Film Developing in the UK

Thanks Rob for all that info! Sorry, yes it is the one in Worthing - I will take another look at their website. It is the print so at least I know it's C22 which is a good start! I will also take a look at Fotostation as that's quite close to me as well. thanks for your help.
 
Process C-22 gets the job done, its just that they take a while as they wait to get enough of each film type before developing as they have to custom mix them and as so this can create a backlog...

Try Film Rescue International instead, they have a very good reputation and usually get it with you within 2 months as they do different film types on a 6 week cycle, although they are in the USA so postage may be expensive. Make sure to mark it 'Do Not X-Ray, Photographic Film' or similar.

http://www.filmrescue.com/old-still-film-developing/

Don't even think of using 'Old Film Processing', their prices are just extortion.
 
Thanks Samuel - I will take a look at the USA one as they may still be cheaper than Fotostation!
 
They are mentioned above, but I'd like to add another thumbs up for Palm Labs in Birmingham. I've had several rolls developed and scanned there, and been very pleased with the results.
 
A very helpfull thread.

Thank you everyone.
 
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A very helpfull thread.

Thank you everyone, from a first time film/slide shooter!

Glad it's helped - don't forget to post the proof of the pudding in our "show us your film shots" thread :LOL:
 
But by the time you add on the P&P to the place you linked to, 'The Darkroom' is still cheaper than them for E6 120 as their price of £4.90 includes return 1st class postage and they have a freepost address. Your place on the other hand charges £3.80 for processing and another £2.50 for return postage which comes to £6.30. Just thought I would point that out.
 
But by the time you add on the P&P to the place you linked to, 'The Darkroom' is still cheaper than them for E6 120 as their price of £4.90 includes return 1st class postage and they have a freepost address. Your place on the other hand charges £3.80 for processing and another £2.50 for return postage which comes to £6.30. Just thought I would point that out.

:plus1: for The Darkroom, great value and topnotch service, the last 120 film I sent off on a Monday and it dropped through my door on the Wednesday morning.
 
Might give them a go and scan the negs myself. Half way through a film in an old compact camera so not much to lose if they're not very good. Can't see how they'd much of a profit with those prices though!
 
Found a photo shop local that will dev 120 negs for £3...he has a Konica dev machine which of course can do 35mm, he seemed interested as he has just bought a Pentax 6X7 and Rolleiflex and wants to try the machine as well (for 120)... Huh :)
 
Found a photo shop local that will dev 120 negs for £3...he has a Konica dev machine which of course can do 35mm, he seemed interested as he has just bought a Pentax 6X7 and Rolleiflex and wants to try the machine as well (for 120)... Huh :)

Where is it it Brian?
 
Where is it it Brian?

Gerrards cross by the entrance to the station..if you look at google street map it shows it and it's G S photos in Packhorse rd. Now I've found somewhere convenient to dev my negs I'm going to dust off my Etrs and RB67 and use the stack of old 120 film I have (y)
Further down the street is a charity shop and they are selling a Canon fL 200mm f3.5 for £29....I keep meaning to pluck up the courage to offer £15 for it (well it's for charity and would feel mean but I have other 200mms so don't need it)

regards
 
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Thanks Brian, that's excellent, I often drive out that way so would be a convenient place to drop films off. Is it just C41 or do they do b&w and E6 as well?
 
Thanks Brian, that's excellent, I often drive out that way so would be a convenient place to drop films off. Is it just C41 or do they do b&w and E6 as well?

No idea, but he has a web site http://www.gsphotos.co.uk/ and on there it says:-

"Last year we finally got a film machine back in the shop and so are now able to process all your film in the usual 1 hour to 24 hour services. This year I would like us all to get those good trusty film cameras out of the cupboard and start using them again! Unfortunately the Advanced Photo System was discontinued by both Kodak and Fuji but all the other film is still going strong."

Seems a small friendly place?

regards
 
That sounds excellent - do you think it's a service he'd extend to other TP regulars? Looked at his web page, but no obvious prices for develop only.
 
