Originally posted by maggiew
I guess I felt comfortable doing it because we also had digital pictures with a second camera. So I wouldn't have lost all my Disney memories. But I can see where that would be a decision each individual would have to make. They do send you little labels with your name and address on them that you can stick to each roll so if something happens they could still maybe identify your rolls of film.
I would never send my digital memory card things out for processing. Can you even do that?? I always just downloaded the pictures to my laptop each evening.
I used snapfish on the trip not so much for money saving measures but so that the film was developed when we returned home from the trip. It was just one less thing I had to worry about. I am personally a little leary of one-hour photos. In my area they do a HORRIBLE job of developing. So much so that I have stopped using them at all. It is also much more expensive. Plus, they are NEVER ready in one hour. I always have to come back later in the day for them. And this is not just at one place.
Maggie
Maggie,
It is not while the film is in the canister that causes the problem, it is when it goes into the processor. Film gets "lost" for many reasons. You can label the film to you are green, but, once it leaves it's canister, it is only indentifable by the twin check number, which, can, and often does, come off during the processing.
I am sorry to hear that your area does a horrible job processing film, and I am sure my friend from Sam's club would be unhappy to hear that. She is in Chicago. I can only speak about our area and the difference between one hour and send out is approx. 1.50 per roll of 24. As to it not being ready in one hour, well, often ours was done in less than 45 mins. Depending on the volume of the day, sometimes it was over an hour because of volume or broken machines. BUT, we always let the customer know and gave them the choice of coming back, outlab or leaving it with us knowing it would be more than an hour. I also made sure that every frame was corrected, if necessary. No batch printing from me.
Outlabs, like Snapfish, batch process, one continous length of film. If you saw the process, I doubt you would ever do it again. I toured two of Fuji's outlabs, I would not send my film out. Like I said, I undid a lot of errors from Snapfish and others. BUT, I always said I was not processing film, I was preserving memories. I loved that job, but, I could not deal with the customers and I hate retail.
No after this extreamly long disertation, I will say, if you are happy with Snapfish, all the more power to you and I am happy that you are happy with the results. BUT, I would not ever take the chance and I would worry about it being lost by the USPS or the lab.
Take care and Happy Easter.
BTW, yes, you can send digital media via the outlabs. And, you would be amazed how many people do. Just to save a couple of bucks.
