Film Developing in the UK

FujiLove said:
How long does UK Film Lab usually take to notify you by email that they have received your film? I posted one off first class last Thursday, but haven't heard anything from them yet. Posting film gives me the jitters.
Click to expand...

UKFL are typically very quick to notify, as I usually hear the day after I've posted my films that they've already arrived (i.e., they notify you on the day your film arrives at the lab). If there are any problems, I'd imagine it's on Royal Mail's end.
 
Last edited:
skysh4rk said:
UKFL are typically very quick to notify, as I usually hear the day after I've posted my films that they've already arrived (i.e., they notify you on the day your film arrives at the lab). If there are any problems, I'd imagine it's on Royal Mail's end.
Click to expand...

I suspected as much given UKFL seem spot-on with their customer service.

:banghead:
 
Hi not sure this is the right thread if not I apologise.

Going to start developing my own film as a few of you may know from a previous thread of mine but I have a quick question for you.

I have in my Canon AE 1 a roll of Kodak Professional BW400CN 400 film which I used today for some street photography, question is can I develop this at home or do I need to put to Boots? Not sure of the different types of film yet sorry guys.

Sorry I think this is the wrong thread perhaps a mod could move it for me.

Cheers Carol
 
Last edited:
BW400CN, like Xp2 and the Fuji Neopan400CN are so-called "chromogenic" black and white films based on C41 chemistry. So, if you're only set up for normal black and white, don't do this at home! Boots or one of the better processors...
 
You can do it in bw chemicals, and xp2, just give it longer in the dev. It will have a yellow or reddish base though.
 
ChrisR said:
BW400CN, like Xp2 and the Fuji Neopan400CN are so-called "chromogenic" black and white films based on C41 chemistry. So, if you're only set up for normal black and white, don't do this at home! Boots or one of the better processors...
Click to expand...

Thanks for you reply ChrisR I knew there was something different about the B&W films that boots could process, is it because their base is a colour film or something like that? I will not process this myself.

Cheers
 
RumpFace said:
You can do it in bw chemicals, and xp2, just give it longer in the dev. It will have a yellow or reddish base though.
Click to expand...

@RumpFace thanks for your reply I am not going to do this at home as you will have gathered from my reply to ChrisR. I have never home developed before and don't want to get confused with different processing times. Better safe than sorry is my motto when it comes to this also I am hoping there are some worthwhile photographs on this spool so don't want to take the risk.
 
RumpFace said:
You can do it in bw chemicals, and xp2, just give it longer in the dev. It will have a yellow or reddish base though.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about cross processing. I shouldn't respond to posts when I don't really know all the details! But I think I've heard that C41 cross-processed in B&W chemicals could give a rather different result?
 
Just got some C41 processed in ASDA for the first time. They gave me back the negs rolled up in film canisters. Is this their SOP? I haven't scanned them yet, but it seems like a recipe for scratches to me.
 
abdoujaparov said:
Just got some C41 processed in ASDA for the first time. They gave me back the negs rolled up in film canisters. Is this their SOP? I haven't scanned them yet, but it seems like a recipe for scratches to me.
Click to expand...
I always ask them not to cut the negs and usually they come back in a canister. Unfortunately if they cut them the machine will only cut them in 4's which is a PIT as you cant then fit them in a standard Kenro sheet . If you ask them they will just loose roll them in a standard processing envelope but I think this leaves them more open to damage.
 
RaglanSurf said:
I always ask them not to cut the negs and usually they come back in a canister. Unfortunately if they cut them the machine will only cut them in 4's which is a PIT as you cant then fit them in a standard Kenro sheet . If you ask them they will just loose roll them in a standard processing envelope but I think this leaves them more open to damage.
Click to expand...
Oh, cool, thanks! I'd much rather them this way than cut into 4s. The only other time I've had 35mm developed, it was an independent place and they put them into sleeves in 6s for me, (Edit: for twice the price, naturally)
 
abdoujaparov said:
Oh, cool, thanks! I'd much rather them this way than cut into 4s. The only other time I've had 35mm developed, it was an independent place and they put them into sleeves in 6s for me, (Edit: for twice the price, naturally)
Click to expand...
I've been told it is much much much more difficult to cut negs into 6's, requiring a higher level of staff training, which is why supermarkets are unable to offer the service and hence the extra cost at independent processors :whistle:
 
It's a tragedy. My local Costco's film processor machine has broken, and is not being replaced. No more £1.50 developing for me *sobs*
 
Hiya,

Does anyone have any experience with using either Dodochrome or Fotovision for 35mm C41 developing and scanning to CD? They both seem a bit similar in that they offer 35mm C41 dev + scan a notch cheaper than a lot of places I've seen, and also that no-one seems to have used them or know about them from my googling. I can find one single person who's written about Dodochrome on their blog, recommending them, but that's all there is.

