Labs..

Weaving Wax · May 23, 2007

Ok, I'm moving to an area where the closest decent lab is a 20-30min drive. Now, I shoot film and I work with 35mm and 120. I mainly shoot color so developing it myself would be too much of a pain. I'm looking for a place to mail into that has a reasonably quick turn-around can do both 35mm and 120 and can do cross-processing for a reasonable price.

Oh, and shooting digital is not an option.

Thanks!

Weaving Wax · May 24, 2007

No one? Wow...

ksmattfish · May 25, 2007

I don't know what you mean by "reasonable" price, but these guys offer many high quality traditional and custom film processing and printing services that most labs dropped a long time ago. In general though, high quality service does not equal fast and cheap.

http://www.douglasphoto.com

I began mailing them my C41 and E6 35mm and 120 four years ago when my selection of local, high quality film processing dried up. They always did a great job. I used them for about a year before the extra effort, worry, and time involved with mailing film influenced me to grudgingly buy a DSLR, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. I never enjoyed color photography with film like I do with digital, but to each their own.

mysteryscribe · May 25, 2007

If you really are experimental, and I know you are, find yourself a one hour lab where the people seem to know a little aobut photograph. Be nice enough while you ask them some questions. If they check their chemicals daily and they run test strips religiously, then they can do your 35mm just fine. At least that's been my experience for the last several years. They will usually make any correction to your prints you want at no additional charge. Be warned one hour labs are closing in droves though.

Any one hour lab can process 120 negs but you need one where the people are at least a little bit with it. All Noritsu machines run a test strip of film through their processers that are about 2.25 inches wide. All they have to do is to load you de papered 120 film into that canister and run it through just like a test strip. Out comes your developed 120 film.

Eckerds drugstore showed me the trick years ago. I have had to explain it once or twice to new people but I get 120 and 46mm film developed there in about twenty minutes. I scan mine then have digital prints made either there or online.

Good luck.

ksmattfish · May 25, 2007

Take a look at that Douglas Photo website. They offer dip-n-dunk processing, custom hand printed (optical) color prints, BW on FB, etc... All the good stuff. If I lived in Wichita, and had easy access to them, I might still be a hardcore member of the film cult.