Film Developing in the UK

I normally send first class and it usually arrives next day. Think I might be waiting until after xmas before I send them any more.
 
Ste_S said:
Less worried about the next day delivery, more for the tracked in case they get 'lost'
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I think you can send first class tracked and second class tracked if you use the post office. It’s only value above that pushes you onto RMSD.
 
If they do go missing it's probably due to the packaging coming undone and the contents falling out or the postage label becoming unreadable (rain/accident/flood/fire, etc). In which case, making sure a 'return name and address' is attached to the contents could make the difference between them being sent back to you or them ending up in one of the lost property departments then (depending on the item involved) either sold as 'unclaimed goods' at auction or binned. Placing the item in a sealed plastic bag with a name and address label inside it before boxing up or putting in an envelope might help with that, but perhaps not much help if the item is stolen.
 
I double bag all of mine so if the outer jiffy is shredded then the inner one at least has filmdev on it and my address too.
 
mdjchat said:
I have to admit that I haven't bothered printing out the order form. I just scribble everything down on a piece of A4 paper and it works out just fine [emoji4]
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I have re-done their form as a Word file, so editable. If anyone wants a copy, PM me your email and I'll send it.
 
Ste_S said:
Tempted to send Special Delivery in future, £3 extra and tracked. Anyone else do this ?
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Any film that I cannot risk going missing is sent via recorded delivery at the least. Anything that is of real significance (e.g., holidays or special events) is sent by special delivery or courier.
 
Ste_S said:
So I've had the scans back from the roll I sent Tuesday. The roll I sent Monday has yet to arrive at filmdev towers after speaking to them today.
Not had a roll lost in post before, hopefully just delayed somewhere...

Tempted to send Special Delivery in future, £3 extra and tracked. Anyone else do this ?
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Well I don't know if things have changed with automation but in the past temporary staff were employed at Xmas and things could go missing or delayed.....might have to miss this month's comp as I will have two rolls (one finished) to send off to filmdev and don't want them lost....oh I miss Asda :(
 
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Does anyone have any recommendations for a good lab that will process large format (4x5 Colour and B&W) or any to stay clear of?

So far I know of the following but I've never used their services;
https://www.harmanlab.com/
http://www.bayeux.co.uk/
https://metroimaging.co.uk
http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk/
http://www.peak-imaging.com/
http://www.palmlabs.co.uk/
http://www.digitalab.co.uk/
http://www.spectrumphotolabs.co.uk/

I would certainly use Ilford/Harman, Bayeux and Metro but the latter two might be a little too steep to use all the time ~ Any input appreciated.

Thank You
 
Tbh Jason, I've only ever processed my own so if anyone has used the above I'd be interested too. (y)
 
I’ve used both Peak and The Darkroom for 4x5 although it’s been a couple of years since I used The Darkroom, both very good, the Darkroom slightly cheaper and quicker, Peak probably slightly better neg handling so slightly less marks/dust.

Both worth a try but at a push if money is no object I’d go for Peak.
 
I've definitely seen people mention Peak previously but I never really paid attention as I didn't need their services.

Their prices look good, £32 for 10 B&W sheets vs £100 with Bayeux and Metro so all things are pointing towards giving them a go.

Thank You
 
Beats me why Photo-me took over Asda photo dept...not so long ago they did film and scanning to CD, had three do it your self digi m\cs for prints and even had a printer that could do 24" wide colour prints. Anyway as I was nearby called into the Slough branch and it's all closed down :rolleyes: It's surrounded by storage boxes and peering through them looks like all the equipment is still there...h'mm maybe I should make an offer of £75 for the Fuji frontier 3000 scanner ;)
 
excalibur2 said:
h'mm maybe I should make an offer of £75 for the Fuji frontier 3000 scanner ;)
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Go for it, Brian... or you could offer to take it to the local bootie for them and pass on what you get, less commission?
 
Finally got around to posting a small backlog of film off to Filmdev. I forgot to note the scan size required on my order form so contacted them and received a friendly response in next to no time at all. Now I just have to endure the wait until my scans are uploaded. Definitely one of the best (and worse) things about analogue photography.
 
Do Filmdev do E6? I can't remember. Found a roll of 35mm kodak slide film that I didn't know I had...
 
mdjchat said:
Now I just have to endure the wait until my scans are uploaded. Definitely one of the best (and worse) things about analogue photography.
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I always think it's a little bit like that Christmas Eve feeling of anticipation I used to get when I was a child!

And yes, I can remember that far back, before someone has a pop! ;)
 
srichards said:
Do Filmdev do E6? I can't remember. Found a roll of 35mm kodak slide film that I didn't know I had...
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No, Filmdev don't do E6.

Looks like Peak are cheapest (as well as excellent and quick) for process only and small scan, but AG pips them on cost for medium scan...
 
I’d probably use peak. I can scan them myself again if I get anything good...
 
Well my scans arrived in my inbox yesterday. Great service and good communication as always from Filmdev.
 
Please let me remind all of you F&C guys, This company https://www.photo-express.co.uk/ only for 35mm film still give a discount of 50p per film/order over two films.

Their service is great and returns within three days is the norm, quality is first class..
 
medwaygreen said:
Please let me remind all of you F&C guys, This company https://www.photo-express.co.uk/ only for 35mm film still give a discount of 50p per film/order over two films.

