par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

I have been shooting some film and am looking for advice on the best (easy and not too expensive) labs to send it to for developing. This would be for Fuji Velvia 50 slide film and Kodak TX B+W as well as Kodak Portra 400 Color Film. I have an Epson 4990 scanner and am hoping to convert the results to digital for post processing. Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Rumors are that some Walgreens develop and give prints and scans but no longer return the negatives. So consider well. The attachment at this link gives several ideas although some may be out of date. I believe B&H and Adorama both develop film right in NY state. I send mine to the Darkroom in California.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-149625-1.html

corryhully Loc: liverpool uk

Look into developing it yourself. It is certainly not that difficult and you have much more control over the outcome.

K31V1N

I have used the pre-paid mailers with good results.

For Fuji:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/18646-REG/Fujifilm_Slide_Processing_Mailer_for.html

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

If you send your film out for developing, here are some ways to save money:

Skip the machine prints (usually 4x6). Especially if you are going to do some editing on the images anyway.

Request the film to be left uncut. Most labs charge for cutting the film into strips and then sleeving the strips. But you can do all that yourself at home, and much cheaper. Easy, too!

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

http://thedarkroom.com

Look no further. Their high Rez scans are great. I use them for my 120 development.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Here is a list of places that still do film developing and/or scanning:

http://istillshootfilm.org/post/111177747637/where-to-get-film-developed-online


But...the Darkroom.com is the place I'd go for good quality and reasonable price.

$11.00 to develop, scan, post them online, and put them on a CD. (and of course they return the negs.


As one commenter said, I'd think about doing it myself.

At 11.00 per job, if you shoot 2 rolls a week it's over $1000.00 per year for the service.


For home developing:

Scanner: $500-600 (for something you'll be happy with)

Chems: $25.00 X 10 = $250.00 (a batch of C-41 chems is $25.00 shipped and you can get 25 rolls out of it or more. I used the round figure of 10 batches per year but you could do much better most likely. for B&W the cost goes to almost nothing. The chems last ages depending on what you use.

Tank, reels, thermometer, and darkbag: $150.00

So for the same $1000.00 you could develop for a year and after that it's money in your pocket.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Tempe Imaging Center

They are part of

Tempe Camera

tempecamera.biz

--Bob

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

If film is what you want to do, then you might as well learn to develop it your yourself. Start with B+W and work up to color. It's a great education and will lead to a better understanding of exposure. Just remember Ansel Adams really had no use for color, thought it was distracting and lead the viewer away from the subject.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

From an ex-lab guy who did his own E6 and B&W, and worked in a facility that ran thousands of feet of C41 film every day:

There are still some professional photofinishing labs around who will process film. Google 'professional photo lab near me' to find one. Their web sites should indicate what films they process, how often, and for black-and-white, the types of film they will run.

CALL them and ask them how often they process film. Volume is so low now, that processors may sit idle for days at a time, gathering crystals on the rollers that will scratch your film, or leading to color shifts through incomplete replenishment and oxidation. If they only run film once a week, look elsewhere.

It may be hard to find satisfactory processing for Tri-X and other conventional B&W films now. Most labs run only C-41 films. Where that's the case, you will need to use a chromogenic black-and-white film such as Ilford XP-2 if you use their services.

Processing B&W is easy, and if I were going to use film, I would soup my own. If you start with mixed chemicals, the entire process takes about 32 minutes for archival results, plus drying time.

Actually, finding great B&W film processing was ALWAYS hard in some areas! You want someone who will tell you the brand and dilution of the developer, and the process (small tank, large tank, dip and dunk, leader-belt transport, roller transport... in order from best to worst method).

Great B&W requires that you know what developer is in use, and expose for that development. Many labs run B&W in warm HC-110 as fast as they can get it through a roller transport machine. It's contrasty and grainy that way, and probably scratched, too. Another issue is that most different brands and speeds and types of B&W film have different development times in the same developer. Labs often just mix all customer film together and run it at a compromise time and temp. Your film may be under- or over-developed as a result.

Good E6 processing is harder to find, but still available. You may be able to find a lab that leaves it in strips that will fit your scanner, if you don't need it mounted in slide mounts. Hopefully, they'll not use a roller transport processor. Dip-and-dunk processors with nitrogen burst agitation are best. ASK how often they run a control strip and evaluate it before they run customer film. Good E6 requires precise temperature control, precise agitation, and precise chemical replenishment.

All of the above are considerations that caused me to quit using film in 2005.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I recently took some to a Mejer store; they came back looking like they'd been developed in mud. The clerk said the film was sent to Fuji for processing, but I seriously doubt that. I did get my money back, but that wasn't much consolation.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

This is quite a common result in the era of digital imaging...

At the lab where I worked, we ripped out ALL optical equipment and film processors by 2007, replacing everything with 100% digital processes. Our research, starting in 1995, led us to understand we could achieve far more, far more consistently, directly, and just plain faster, than we could with film. It proved to be true.

Film is an artist's niche these days. If you're going to use it, my best advice is to manage your own tools... Do your own processing.

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

Bill, I'm glad that you said to do your own processing, I believe that it makes you more aware of what you are shooting and the exposures that you are using. The nice part is there are no "do overs" with film usually. It's a scarery thing at first but then you get to where you can look at a scene and pretty much know what's going to work based on different light meter readings. Achieving better and faster results ie: digital or darkroom, I still believe that doing it yourself is better. As far as B+W (Tri-X) I could have someone doing there own developing in 2 days, enlarger work, 3 days for all basic things. B+W is not hard.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

++++++++++++++++

That Last sentence IS the absolute truth....

And has always been. That IS IF you wish to be The Artist?

It is not a difficult road to travel. Sometimes very trying, and with a significant Other... Well... I do hope that she // he - or they, really understand you and your endeavors.

Yes I am divorced.

;-)

We are both happier now.

Carl D Loc: Albemarle, NC.

The use of film in todays world does not make you an artist just a photographer with a better understanding.