That sounds excellent - do you think it's a service he'd extend to other TP regulars? Looked at his web page, but no obvious prices for develop only.

Well I don't know as I was just in the shop for about 10 mins and he seemed surprised I asked about developing 120 film, and sort of hesitated when I said "how much without prints" and he replied "erm well the same as 35mm...£3". He even said I will do a test run while you wait to see if the machine can handle 120 film, also said I've just changed the developer as when I entered the shop first thing it smelled off wow old fashioned caring service (y) . Anyway it would be nice if he got stacks of orders as it looks like he cares and is trying to keep film use going, but the proof is in the eating in that:- until I have a film developed I don't know what the results would be like....well in practice using a Konica machine and knowing what you are doing, the results should be excellent with no dust or scratches.

BTW looked at his web site and prices for dev are in the printing section i.e. £3

regards
 
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Hello, I just recently moved here from the states and I am desperately searching for a good place for my film developing. I live in Suffolk, but I am willing to mail off my film to other places if the quality is better. I shoot with mostly 35mm and 120 film. I am only wanting C41 processing and scanning....no prints at the moment. I have read through all the comments on here, but I am finding myself a bit overwhelmed from all the possible places to send my film. Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!
 
My own preference is for The Darkroom, great service, great prices and quick turnaround time. Postage is included both ways as well.

http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk/
 
How does The Darkroom compare with Photo Express? I have seen many comments on Photo Express and it seems to be within my price range right now.
 
How does The Darkroom compare with Photo Express? I have seen many comments on Photo Express and it seems to be within my price range right now.

Sorry, I've no idea I've never used them. Photo Express only do C41 and 99% of my film work is either traditional b&w or colour transparency. Why not give them a go, they do seem quite cheap.
 
Sorry, I've no idea I've never used them. Photo Express only do C41 and 99% of my film work is either traditional b&w or colour transparency. Why not give them a go, they do seem quite cheap.

Yeah I think I will since all of my film was just put through a plastic lens camera, so I am not expecting super high quality to begin with. I sent off some film recently to a place in the states and was charged over $40 for 2 rolls. I can't afford that for very long.
 
has anyone had any less than stellar experiences with snappy snaps?

we have found that when they dev our rolls the colours aren't always that great, they are not as sharp as Peak Imaging and the basic scanning service produces images nowhere near as big as Peak do. Some of our shots have also come out with what looks like chemicals run on them or splattered on. We've never had any of that with Peak Imaging.
 
has anyone had any less than stellar experiences with snappy snaps?

we have found that when they dev our rolls the colours aren't always that great, they are not as sharp as Peak Imaging and the basic scanning service produces images nowhere near as big as Peak do. Some of our shots have also come out with what looks like chemicals run on them or splattered on. We've never had any of that with Peak Imaging.

Thats the reason that Peak are expensive! Peak have well trained and experienced staff working for them so scans, prints etc will always come back better from them in comparison. Snappy Snaps person will likely just leave the minilab in auto and not bother to adjust the scan.
The chemicals are likely because of a poorly maintained minilab or staff not operating the minilab correctly, plus with Peak they are very tight on quality control and will make sure that chemicals etc are working properly, Snappy Snaps likely won't! Peak additionally also use a professional dip and dunk system in comparison.
 
I don't think snappy snaps were ever very good. Most of the high street chains won't be able to touch the likes of Peak for image quality.
 
Well I don't know as I was just in the shop for about 10 mins and he seemed surprised I asked about developing 120 film, and sort of hesitated when I said "how much without prints" and he replied "erm well the same as 35mm...£3". He even said I will do a test run while you wait to see if the machine can handle 120 film, also said I've just changed the developer as when I entered the shop first thing it smelled off wow old fashioned caring service (y) . Anyway it would be nice if he got stacks of orders as it looks like he cares and is trying to keep film use going, but the proof is in the eating in that:- until I have a film developed I don't know what the results would be like....well in practice using a Konica machine and knowing what you are doing, the results should be excellent with no dust or scratches.

