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Kodak Launches 5-Minute Self-Service Kiosk
Mike Strock has emailed me with an intriguing link which to me kind of explains why Kodak is in decline. They are introducing a self-service kiosk in the USA which will process your film in just 5 minutes, and then allow you to select the pictures that you want to keep. All well and good so far, until you get to this part of the story:
“Costs are expected to be around $4 for film developing and a CD, plus 29 cents per print. Consumers get the CD in lieu of the traditional negatives.”
They keep the negatives! And give you a CD instead! Taking away the negatives from a film photographer is sacrilege. There’s no mention of how big the scans will be, but I bet they fit neatly onto a 650Mb CD…
So maybe the service is aimed at occasional camera users who don’t understand or care about their negatives. That doesn’t seem to be the case either:
“Says Grant Pill, CVS’ photo manager: “If you give consumers the ability to take control of the process, they’ll be happy.”“
Will those customers be happy? Wouldn’t they rather drop off their film as they’ve always done and pick up their 24 or 36 prints later? Will they really bother to pick and choose?
Kodak’s new kiosk seems to be a confusing mix of old and new, as this very traditional company tries to embrace the digital world. Expect to see one in store near you soon…
Website: USA Today - Kodak self-serve kiosk to develop film in under 5 minutes
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Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review
Nikon Coolpix P510
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Fujifilm X-Pro1
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#1 Ed Garrard
I believe the film is destroyed as part of the processing. That's why you don't get negatives back. There have been reports of this for a year or so. Sounds goofy to me, too.
10:05 am - Tuesday, February 10, 2004
#2 Mark Goldstein
Destroyed? That's even worse than just being "retained". You might as well use a digital camera in the first place if you're going to use one of these machines...
10:14 am - Tuesday, February 10, 2004
#3 Gary Berg
If I recall correctly, at one time ASF was working on a system where they scanned the negatives at several points in the developing process, to help with highlight and shadow detail. I think this did indeed destroy the negatives as part of the process, the tradeoff being that you might get more detail.
I think this will appeal to a lot of amateur photographers who'd like to have scans to email to friends, but shoot film because they aren't willing to spend the money on a digital camera.
If you think about it 25 exposures from a 35mm roll will allow something around 25Mb/scan. If they use all the space on the CD, of course.
5:10 pm - Tuesday, February 10, 2004
#4 Osama H Alnabulsi
I am interested in getting information about the Kiosk Digital Photography stands.
I'm in the photography business, and I would like to take the nesessary steps to enhance my business and to move to the digital age.
5:02 pm - Thursday, September 15, 2005