Kodak Processing of Super-8 KODACHROME film ends August 1

[SKJ]

I think you are mistaken. if you send PK 59 mailers to District Photo, they are currently going to Switzerland, NOT to Dwaynes. You can tell because when the film comes back, it's in a black clamshell reel & case, and there's a little strip of S8 stuck in the side that has frame from your reel and frames from another reel to which your was attached when it went through the processor. Dwaynes mounts films on white reels and puts them in white cardboard boxes.

Just to clarify...

SKJ

?????????????

All the k40 I have will be sent in prepaid mailers to kodak processing C/O District Photo.

These mailers end up at Dwaynes for processing not switzerland. How will this Aug 1'st deadline affect me, since my film is'nt going to lussane anyway?

I certainly understand Lusanne is closing and the Aug 1st deadline as it relates to them, but my mailers have no date and they go to Dwaynes and have always gone to Dwaynes anyway.

Am I correct to assume that this Aug 1'st deadline does not apply to me and my mailers at this time???

Anyone???

[richardsnow]

I have one cart of K40 left but have lost the mailer.

Am I right in thinking that you can still send it to the swiss lab for free processing? I'm sure I did that verything about 3 years ago.

[vidwerk]

I have one cart of K40 left but have lost the mailer.

Am I right in thinking that you can still send it to the swiss lab for free processing? I'm sure I did that verything about 3 years ago.

Yes you are. It's not the mailer that dictates "processing included", but the film itself. I just sent in my last cart of "processing included" k40 and I had no mailer either. In fact I have never used mailers.

vidwerk.

[Justin Lovell]

I can confirm that with vidwerk.

I was thinking of selling my pre-paid mailer packages (I've got a whole wack of 'em), but I don't know if they would be accepted by the lab for free processing without the sticker on the cartridge saying "processing pre-paid".

[vidwerk]

I can confirm that with vidwerk.

I was thinking of selling my pre-paid mailer packages (I've got a whole wack of 'em), but I don't know if they would be accepted by the lab for free processing without the sticker on the cartridge saying "processing pre-paid".

I believe it's actually coded on the film itself. I once sent in an old cart that came with a camera. There was no indication on it about "processing included". It returned 2 weeks later with $0. on the tag. Can anyone confirm this?

vidwerk.

[richardsnow]

thanks for confirming

[Janne]

I believe it's actually coded on the film itself. I once sent in an old cart that came with a camera. There was no indication on it about "processing included". It returned 2 weeks later with $0. on the tag. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, it is coded on the film. The envelope is only for convenience; it has no monetary value.

[chachi]

I think you are mistaken. if you send PK 59 mailers to District Photo, they are currently going to Switzerland, NOT to Dwaynes. You can tell because when the film comes back, it's in a black clamshell reel & case, and there's a little strip of S8 stuck in the side that has frame from your reel and frames from another reel to which your was attached when it went through the processor. Dwaynes mounts films on white reels and puts them in white cardboard boxes.

Just to clarify...

SKJ

Last year, all my film sent inside PK59 mailers was being recieved back on white reels in white boxes. I did noticed that they had come back in the black clamshells this year though. I also noted Justan's post where he notes white boxes stopped for him over 2 summers ago, that was not the case with my film.

Anyhow, perhaps kodak started sending the pk59 mailers over to switzerland in some sort of attempt to close that "no expiry date" PK59 processing loophole?

I mean If kodak is using Dwayne's and Dwayne's says they will continue to process K40, then I'm guessing kodak would have no choice but to honour their mailers, right?

That said, If kodak only uses the swiss lab exclusilvly now, Then processing would have to end with the closure of that last lab.

Anyhow, Dwayne's was obviously good enough for kodak to use for processing my memories just last year, what changed this year???

I would also hope that these mailers would still be honoured even if that meant they had no where to go but to Dwaynes. That would still be an option for kodak long after the swiss lab closes. My personal preference is that they are honoured at least untill the end of the last process by date on the last k40 production run sold.....

just my 2cents!

