Where to process film?

*pbo* · 07-04-2009, 12:57 AM

Where? And so that prices don't go over the roof...

I'm in Berkeley, CA right now, and I found a small shop nearby that accepts film and sends it somewhere to process. I looked at their prices - $10/roll of 220 develop only; $6 contact sheet; $20 to scan. I don't know if it's just me, but those prices are... not cheap! They also sell 220 film for about $13 per roll.

So, I was wondering, how much are you people willing to spend to get film processed/printed/scanned? Are the prices of the shop I found normal? Or, can someone point to maybe a cheaper solution? I don't really like the idea of having to spend fifty bucks to get 30 pictures...

Advice appreciated,
Bo.

*raymeedc* · 07-04-2009, 05:32 AM

There's an independent local shop a couple of blocks from where I live (Greenpoint, Brooklyn) that develops a 120 roll & scans it onto a disc (& includes a contact sheet) within a 1 hour time frame for the same price they charge me for a 35mm roll..... $7.50. I have no experience with 220 development, though.

Nesster · 07-04-2009, 08:28 AM

Some minilabs will do 'develop only' of 120 film, cheaply. Some will not. I'm about to try one in Hoboken -Mimosa Digial... don't know their prices.

Of course Dwayne's charges $3.50 per roll develop only and $3 to scan
Processing and printing of color negative film - develop and print - great prices from a trusted name for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo Service

bobt99silver · 07-04-2009, 09:38 AM

I've been dropping 120 and 220 film at the local Walmart, fill out the envelope for film that's sent out - they send it out for processing. I've heard to Fuji labs -

The big drawback is turn time - it typically takes about 3 weeks.

The big upside is price. It seems to very each time but for a roll of 220 color print film processing with small 4" prints I've paid from $2.10 to $2.88 depending upon the format. (cheaper than 35mm) I've had rolls of slide film processed for from $0.99 to $2.00.

I'm not sold on the prints, but the processing seems fine, and I scan ones I want to print at home.

So far every roll I've sent out has been returned and processed ok, your mileage may vary.

*Blue* · 07-04-2009, 11:11 AM

If your local people are sending it out, you may as well either send it to DeWayne's or Blue Moon. The way I see it, if there isn't anything left to support locally, I want to see these 2 companies make it.

Black and white film processing/developing and printing - Dwayne's Photo Service - Parsons, Kansas

Services | Blue Moon Camera and Machine

*raymeedc* · 07-04-2009, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by Blue

If your local people are sending it out, you may as well either send it to DeWayne's or Blue Moon.

[

I guess I'm fortunate in having a local shop that processes & scans 120 film in-shop at a turnaround time of 1 hour.

*Blue* · 07-04-2009, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by raymeedc

I guess I'm fortunate in having a local shop that processes & scans 120 film in-shop at a turnaround time of 1 hour.

Its getting dicey here on 120 & 220. There is one shop that does it and they have down sized to a smaller location recently.

*pbo* · 07-05-2009, 01:11 AM

Cool! I see hope

I'll check out dwayne first...

Really love the feel of the medium format camera, and a view in finder that my eye can't cover! (I'm using Bronica ETRSi) I don't really like to take out light meter every time to make an exposure, though, and I don't want to spend money on a metered prism yet

Anyways, expect to see some photos soon! Though I really have no idea how I've done... The only film I had was Kodak Portra 160, and it's supposedly for portraits

and I shot, like, everything

Cosmo · 07-09-2009, 11:57 AM

I develop all my own B&W, at first to get all the chemicals it's alot, but it pays itself off after about 10 rolls of film.

At my local photog store, it's about 3.50 pounds to develop any film, just negs. I invested in a scanner about 6 months ago to scan all my film.

HarryN · 07-12-2009, 09:25 AM

You really have to be careful about the scan quality with labs. Most of them say the scans are high quality, but in fact are often at most 6 megapixel scans at 10 bit color depth. That is how they end up with file sizes of 4.5 meg.

I recently bought a "decent" (not pro) canon scanner with 48 bit color depth. At full resolution, a 35mm negative scan is 120 mb, not 4.5. 120 film will be 4 x that file size, so about 1 image per CD.

I live fairly close to Berkeley. Just for fun, I could scan one of your negatives on my canon and you could compare it to what you are getting from the lab scan. It would be fun to see if there is a useful difference.

BTW - here is another lab, kind of "pro" oriented. http://www.4photolab.com/Pages/services01.html

*pbo* · 07-12-2009, 11:29 AM

Sure, why not? The negs should be coming back in a week, and if there's anything decent

I'll send one to you. I really don't know if they turned out well, though, I am kind of afraid I underexposed everything... Oh well, let's wait and see.

gems136 · 07-15-2009, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by raymeedc

I guess I'm fortunate in having a local shop that processes & scans 120 film in-shop at a turnaround time of 1 hour.

What's the name and address of the place in Greenpoint?