120 Film

mangorockfish · Jul 6, 2020

Been gone from here for some time but am slowly trying to get back into photography. Where is the best place to get my 120 film and and where is the best place to get it processed and printed. Also, which film for color and which for b&w to be shot with a couple of Mamyia 645s. Thanks for any and all info.

Mike Drone · Jul 6, 2020

Hopefully someone else will chime in with more options... I always try to support my local photography shops first and your location is not posted. Then CVS, Walgreens, etc... If not the shop, then price compare amazon, Adorama, B and H, Freestyle photo in Hollywood, in no particular order. I have chemicals here at home and process the negatives myself (pretty much any size), both color and black and white. Then I scan them into the computer if needed. If I need big prints I also search around but don't forget Staples (local). It has been hit or miss on quality but I like to keep local businesses running. For quality big prints I may look elsewhere. To process your negatives you may try The Darkroom, it is online and they return your negatives. Right now they are not accepting new customers. There are quite a few other places that also do an awesome job and excellent work. Hopefully someone can help out, even better if in your local.

AlanKlein · Jul 7, 2020

Which color film depends on whether you plan on shooting people or nature/landscapes. What do you intend to do with them? Print only? Scan for the web? Display on a TV or computer screen? Do you post process using Photoshop or another program?

Derrel · Jul 7, 2020

Color neg or color slides?

Original katomi · Jul 7, 2020

Would help if you said where you are I could suggest a shop here in uk but it’s no good if you are at Mc Murdo on the ice fields

wfooshee · Jul 7, 2020

Keep in mind that big chains are likely not to return your negatives any more, and I have no idea why. I specifically requested "negatives only, no prints" on the last roll that went to somewhere local, don't even remember who, and got back prints and a CD of 1.5-MP scans of the prints! After showing where I'd marked the envelope I gave them the film in and getting "We don't do that," I told him that then they shouldn't have done ANYTHING and I literally threw the package back at him, hitting the back wall of the "lab" area.

ac12 · Jul 7, 2020

mangorockfish said:
Been gone from here for some time but am slowly trying to get back into photography. Where is the best place to get my 120 film and and where is the best place to get it processed and printed. Also, which film for color and which for b&w to be shot with a couple of Mamyia 645s. Thanks for any and all info.

First YOU need to think about where you are going to shoot and the light conditions.

I prefer a mid speed B&W film around ISO 100: Illford Delta 100 (ISO 100) or FP4 (ISO 125)
The reason for my choice is, in full daylight with ISO 400 film, the exposure is 1/500 sec f/16. With some of my cameras, that is the max that I can do. So I am NOT able to adjust the exposure to the scene. With only ONE exposure setting, my SLR effectively is a box camera.

The ISO 100 film gives me 2 stops of exposure adjustment.
But go into the deep shade or indoors, and it is too slow.

Others may prefer the faster ISO 400: Kodak Tri-X, or Illford HP5 or Delta 400.
The faster ISO 400 lets you shoot in dimmer light.
But as stated above, in full daylight, I have only ONE exposure setting that I can use.

Similar with the color film, ISO 100 or 400?
I do not shoot color negative, so no recommendation.

Derrel · Jul 8, 2020

OP....Where are you located? USA? CANADA? The UK? Europe?

Derrel · Jul 8, 2020

Keep in mind that with ISO 400 film, your choice of exposure is pretty limited in bright light, as ac12 so pointedly indicated above.

An ISO 100 -125 film will give you more flexibility in bright outdoor lighting conditions.

Indoors, 400 ISO film is very useful.

If you shoot with pro-level studio flash, ISO 100 MIGHT be your best choice.

RVT1K · Jul 8, 2020

wfooshee said:
Keep in mind that big chains are likely not to return your negatives any more, and I have no idea why. I specifically requested "negatives only, no prints" on the last roll that went to somewhere local, don't even remember who, and got back prints and a CD of 1.5-MP scans of the prints! After showing where I'd marked the envelope I gave them the film in and getting "We don't do that," I told him that then they shouldn't have done ANYTHING and I literally threw the package back at him, hitting the back wall of the "lab" area.

Good for you although I think you showed more restraint than I would have...

AlanKlein · Jul 8, 2020

wfooshee said:
Keep in mind that big chains are likely not to return your negatives any more, and I have no idea why. I specifically requested "negatives only, no prints" on the last roll that went to somewhere local, don't even remember who, and got back prints and a CD of 1.5-MP scans of the prints! After showing where I'd marked the envelope I gave them the film in and getting "We don't do that," I told him that then they shouldn't have done ANYTHING and I literally threw the package back at him, hitting the back wall of the "lab" area.

