My love-hate affair with the one-hour photo studio at CVS has been well-documented in this blog. A few years ago, after one of their techs told me, “Oh yes, we can develop black and white film,” he proceeded to destroy a roll of efke film by washing it in C-41 chemicals. To CVS’ credit, they did replace the roll with three more rolls of efke, and the photos I took were test shots anyway… but still…
Eventually I decided that CVS was best used ONLY as a weekend emergency one-hour film developer. I knew I could get a quick, down and dirty roll of C-41 film developed, and at $2 / roll without prints or scans, it was quite a bargain. But there were still some obstacles – like the time when they followed my instructions TOO LITERALLY, then tried to hand me someone else’s film. Palm, meet face.
Over the weekend, I dropped off some rolls of film from my slitscan baseball pitcher photography project, and asked if everything could be developed in one hour. The guy behind the counter said sure, no problem.
An hour later, I arrived. The film was developed and properly packaged. Then the counterperson dropped some news on me.
“After June 10, we won’t be developing one-hour film any more.”
“Oh,” I replied. “Your machine going out for repairs?”
“No,” she said. “We’re discontinuing the service.”
“At this CVS only?”
“At all CVS stores.”
Well, this certainly won’t do…
Now I understand that film development has been displaced by digital photography, but there are still plenty of film shooters out there. And rather than actually take the time and buy the chemicals and all that stuff to make my own darkroom, I’d rather drop the film off and have someone process it properly. And if McGreevy’s not open on the weekend… and I need film developed over the weekend… my options are shrinking.
Walmart sends their film out to a service, and it could take two weeks to get it back. Rite Aid also sends their film out to a service – at least those Rite Aid stores that even HAVE a photo section. And now that CVS is out of the loop…
I called the Walgreens in Troy, the store closest to my home on Green Island.
“Hi, thank you for calling Walgreens, this is Angela, how can I help you?”
“Hi Angela, are you still developing film at Walgreens?”
“Yes sir, we can develop film – both regular cartridges and APS cartridges, as long as they’re C-41 film.”
“Perfect. I just found out that CVS isn’t developing one-hour film any more.”
“Come on over to Walgreens. You’ll like us better.”
Well, if you’re going to put it that way…
So the next time I shoot a roll of regular color print film, whether it’s for the slitscan project or something else, I’ll see what Walgreens can do with it.
Because, as a photographer and as an artist, I like to keep my options open.
That’s very important to me.
Chuck The Writer 
While you’re waiting for those Walgreens pictures, I know a place real close by where you can get a diet cola! You’re always welcome!!!
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I have had two rolls of film ruined at Walgreens and one roll of film ruined at Rite Aid. At this point, it’s difficult to decide where to have film developed.
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Magpies – my main film developer of choice is McGreevy Pro Lab in downtown Albany. They do a great job with C-41, E-6 and B&W film (essentially all film), but they only develop film on Tuesdays and Fridays. That’s why I have a pharmacy one-hour place as my backup.
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Interesting… I know nothing about photography. That was my sister’s “department.” I was the musician, my sister was the artist/photographer, I didn’t paint pictures & my sister didn’t play the piano or organ or, please God, sing! I always thought these kiosks etc., superfluous. Thanks, Chuck, for making it apparent they are NOT. I promise to keep my mouth shut about things I know little to nothing about! You must appreciate, everyone, customer service itself is becoming the ultimate oxymoron. (PS Rite Aid in downtown Albany has what seems to be a sophisticated photo lab. Might want to call them & find out. Only problem is parking in downtown Albany is a nightmare. Parking space in Albany THE oxymoron of oxymorons!
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PK – The Rite Aid kiosk allows you to drop film off, but it’s shipped out to a developing service and can take a week or two to return. Too long for my taste.
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Don’t know anything about the process, Chuck,. Just, as I said, the Rite Aid in downtown Albany seems to have a sophisticated photo lab–maybe just for digital–& I thought that’s what everything was these days! I’ve not been in any other RA ex. Hudson St in NYC. Good luck w/Walgreen. I have not had much luck w//them in terms of customer service but, like I said, that’s close to being the ultimate oxymoron.
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PK – you’re right, most of these pharmacy photo labs are now tailored for digital photo printing. And that’s fine, film photography has become a specialized art form of late.
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