[John_Pytlak]

The first questions would be something like:

1. When do we stop manufacturing?
2. When do we stop processing?
3. What replacement products/services do we recommend to our customers after the end of:
(a) manufacturing
(b) processing
4. Who communicates this EOL and through what channel(s)?

Those questions were addressed in the original announcement by Kodak Entertainment Imaging almost a year ago, on May 9, 2005:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/about ... per8.jhtml

1. "...As part of the portfolio revamp, Kodak will discontinue sales of its S8 KODACHROME 40 Movie Film. Final sales of KODACHROME Super 8 will be based on product availability over the coming months..."

2. "...Kodak will give customers at least a year to process their KODACHROME Super 8 film with Kodak or seek an alternative..."

3a. "...The new KODAK EKTACHROME 64T film expands the current Super 8 portfolio that includes two black-and-white reversal films in medium and high speeds covering a range of lighting situations. Super 8 customers will also find the latest KODAK VISION2 motion picture films available in 200T and 500T speeds, incorporating the highest quality images, improved sharpness and grain, along with a full systems approach, optimizing the entire imaging chain..."

3b. "...Why did you choose EKTACHROME 64T to replace K40?
A: The KODAK EKTACHROME 64T Color Reversal Film 7280 that is being made available in Super 8 format was chosen because it is the closest reversal stock to Kodachrome 40 in color balance (tungsten), chroma (color saturation), hue (color reproduction), sensitivity (film speed) and image structure (granularity & acutance). At the same time it offers simplified processing through widely available E6 chemistry..."

4. Communication was widespread and rapid. It was posted on the Kodak website. The press release was picked up by many publications and on-line newsletters. I participated in discussions here and on other user groups.

[reflex]

Those questions were addressed in the original announcement by Kodak Entertainment Imaging almost a year ago, on May 9, 2005

That announcement didn't give a date that the processing facility would close, apart from the vague "more than a year" statement. Nor did it address how prepaid mailers would be handled after "more than a year" had passed.

Quite honestly, I couldn't care less about Kodachrome. All I'm trying to say is that Kodak could have handled the discontinuation of a famous and very popular amateur film stock in a slightly more elegant manner. If you disagree, that's fine.

[tlatosmd]

I DON'T know what Qualex Corporation plans to do after the Kodak Lab in Switzerland stops processing Super-8 KODACHROME on August 1.

Maybe start their own K40 processing honoring pre-paid carts and any mailers? :lol:

Judging from all I've heard before (such as according to Dwayne's themselves and Wittner), Dwayne's will honor neither so you'll have to pay again.

I have one cart of K40 left but have lost the mailer.

Am I right in thinking that you can still send it to the swiss lab for free processing? I'm sure I did that verything about 3 years ago.

There never were any mailers for Switzerland (I'm sceptical of any Kodachrome movie processing vouchers at all, actually). Those yellow and red mailing bags are for postal convenience only and often are sold on eBay as 'processing mailers' or 'vouchers' as there used to be such for other stocks than Kodachrome motion picture film

Anyhow, Dwayne's was obviously good enough for kodak to use for processing my memories just last year, what changed this year???

Kodak didn't use Dwayne's for 5-10 years at least, they only let people decide for themselves to send their films either to Switzerland or to Dwayne's

[reflex]

Kodak didn't use Dwayne's for 5-10 years at least, they only let people decide for themselves to send their films either to Switzerland or to Dwayne's

This is completely wrong.

Kodak used Dwayne's to handle film marked "processing included" in North America in 2004-2005, as I mentioned earlier. Anyone sending their mailers to the US or Canadian Kodak addresses had them processed by Dwayne's.

The only noticable differences were the white reel instead of the black shell from the Swiss lab and the US mailing address on the return package.

[richardsnow]

Another question( for Uk folks)

When I last used K40 about 1 year ago, I sent my cart to the DEER PARK ROAD, Wimbledon,London address. I assumed they then shipped it over to Switzerland.
Do I still send it to London or do I now have to send it direct to the Swiss lab?

[Janne]

You should send to Switzerland. The UK address is not printed on new mailers anymore.

[richardsnow]

Thanks Janne, the cart I'm sending is from 2005