[wcurtiss]

hey folks,
This might be a stupid question but can you get film like neopan acros 100 or Kodak Tri-x developed at a typical one hour photomat or does it require special processing? I live in the boonies and there are no professional developing labs anywhere close by. Should I just stick with kodak bwn400cn? I've been thinking about broadening my film horizons and trying out some different brands. How much would it cost typicaly to send film off to a pro lab to get developed? Thanks.

The one place near here (outside Lewiston, ME) which does more than drug-store-1-hour developing sends all B&W film that come in down to Portland for processing, as down there they get enough volume of it to keep a machine set up with the proper chemicals and settings for B&W film and prints.

Developing my own film is something I've always avoided, and do not wish to begin learning at this stage of the game, but I like to keep at least one camera continuously fed with B&W (used to buy Tri-X, heard rumors it ain't around any more), though I don't shoot that one very often. Made my own B&W prints for a while when I was a kid, but never got beyond the stage of making crappy prints.

[Nesster]

Dwayne's does mail order:
Black and white film processing/developing and printing - Dwayne's Photo Service - Parsons, Kansas
there are others as well, you might check where local wedding photogs (if they still use film) go for their developing

[wcurtiss]

Thanks for the link and info. Gives me a ballpark on how much it will cost to develop and scan.

[HGMonaro]

what's stopping you from doing your own?

It's dead easy, and requires minimal equipment (tank, reels, themometer, couple of pegs, some jugs to mix chems in and somewhere dark* to load the film into the tank) and minimal chemicals (developer, water and fixer)

* don't need a 'darkroom' as such, just someplace that can be made dark or is dark at night. Another alternative is a "change-bag"

[wcurtiss]

Developing my own is something I've thought about too and I think will start reading up on the process. I'm sure there's plenty of threads here about film developing at home.

[stevebrot]

Developing my own is something I've thought about too and I think will start reading up on the process. I'm sure there's plenty of threads here about film developing at home.

There are, both here and other places on the Web. Simple processing of B&W negatives is pretty easy and does not require a huge outlay for materials and gear. Scanning and/or traditional enlarging is a little more involved, but still not cost-prohibitive. The big plus point is that the results you can get by doing it yourself are far better than what you get from machine processed scans or prints.


Steve

[GeneV]

My local camera store will process (or send out) B&W--usually in D76. They charge about the same as the 1 hour lab. I'm sure that by calling around, one can find a camera store in just about every town of any size.

[wcurtiss]

I have been reading up on developing my own film. The process looks pretty straight forward but my budget at the moment really cant afford a scanner so I would still have to pay someone to scan them for me. There is a pro photographer here in town that scans negatives/slides on the side and I think he will also develop film but I haven't had the time to call and find out what he charges. As for local camera stores, the closest one of those is more than an hours drive for me. I understand that Walmart has stopped developing film in their stores altogether and they now send all their film out to I think a fuji lab. I wonder if they would also send b&w film out as well. I read somewhere that you can sorta trick them into developing 120 film that way.

[tuco]

How To Get Walmart To Develop 120 Roll Film

[RobG]

hey folks,
This might be a stupid question but can you get film like neopan acros 100 or Kodak Tri-x developed at a typical one hour photomat or does it require special processing? I live in the boonies and there are no professional developing labs anywhere close by. Should I just stick with kodak bwn400cn? I've been thinking about broadening my film horizons and trying out some different brands. How much would it cost typicaly to send film off to a pro lab to get developed? Thanks.

I agree with others that it makes sense to get a film drum and process conventional B&W film yourself. One thing I found was that my negs would be in better condition that way - even pro labs had a habit of scratching the negs, and my Nikon film scanner shows up the slightest scrape.