesting to see how my film comes out.
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The plot thickens!
Here is a developing test if someone is so inclined. Shoot two Kodachrome cartridges with the exact same expiration date.
Shoot these two cartridges in the exact same environment, the same day, the same time...then bring one cartridge into WalMart for developing, and the other send directly to Dwaynes.
Lets see what happens. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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The roll I sent directly to Dwayne's turned out fine...maybe they process the higher priced rolls early in the morning, and save the Walmart rolls for the end of the day? I have no problem with Dwayne's making a fair profit...but they are responsible for whatever deal they made with Walmart...and since the kodak mailers are like 5.00 apiece, wouldn't they want to stay competetive with Kodak? If they can't process Walmart's rolls at a profit, they need to raise their prices a bit...I would much rather have quality...after all, I've already paid $$$ to buy the film, then spent my valuable time shooting it. Also, as a consumer, with shipping and an envelope, i spent about $13.00 to have Dwayne's process my first roll..then I saw Walmart offering to do the same thing for 4.88...which would you pick? But why would the quality not be the same, if both are done at the same lab? (unless my earlier humor was actually true, and they are more careful with the $9.00 rolls.)
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I'll second that, and it Dwayne's had an internet cam...we'd all be checking it every now and then!
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Everyone has some great thoughts on this subject, and I like Alex's idea...although it sounds like some of the people who got dirty film back did send in directly to Dwayne's...but I may be wrong. Dwayne's must know that super 8 is a highly specialized "niche" market at this point in time, and that there are certain reasons people are willing to go to the extra trouble of shooting film...they must then also realize that this "niche" market must be a very precise group, and demands excellent quality. If we weren't, we'd all be firing up the vhs and vhs-c camcorders right about now! mike
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Forgot to add this..Bolex, please let us know as soon as you can how your film turned out. I hope it turns out great! mike
