Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Replacing Walmart

Since the demise of the Fuji-Walmart service, I've been looking for another solution. I've found a small lab in San Jose near the university that will do both C41 and black and white. My first roll of color is ready tomorrow.  I've decided to go back to developing my own black and white. Tuolumne county runs a hazardous waster disposal program so I need to be able store the spent chemical for 3 to 4 months; but I think that's doable.  

Sunday, September 2, 2012

End of the road

Got some disappointing news this afternoon. Fuji Labs, (to which WalMart sends 'odd' film like B&W 120) has discontinued its develop only service. The will still develop 120 but won't return the negs, which is completely pointless. So my cost per roll has suddenly gone from $2.33 to over $10. At $1 a frame I'm going to have to think twice about pressing the shutter; and digital is looking increasingly attractive...

So this excursion into medium format, which I had foolishly thought was going to be my preferred compromise between 35mm/digital and 4x5 for the foreseeable future, may well have come to a rather sudden end.

Now I have to decide whether to sell my Mamiya equipment or keep it for its (short-lived) nostalgia value.