Their service is great and returns within three days is the norm, quality is first class..
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I liked them the one time I used them and would use them more if they dev’d 120.
 
medwaygreen said:
Please let me remind all of you F&C guys, This company https://www.photo-express.co.uk/ only for 35mm film still give a discount of 50p per film/order over two films.

Their service is great and returns within three days is the norm, quality is first class..
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I used to use them a lot, but now filmdev get most of my work, being slightly cheaper, supplying downloads, and doing BW and 120. I've updated my internal copy of the nifty price estimator with their new prices, and will sort the online version soon.
 
Has anyone used Photo Hippo from Burnley? It's in the nifty price estimator, I think because it used to be a Fujifilm lab. They do all 3 kinds of film in 135 and 120, and it looks like scans downloaded are cheaper than loaded to CDs. Prices not bad, free return postage.
 
ChrisR said:
Has anyone used Photo Hippo from Burnley? It's in the nifty price estimator, I think because it used to be a Fujifilm lab. They do all 3 kinds of film in 135 and 120, and it looks like scans downloaded are cheaper than loaded to CDs. Prices not bad, free return postage.
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I’ve used them a couple of times for APS films. I was happy with the service and the results, but given that the films were both long expired, I can’t really comment on quality in the same way as I could had it been a fresh film they’d processed for me.
 
FishyFish said:
I’ve used them a couple of times for APS films. I was happy with the service and the results, but given that the films were both long expired, I can’t really comment on quality in the same way as I could had it been a fresh film they’d processed for me.
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... but the good thing is, your mini review is NOT negative, so they can happily stay in the list! :)
 
FishyFish said:
I’ve used them a couple of times for APS films. I was happy with the service and the results, but given that the films were both long expired, I can’t really comment on quality in the same way as I could had it been a fresh film they’d processed for me.
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We do APS.
 
RumpFace said:
We do APS.
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Yeah, I know. The first time I used them was before I'd started using Peak. The second time I used them because they were cheaper and I didn't think there would be much of worth on the roll anyway (I was correct :)). I can't really scan APS film myself, so it can get expensive for dev and scan / prints, especially if I don't have high hopes for the photos anyway.

I feel like a traitor now. :D
 
FishyFish said:
Yeah, I know. The first time I used them was before I'd started using Peak. The second time I used them because they were cheaper and I didn't think there would be much of worth on the roll anyway (I was correct :)). I can't really scan APS film myself, so it can get expensive for dev and scan / prints, especially if I don't have high hopes for the photos anyway.

I feel like a traitor now. :D
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It's fine, you take your films where you like, it's fine.
 
I'm about to send a few films off to be developed I used filmdev last time who I was more then happy with but looking at the forms it appears they now only scan as Jpg I'm almost certian the last batch I was able to have scanned as a TIFF file.

I've always understood it was better to have a TIFF file so if you have to work on them they won't 'degrade' as much or is this only true of digitaly shot files?
 
Usually, jpgs are 8 bit files and tiffs 16, so you have more values to play with if you alter contrast (8 bits have 256 different values, 16 bits have 65,535 values) etc. If your jpgs are greyscale, you won't have enough values to do anything without getting significant gaps in the scale. That's the bit depth; the other side is that jpgs are lossy compressed, meaning you drop information every time you save. I found that 6 save was enough for me to see the difference viewed full screen on my monitor (meaning at whatever magnification filled the screen, NOT 100%). Others have said that they don't see the difference. If prints bear out the monitor difference, then it's your choice...

Personally, I ALWAYS scan to 16 bit tiff. Some people have said that you can't send tiff files to print, so you have to convert anyway. With the printers and software I've used (Photoshop and various Epsons) I've never had to do anything like convert, so they either work or silently convert for printing only.
 
Downton Mini said:
I've always understood it was better to have a TIFF file so if you have to work on them they won't 'degrade' as much or is this only true of digitaly shot files?
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I get everything scanned to JPEG. The hassle and cost of getting and storing TIFFs doesn't make sense for me. What kind of work are you looking to do on your photographs that you need the TIFFs?
 
Looking at Flimdev's order form it doesn't give an indicative file size for their 35mm scans, just 'small', 'medium' and 'large'. Does anyone know what the typical file sizes are for their medium and large Noritsu scans?
 
skysh4rk said:
I get everything scanned to JPEG. The hassle and cost of getting and storing TIFFs doesn't make sense for me. What kind of work are you looking to do on your photographs that you need the TIFFs?
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TO be honest I don't know until I get them back. It's just something I've always done with digital when I developed my raw file I always export them as a tiff to photoshop.
 
When Filmdev did offer TIFFs they were only 8-bit TIFFs. I started a thread on trying to see the difference in quality between their JPEG and 8-bit TFF scans. The TLDR is, I couldn't really tell the difference even after 10 cycles of opening, adjusting and saving! At that point, I gave up getting TIFFs from Filmdev; they just delayed the downloads.and took up more space on my computer!

I believe when they got the Noritsu, they had the possibility of getting 16-bit TIFFs (they told me once that the Fuji only produced 8-bit TIFFs). But this was about the time they moved to all download operation, and I think they must have decided that 16-bit TIFF file sizes were too demanding on their bandwidth. I don't know whether they would do a scan to TIFF on special order; if you felt it essential you could always ask.

My latest medium scans from Filmdev are 2048*3091 pixels.
 
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