Inside the film mailer is a roll of Ektachrome slides ready to be mailed to a Qualex (Kodak) lab in New Jersey for development and mounting. It is the final roll of film I used, and the final film-processing mailer I had to handle. Good riddance. During the previous twelve months I had encountered bad service (poorly-mounted slides) from the processing laboratory; this was one reason I switched to digital.
By switching to digital I entered a new phase of my photographic life. Since that change all my pictures have been handled by the good folks at CompactFlash (my first vendor) and SecureDigital (my current vendor). Both outfits have provided exemplary service in all respects:
1. Their picture processes allow me to take MANY more photos (up to 880) before I have to change "film."
2. Turn-around time for pictures is extremely short: it is measured in seconds rather than weeks.
3. There is no need to buy stamps and mailers, fill and seal the mailers,
apply stamps to the mailers, and take the rolls to the post office.
4. The cost of their services (after the initial "outlay")
is zero, as I can re-use the same "film" for years.
5. Errors of processing are non-existent.
My only regret about going digital is that I didn't do it sooner.
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