For dev + scan, fotovision is £3.99 with a 1208 X 1024 resolution, which is... not very much, resolution wise. :( Dodochrome is £4.30 and doesn't say what the resolution is. Neither specify the amount of exposures either.

I'm still waiting for Tesco to get back to me on my nearest store's developing prices and the nearest ASDA which does photo processing is pretty far away. Given what I've read, Tesco can be quite hit and miss, so maybe a long trip to ASDA may be the best choice? Would much rather post it off, though.
 
For C41, I always use photo Express in Hull and for 2+ films we get a 50p a film discount when you state that you are a TP member and give them your Forum name. Last time,three weeks ago two films cost £4.50 per film with a £1.00 payment towards return postage.

The quality over the last five years has been excellent and a lot of members use them.

This is the scan spec.

The scan resolution of 35mm films is approximately 2048 x 3072 which will give an opened file size of around 18mb per image. This means that any prints made from the scans will be the same quality as printing from the negatives.

Seagate said:
Hiya,

Does anyone have any experience with using either Dodochrome or Fotovision for 35mm C41 developing and scanning to CD? They both seem a bit similar in that they offer 35mm C41 dev + scan a notch cheaper than a lot of places I've seen, and also that no-one seems to have used them or know about them from my googling. I can find one single person who's written about Dodochrome on their blog, recommending them, but that's all there is.

For dev + scan, fotovision is £3.99 with a 1208 X 1024 resolution, which is... not very much, resolution wise. :( Dodochrome is £4.30 and doesn't say what the resolution is. Neither specify the amount of exposures either.

I'm still waiting for Tesco to get back to me on my nearest store's developing prices and the nearest ASDA which does photo processing is pretty far away. Given what I've read, Tesco can be quite hit and miss, so maybe a long trip to ASDA may be the best choice? Would much rather post it off, though.
Click to expand...
 
@medwaygreen do Photo Express return negs cut in 6's and in standard Kenro sleeves? And what's the turn round time like?
 
Hi Nick,

The standard return are cut into four,s and in sleeves not sure if Kenro is the brand. I am sure if you give the owner a ring,sorry I have forgotten his name,but, I arranged the discount with him a long time ago,he is a great guy and only to happy to help if he can,I am sure if he can do six cut lengths then he will for TP members.

Telephone: 01482 448594

Turn around time,send Monday on the mat Wednesday and always consistent.
 
medwaygreen said:
Hi Nick,

The standard return are cut into four,s and in sleeves not sure if Kenro is the brand. I am sure if you give the owner a ring,sorry I have forgotten his name,but, I arranged the discount with him a long time ago,he is a great guy and only to happy to help if he can,I am sure if he can do six cut lengths then he will for TP members.

Telephone: 01482 448594

Turn around time,send Monday on the mat Wednesday and always consistent.
Click to expand...
Thanks Richard, I'll give him a call and check. My filing system can't cope with 4's it causes a full on system breakdown :LOL:
 
So, not sure quite where this thread will pop up, as it has gone from being a sticky thread on F&C to a "discussion" thread... somewhere. I guess I'll find out when I post here! Yesterday by chance I noticed an advert on the F&C page here. There were two film processing companies mentioned; one was something like Rapid Eye Movement, the other was Dodochrome.com. Out of curiosity I clicked on the latter, and found a bare bones website for a company based in Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, RG17 postcode.

They offer processing on quite a range of formats: 35mm, 120, 127, 620 and 828; C41 also in 220. Prices for process-only and process and scan for C41 and black and white are £2.30 and £4.30 respectively (all formats the same except for 220). E6 is £4.50 and £6.50 for process-only and process plus scan respectively (more for mounts). I wondered what the scans were like, and sent a query via their web site, and yesterday evening I got a reply back. There was a longish discussion on the dpi versus ppi matter, but basically they scan 35mm at 1200 ppi for 2 mp scans, and burn these to CD, which they post. However they also email a link to the scans, and apparently 6 mp scans (2000 ppi) are available via that link at 3 pence each (unless I have misunderstood). They use Kodak Pakon minilab scanners.