BTW looked at his web site and prices for dev are in the printing section i.e. £3

regards

Just to let everyone know, i emailed the guy last night at 10PM, and got a reply around half an hour ago(7.15AM), he said its 3.99 for any 35mm film including B&W but not Slide, with scanning!

Will be giving them a go!

Simon
 
Just to let everyone know, i emailed the guy last night at 10PM, and got a reply around half an hour ago(7.15AM), he said its 3.99 for any 35mm film including B&W but not Slide, with scanning!

Will be giving them a go!

Simon


Went to the shop at Gerrards X yesterday (Tues) and only a girl assistant was there, and she said "the guy is usually in all day Wednesday" which is today. Anyway she didn't know much about whether the machine could dev 120 film so I left two rolls with her and have to find out if he can dev 120 film.

erm strange....tried to phone the shop and just get "this mailbox is full" answer, and it's pouring with rain and don't fancy cycling there to see if any probs. Oh well not a good start.
 
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If 120 is the same price, which the site doesnt say it is, then that would be amazing!
 
If 120 is the same price, which the site doesnt say it is, then that would be amazing!

Just 120 development for £3, and for anyone who is interested in 120....I phoned him at 11:30 and he was worried about track marks on my 120 negs as the machine is normally used for the smaller 35mm so he is going to run an old 120 film thru first to clean/check it and will do my negs this afternoon hopefully.

So if my negs are ok (mind you the film is 11 years old and will have a colour cast) all we need is TC members in the area and with the 120/35mm lomo crowd ;) to keep the machine working efficiently and we will all be happy bunnies.
 
Well picked up the negs and scanned them and it was a daymare getting the colours right..I knew I would have a problem as it's pro film Fuji NPS 160 and about 11 years old, it's normally used for portraiture. Anyway the negs had no scratches but some dust marks which could be my fault, well here are the best results erm and one is a bit OOF well I need some practice with the ETRS :)

Etrs, 75mm lens, 11 year old Fuji NPS 150
64551000px.jpg


Etrs, 75mm lens, 11 year old Fuji NPS 150
645-1000px.jpg
 
Finished my first ever roll of film last week (Onto my next one already!) and it will either be Morrisons or Boots that I will be going to to get it developed. Both are similarly priced, but it only takes 45 mins at Boots so will probably go there. How has anyones experience been with getting your pictures developed at Boots?
 
I'll give the same answer for everytime someone asks about supermarket/high street developing:

It depends on the branch and who is operating the minilab, these days film is processed automatically, scanned and then saved onto CD and/or outputted onto photographic paper with a laser or LEDs. The operator of the minilab ultimately decided how good any scans/prints will be, when they do colour/contrast/exposure correction after scanning, they can either leave it in auto which can give either a good or bad result or if they know what their doing they can adjust the image themselves. Sadly most just leave it in auto or mess around with the settings without knowing what their actually doing so its highly variable - some branches with knowledgeable, well trained staff will be really great whilst others with your bored minimum wage employee can just be downright poor.

I've used Boots once or twice and the branch I used was fine, but as said above that doesn't really mean anything as it varies from branch to branch.

You might want to look at mail order labs as good ones (e.g the one I use, Club 35 which is a pro lab and I've never had a problem with as their very consistent) usually get the films back within 3 or 4 days for the same or lower price as the high street (most have a freepost address) with better quality.
 
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^ agreed, go mail order. It'll still work out cheaper, and you'll probably get nicer and higher quality scans from a lot of mail order labs that are often recommended on Film & Conventional.
 
I already have my go-to places for film developing, but saw this and wondered if anyone had used them before?

http://www.plasticmagpie.com/newshop/

Their site is a tad bit quirky but their "mates rates" offer is £1.99 which is very reasonable - especially given that it includes cross-processing. Might be very useful for anyone based in Leicester who can drop off as well, since the site doesn't mention about postage in any great detail (that I can see, anyway).
 
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