It seems that automatic processing of film goes through the developer and printer in one pass. They have no way to interrupt the process in the middle to pull your negative off the production line. I'm assuming there was one published price that included processing and printing. There wasn't a separate charge for printing.

In any case, why would you pay for printing if you didn't want it? Did they list a deduct amount for no printing? That should have been a flag.

wfooshee · Jul 8, 2020

AlanKlein said:
wfooshee said:

Keep in mind that big chains are likely not to return your negatives any more, and I have no idea why. I specifically requested "negatives only, no prints" on the last roll that went to somewhere local, don't even remember who, and got back prints and a CD of 1.5-MP scans of the prints! After showing where I'd marked the envelope I gave them the film in and getting "We don't do that," I told him that then they shouldn't have done ANYTHING and I literally threw the package back at him, hitting the back wall of the "lab" area.

Click to expand...

It seems that automatic processing of film goes through the developer and printer in one pass. They have no way to interrupt the process in the middle to pull your negative off the production line. I'm assuming there was one published price that included processing and printing. There wasn't a separate charge for printing.

In any case, why would you pay for printing if you didn't want it? Did they list a deduct amount for no printing? That should have been a flag.

I had been processing film at this place for YEARS with "Negatives only, no prints" marked on the package. I'd look at the negatives in my film scanner and digitize the ones I wanted. Commercial printing has been unsatisfactory for decades, and digital copies is what I was after, anyway. With prints so badly done, scanning them to get the digital copy is useless. So send me my negatives, I'll decide what to do with them as they get digitized, where I have control of what it looks like.

Suddenly this package comes back. The guy said the CD is how I order reprints, not the negatives. I guess they digitize the negatives and archive them, rather than handling negatives for reprints in the future. The CD scan is only good enough to be a thumbnail, I couldn't use it to do any of my own work like I could with negatives.

I guess the process is good enough for folks with the preloaded box cameras, but it's utterly useless for actual photography.

AlanKlein · Jul 8, 2020

wfooshee said:
AlanKlein said:

wfooshee said:

Keep in mind that big chains are likely not to return your negatives any more, and I have no idea why. I specifically requested "negatives only, no prints" on the last roll that went to somewhere local, don't even remember who, and got back prints and a CD of 1.5-MP scans of the prints! After showing where I'd marked the envelope I gave them the film in and getting "We don't do that," I told him that then they shouldn't have done ANYTHING and I literally threw the package back at him, hitting the back wall of the "lab" area.

Click to expand...

It seems that automatic processing of film goes through the developer and printer in one pass. They have no way to interrupt the process in the middle to pull your negative off the production line. I'm assuming there was one published price that included processing and printing. There wasn't a separate charge for printing.

In any case, why would you pay for printing if you didn't want it? Did they list a deduct amount for no printing? That should have been a flag.

Click to expand...

I had been processing film at this place for YEARS with "Negatives only, no prints" marked on the package. I'd look at the negatives in my film scanner and digitize the ones I wanted. Commercial printing has been unsatisfactory for decades, and digital copies is what I was after, anyway. With prints so badly done, scanning them to get the digital copy is useless. So send me my negatives, I'll decide what to do with them as they get digitized, where I have control of what it looks like.

Suddenly this package comes back. The guy said the CD is how I order reprints, not the negatives. I guess they digitize the negatives and archive them, rather than handling negatives for reprints in the future. The CD scan is only good enough to be a thumbnail, I couldn't use it to do any of my own work like I could with negatives.

I guess the process is good enough for folks with the preloaded box cameras, but it's utterly useless for actual photography.

I mail my film to a pro shop for processing. They only provide prints and/or scans if requested. Everything is a la carte and charged separately. Although I don't use it, they will also pull and push process for a small additional charge. They send the film back cut and inserted in plastic sheets for protection. I've used North Coast Photo in CA, Dwayne's, and LTI in NYC, all very good. If you're shooting sheet film like 4x5 or 8x10, North Coast (don't know about the others) will accept the film in the holders and return them with the processed film. Just in case you want to save a step by taking the unprocessed film out of the holders at home. Of course shipping costs will be higher due to the extra weight. No extra charge except shipping. But I haven't tried it because I don't have spare holders.