On turnround, the website says

Our workload for different types of processing sometimes varies but we work to a maximum of 10 days turnaround during slow periods. Usually films will be processed and dispatched within a week of our receiving them.
Click to expand...

In his reply the guy said "The turnaround time displayed on the website is a worst case scenario as the workflow here is VERY varied. Typically a film is dispatched within around 3 working days of receiving it."

I thought this was an interesting, well-priced option, particularly for E6 since the demise of Genie's processing. Peak's scans are great but ridiculously expensive. I didn't find out what the return postage cost is.

By the time I returned to F&C, the advert had gone, so I didn't manage to check the other one.

Anyone know any more? Or maybe with some E6 they want to give this a go?
 
Thanks and VG prices if you live near them but as usual everything is ruined by RM del costs...shame and a curse on RM for making it more expensive for filmies to enjoy their hobby.
 
Looks like the other company was Rapid Eye in Leonard St, (Shoreditch?) London, who do C41 and Black and White (not E6 as far as I can see) but are MUCH more expensive. However, they do have 3 darkrooms available for hire or membership.
 
Could whoever keeps the first page of this list, and the official "resource" (@Musicman and @TheBigYin ?) note that Genie's processing has now closed? Also, we really ought to add UK Film Lab, since it's recommended so highly by users on here...
 
ChrisR said:
Could whoever keeps the first page of this list, and the official "resource" (@Musicman and @TheBigYin ?) note that Genie's processing has now closed? Also, we really ought to add UK Film Lab, since it's recommended so highly by users on here...
Click to expand...

Done, and Done
 
TheBigYin said:
Done, and Done
Click to expand...

Mark, you might also want to remove "Process C-22" from the list entirely as they've definitely gone out of business now (their domain name has been up for sale since I last tried to look at their site about 6 months ago) - which is a shame really as they were one of the few labs worldwide to specialise in old/obsolete films.

Also, the one listed as "Fuji" (in Burnley) has now renamed itself "The Photo Hippo Group" (perhaps best to put as "Fuji - The Photo Hippo Group" as their still a Fuji lab) and the link needs to be updated to http://www.photofilmprocessing.co.uk/OnlineFilmProcessing.html as the current one just links to their 35mm C-41 processing page (and they actually do a very surprising range of films including 110, 126 and 127 processing/printing, and disc film printing).
 
s162216 said:
Mark, you might also want to remove "Process C-22" from the list entirely as they've definitely gone out of business now (their domain name has been up for sale since I last tried to look at their site about 6 months ago) - which is a shame really as they were one of the few labs worldwide to specialise in old/obsolete films.

Also, the one listed as "Fuji" (in Burnley) has now renamed itself "The Photo Hippo Group" (perhaps best to put as "Fuji - The Photo Hippo Group" as their still a Fuji lab) and the link needs to be updated to http://www.photofilmprocessing.co.uk/OnlineFilmProcessing.html as the current one just links to their 35mm C-41 processing page (and they actually do a very surprising range of films including 110, 126 and 127 processing/printing, and disc film printing).
Click to expand...

Again, Done.
 
s162216 said:
Mark, you might also want to remove "Process C-22" from the list entirely as they've definitely gone out of business now (their domain name has been up for sale since I last tried to look at their site about 6 months ago) - which is a shame really as they were one of the few labs worldwide to specialise in old/obsolete films.

Also, the one listed as "Fuji" (in Burnley) has now renamed itself "The Photo Hippo Group" (perhaps best to put as "Fuji - The Photo Hippo Group" as their still a Fuji lab) and the link needs to be updated to http://www.photofilmprocessing.co.uk/OnlineFilmProcessing.html as the current one just links to their 35mm C-41 processing page (and they actually do a very surprising range of films including 110, 126 and 127 processing/printing, and disc film printing).
Click to expand...

Hippo send a lot of their film away. I think they do C41 in house but nothing else.
 
RumpFace said:
Hippo send a lot of their film away. I think they do C41 in house but nothing else.
Click to expand...

