Around the corner from the pinball machine at Lucky Slice Pizza in Ogden, Utah, there’s another machine that feels a bit more unexpected: a vending machine that dispenses film, disposable cameras and starter film cameras.
The FIND Lab – an abbreviation that comes from Film is Not Dead – has been selling and developing film for more than a decade. After opening a second location last year, the film store decided to take a smaller approach to expansion: a vending machine.
Jon Canlas, owner and creator of The FIND Lab, says the idea for the vending machine came as the brand looked to continue to expand into northern Utah, having opened its second outlet in Salt Lake.
Instead of snacks and drinks, The FIND Lab’s vending machine dispenses a variety of film as well as cameras. The machine dispenses film in multiple sizes, including 35mm film as well as Instax Mini instant film.
Disposable cameras can also be purchased from the vending machine, along with some reloadable, budget starter cameras like the Kodak Snapic.
There’s just one digital product inside the machine: the viral Kodak Charmera keychain camera.
A lockbox at the side of the machine enables photographers to not only buy film from the machine, but also drop rolls off to get developed.
“Film is not dead,” Canlas said. “Not only is it available, but it’s readily available at a price point that meets most places online. We’ve brought the online experience to you in person. Our mission is to help people shoot more film more often, and that’s exactly what this does.”
The biggest challenge to getting the vending machine up and running – a process that took about a month and a half – was finding the right coil for each type of film in order to make sure the film vends properly and doesn’t get stuck.
The team customized the coil arrangement to best fit the variety of film and installed a sensor to ensure the machine continues to vend each purchase.
In just the first month, photographers have dropped off nearly 100 rolls of film at the vending machine, and purchased enough film and disposable cameras to nearly cover the initial cost of the machine.
Pizza and film may seem like an unusual combination, but Canlas describes Lucky Slice as a “hipster” pizza parlor – so the team-up, while unusual, made sense.
The Lucky Slice owners shoot film, too, and FIND Lab and Lucky Slice are planning a photo walk in August, with the resulting images to be displayed inside the restaurant.
While The FIND Lab vending machine is more of a mini location than a full retail store, the move marks the company’s third expansion into a new location.
Film is Not Dead started as an analog workshop in 2008. In 2011, the team started developing film in order to give workshop feedback, but when development opened to the public the business quickly took off.
The company opened up a retail store in Provo, Utah in 2024. Along with selling and developing film and analog camera equipment, the 7,000-square-foot building also houses a gallery, a public darkroom and a studio space.
Last year, the company opened a second location for retail and film developing in Salt Lake City.
The vending machine enables the company to cater to film photographers who are north of Salt Lake – saving about an hour of driving. “There’s nothing like this in the whole state,” Canlas said. “Once you get past Salt Lake, film shops don’t exist.”
And the number one seller so far from the vending machine? Kodak Gold film, followed by disposable cameras.
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