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Kodak NYC Lab???


Bill DiPietra

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I've been seeing ads (AC, 9/16) for a new Kodak motion picture lab that is supposed to open in NYC this fall. But when I go to the URL, there is nothing on the website and I can't even find anything through a Google search.

 

Anyone know what the story is with this?...

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Thank you!

 

Astoria is indeed in Queens. I was raised, and continue to live here! How convenient for me :D

 

Reading from the top, it looks like the opening keeps being pushed back a month haha

Edited by Evan Samaras
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I went to the tour that Bill linked (thanks for that, by the way, Bill!)

 

The space itself seems to have a little ways to go, they were actively under construction during the tour. They have one machine fully operational and are waiting to install the 2nd.

 

Apparently the night before they were having some plumbing issues that set them back again. Bobby, the developer, mentioned that the hot water pump is still too hot for their specs and they are working on having better control over it.

 

Other things I noted was that they have no current plans to be set up for B&W, but with enough requests they would consider it; I really hope they do!

 

Additionally, there will be two scanners, one of which is a Blackmagic and the other would be something more 'state of the art.'

 

I'll just reiterate what the Kodak reps said; dont quote me on any of this. It all still sounds very tentative regarding what else will be installed and what will be eventually available.

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I also was at the tour thanks to the heads up from Bill. I mainly echo what Andrew said. But also they were not Kodak reps and this was a semi-unofficial tour. They were actually the workers (from the now deceased Deluxe lab) who will run the processing machines. So most of what they said that didn't concern the actual machines themselves was off the cuff and not official. But the lab is mainly set up for running 16mm and 35mm color neg. Super 8 was possible apparently but he seemed unsure if they'd run it. Also, like Andrew said, no B&W and no color reversal... which seemed odd to me given the recent Ektachrome announcement but it almost seemed like this lab was mainly going to be gunning for big 16 and 35mm clients and not amateur focused. Also no knowledge of the Super 8 ecosystem which was announced so really curious where all that Super 8 will be getting processed, scanned and uploaded by Kodak...

 

They definitely seemed to have a lot of work left to do before being ready. With only 1 processing machine of 2 installed (and the second no where to be found) and the first one wasn't actually fully operational due to the water heating concerns. All the chems and what not were in the tanks though. One guy said they could run anywhere from 20k-50k feet a day but he was chatting pretty casually about the process so not sure what it'll be in reality. Also the "scanning" room is completely empty at this point. And they did have a film cleaning machine in another room that seemed set up. Reception area for receiving film and apparently allowing filmmakers to directly drop off their film was completely empty along with the kitchen room.

 

Also, I don't know how labs normally are but it's not a darkroom lab but a light room. They have an almost... bathroom sized darkroom in the middle of the lab where they'll prep the film into light tight reels that then get mounted, in the light, into the main processing machines which are in normal window lit rooms. The whole lab was probably no bigger than around 2500-3000 sq ft maybe and resides in a warehouse in Long Island City with lots of other tenants so it's not a standalone structure. Although I'm not the best on guessing sq footage.

 

So ya. That's roughly it. Fascinating since I've never seen a lab before and I think it'll still be another month or so but perhaps they can make it happen sooner. And as I've said, this is not official, just what I noticed and gathered from the tour. But hey it's like a 15 minute bike ride from me so I hope it works out and processes Super 8!

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