I know they do the 110, 126 and 127 developing themselves, as they've usually got my C-41 110 back to me within 7 days so I doubt they would have time to be able to send it away (plus they've always given me back the cartridges to re-use when I've asked, and printed them as 5"x4" rather than 6"x4" like I requested). Agfa did a processor up until just over 15 years ago that was specifically able to do 110, 126 and 127 as well as 135, 120 etc, so I expect they've got an old one of them that they use for it.

For E6 and B&W I can understand to be honest as to why they would outsource it, I doubt keeping a processing line open just for them would be economical (or in fact probably loss making) considering the volume these days.

Anyway, Hippo do great quality developing and decent sized default scans so they're certainly a good place to use for some things (like 110 processing).
 
UK Film Lab have some contradictory info on their web site about their E6 processing, so I asked them. This is the reply:

Many thanks for your message and I apologise for the confusing information! We have been delayed in updating all the info on our website as we have had some software issues, but hope to have everything up to date soon. Our service as far as E6 goes is as follows:

-E6 cross processed as C41 chemistry: to be included on C41 order form, C41 pricing applies. Push and pull is available on cross processing.
-E6 processed in E6 chemistry: to be included on B&W order form, B&W pricing applies. Push and pull is available on E6.

In future (as soon as we can finish our updated order forms), the B&W order form will become a B&W and E6 order form, as the pricing is the same for both.
I hope this clears things up but do let me know if you have any further questions.
Click to expand...

I'll get an update of the nifty price estimator some time soon.
 
ChrisR said:
UK Film Lab have some contradictory info on their web site about their E6 processing, so I asked them. This is the reply:



I'll get an update of the nifty price estimator some time soon.
Click to expand...

that's as clear as mud.
 
medwaygreen said:
For C41, I always use photo Express in Hull and for 2+ films we get a 50p a film discount when you state that you are a TP member and give them your Forum name. Last time,three weeks ago two films cost £4.50 per film with a £1.00 payment towards return postage.

The quality over the last five years has been excellent and a lot of members use them.

This is the scan spec.

The scan resolution of 35mm films is approximately 2048 x 3072 which will give an opened file size of around 18mb per image. This means that any prints made from the scans will be the same quality as printing from the negatives.
Click to expand...

It's been a while, but thanks for the info. With that discount, it looks like Photo Express is the way to go. Still can't find any other testimonials about Dodochrome, so I'll wait until other people have used them. Since the last post, I've found a couple of old 110s hidden away. Does anyone know if Photo Express develops and scans 110? I can't see any reference to it on their site, and haven't yet heard back from contacting them.
 
I don't think Photo Express do 110...
 
Have a look at a small, friendly firm here: www.filmdev.co.uk – good scans and economic too. They can be contacted by phone so you can explain the scan requirements you have. They are cheap and have been very quick (1-2 days service, images delivered via web for lower resolutions then followed up with TIFFs or JPEG on a CD with your negs returned post free.
 
jjdoyle said:
Have a look at a small, friendly firm here: www.filmdev.co.uk – good scans and economic too. They can be contacted by phone so you can explain the scan requirements you have. They are cheap and have been very quick (1-2 days service, images delivered via web for lower resolutions then followed up with TIFFs or JPEG on a CD with your negs returned post free.
Click to expand...

I rang them today and had a long chat (possibly worryingly long; I felt he was telling me stuff I didn't ask, not letting me ask what I wanted to know... and didn't he have work to do?). Anyway, they are apparently a bunch of wedding photographers who shoot weddings on film (hey there @gazmorton2000 !), and for various reasons weren't happy with the services around and decided to set up for themselves. They have Fuji Frontier (or Frontera?) scanners. I wanted to know the scan resolutions, and I got this pitch that it scans at 300 dpi for a maximum of 12" width/length... I think he was saying that it scans at the resolution necessary to print at 300 dpi, and prints a max of 12". Hence the maximum scan is 3600 * 3600 pixels. That translates into about 2400 ppi for a 35mm scan, I think (1" by 1.5" approx). For 6*6 cm (or 2.25" square), it should max out at a bit under 1800 ppi. There were various caveats that I didn't understand, so treat this with a lump of salt at the moment. He did say they scan their own stuff at medium density, and it will actually print up much larger if you take the TIFF and work it in Photoshop.

Anyway, I've ordered 5*135 and 1*120, all scanned at medium, £5 per film, no return delivery charge, but I pay postage there (gone up to £3.30 these days, for first small packet). (Small scans would be £3 process and scan, large scans £8 I think.) They will call me when they get the films to discuss my requirements. They will post me a link to some small, un-sharpened, highly compressed scans, via something called "WeTransfer". When I've had a chance to look at them, they call again and we discuss... something, not sure, maybe whether I want TIFFs or JPEGs, larger/smaller, tweak the colour balance, sharpening, not sure yet. From what I can see, payment happens after rather than before processing. Again I'll tell you later. Then they post back a CD with the negs and scans. They can work out a profile with me (not sure he called it that), maybe like UK Film Lab does. As an example, he said one user felt his Portra was coming in with a slight magenta cast, so they add a hint of green to his scans to balance it out.

They cut into 4-neg strips, no filing punch holes, something about a supply problem. If you ask (I forgot!), they can cut into 6-neg strips (which they also prefer), but they'll have to return them in 120 sleeves, presumably a bit loose. Again no filing punch holes. I guess the idea is to re-sleeve them for your filing, ready in case you need to scan again. I can't argue too much with all of this, as my favourite C41 lab, Photo Express, does 4-neg strips, and I've only just started being bothered. But trying to get into a better filing regime, the lack of punch filing holes is a PITA.
 
Blimey, sounds much too complicated for me. I'll stick to messing up films myself I think. :D
 
ChrisR said:
I rang them today and had a long chat (possibly worryingly long; I felt he was telling me stuff I didn't ask, not letting me ask what I wanted to know... and didn't he have work to do?). Anyway, they are apparently a bunch of wedding photographers who shoot weddings on film (hey there @gazmorton2000 !), and for various reasons weren't happy with the services around and decided to set up for themselves. They have Fuji Frontier (or Frontera?) scanners. I wanted to know the scan resolutions, and I got this pitch that it scans at 300 dpi for a maximum of 12" width/length... I think he was saying that it scans at the resolution necessary to print at 300 dpi, and prints a max of 12". Hence the maximum scan is 3600 * 3600 pixels. That translates into about 2400 ppi for a 35mm scan, I think (1" by 1.5" approx). For 6*6 cm (or 2.25" square), it should max out at a bit under 1800 ppi. There were various caveats that I didn't understand, so treat this with a lump of salt at the moment. He did say they scan their own stuff at medium density, and it will actually print up much larger if you take the TIFF and work it in Photoshop.

Anyway, I've ordered 5*135 and 1*120, all scanned at medium, £5 per film, no return delivery charge, but I pay postage there (gone up to £3.30 these days, for first small packet). (Small scans would be £3 process and scan, large scans £8 I think.) They will call me when they get the films to discuss my requirements. They will post me a link to some small, un-sharpened, highly compressed scans, via something called "WeTransfer". When I've had a chance to look at them, they call again and we discuss... something, not sure, maybe whether I want TIFFs or JPEGs, larger/smaller, tweak the colour balance, sharpening, not sure yet. From what I can see, payment happens after rather than before processing. Again I'll tell you later. Then they post back a CD with the negs and scans. They can work out a profile with me (not sure he called it that), maybe like UK Film Lab does. As an example, he said one user felt his Portra was coming in with a slight magenta cast, so they add a hint of green to his scans to balance it out.

They cut into 4-neg strips, no filing punch holes, something about a supply problem. If you ask (I forgot!), they can cut into 6-neg strips (which they also prefer), but they'll have to return them in 120 sleeves, presumably a bit loose. Again no filing punch holes. I guess the idea is to re-sleeve them for your filing, ready in case you need to scan again. I can't argue too much with all of this, as my favourite C41 lab, Photo Express, does 4-neg strips, and I've only just started being bothered. But trying to get into a better filing regime, the lack of punch filing holes is a PITA.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting for sure. Thanks for the tag by the way. Good to hear there are wedding photographers out there that still shoot on film. Gives me hope. Thanks for the review of them. Will be interesting to hear (and see) how your scans come back. I will stick with UKFL for now I think as I have got my profile all set up with them and am very happy with the service and results. Just checked my last lot of scans from them and they are 4072 on the longest edge. That's what they call a medium scan.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top