Where to get colour C41 film dev'd?

T

trencheel303

Messages
4,888
Edit My Images
No
no longer required
 
Last edited:
Really?
Are you somewhere particularly rural?
Even big supermarkets should be able to dev for you.
 
Club 35 and Peak Imaging are the 2 I've used, both very reliable and if you have the images digitised on disc it makes it a lot easier than scanning imho.

Andy
 
If you can find a large Asda they will develope and scan to a CD for £2.98 in 1 hour (in the weekdays) while you shop.
 
I would say before you use the 'local' supermarket, shoot off a quick roll of 'anything' to ascertain if they KNOW what they are doing

yes people here will swear by Tesco/Aldi/ASDA et al ...but my Tesco ruined my first ever roll of colour ...I was gutted as it was 'special' to me

went with Film35 - not cheap at £13 for develop + CD, but I was more concerned with Quality....
anyway how often do you shoot off a roll

forgot to say ......bought a pack of Boots colour C41 ....they develop. insist on prints, then add a CD
colours were good - didn't need the prints...but scans to CD were good
 
Last edited:
Club35's prices are not too bad if you are content with having prints and one of their low res discs (equivalent to about 2mp), its about £10.50 inc postage. Its a bit more for one of their high res discs (about 6mp). It would be a better if they were more high resolution though, but the prints and negs are excellent quality.
You can always just get a develop and a high res CD for £9.45 though.

Peak Imaging I find great for E-6 slide films as their price is very competitive and the quality is excellent, but their C-41 develop and print prices are quite expensive and if you want a CD the scans are the same size as the prints which is not too good. They do have very fast service though, I sent a slide film for dev and mount on a Monday and they came back on Thursday. Not bad considering that their freepost address is only second class!

Some others on here have used Photo Express and said that they've had good quality. They offer a discount to TP members:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2915996&postcount=44
 
I use The Darkroom in Cheltenham for stuff I want to be guaranteed to be good. I've never had any issues, their turn around times are good and so are their prices, but I've never had scans done so can't comment on that
 
***not cheap at £13 for develop + CD***

erm at those prices I would give up film and go digital.
 
supermarket is hit and miss I have found. Depends who is doing it. For reliable and good results send it to a prolab. I use peak imaging.
 
Ive just put 5 rolls in to Tesco - Dev only - 99p each.

We'll see how they turn out !
 
s162216 said:
Thats for 6"x4" prints, a high res CD and develop. Just develop and CD is £9.45.
Click to expand...

Still too dear for me as an ordinary amateur as I price for "keepers" (on average I'm lucky if I get 10%)...just C41 development for 35mm or medium format for £2.50 is about right IMO, if you want to use a decent lab and not a supermarket.
I have a scanner but for others the future money saved (by dev only) would buy a new/SH scanner invested now.
 
Last edited:
excalibur2 said:
Still too dear for me as an ordinary amateur as I price for "keepers" (on average I'm lucky if I get 10%)...just C41 development for 35mm or medium format for £2.50 is about right IMO, if you want to use a decent lab and not a supermarket.
I have a scanner but for others the future money saved (by dev only) would buy a new/SH scanner invested now.
Click to expand...

dont take this the wrong way -:D .. I dont think £10 is expensive if - like me - you dont shoot many rolls, so a scanner becomes another luxury purchase - and time consuming ..?

thus I pay Film35 for a "worry-free" pro service ...about 4pints really...:LOL::LOL:
 
excalibur2 said:
***not cheap at £13 for develop + CD***
erm at those prices I would give up film and go digital.
Click to expand...

a valid point .. but it's not always about the money

My Canon A1 has been all over the world with me from Brazil to China - still a *kick* to use it. Having been in storage for many years it's now away for TLC and I hope to have it's pleasure again - and, yes, it will cost a few bob to use
but WTF it's my *hobby*
 
Yardbent said:
but it's not always about the money

My Canon A1 has been all over the world with me from Brazil to China - still a *kick* to use it. Having been in storage for many years it's now away for TLC and I hope to have it's pleasure again - and, yes, it will cost a few bob to use
but WTF it's my *hobby*
Click to expand...

Well for many oldies there must be a price when they say "that's it" and you can see quite a few filmies are trying to cut costs by buying OOD film.
But to get the newbies/digital guys to use/try film it's not very encouraging to say:- spend £10 for dev and CD (plus cost of film), then wait to get the results back from a lab. :(
 
excalibur2 said:
Well for many oldies there must be a price when they say "that's it" and you can see quite a few filmies are trying to cut costs by buying OOD film.
But to get the newbies/digital guys to use/try film it's not very encouraging to say:- spend £10 for dev and CD (plus cost of film), then wait to get the results back from a lab. :(
Click to expand...

actually never understood why people buy OOD film,,,,:shrug:

anyway Brian... dont understand your comment "not very encouraging"

if a digital user wants to buy a cheap 35mm camera off eBay to "try film" ...what good is it to 'sugar-coat' the costs of film etc

it *does* cost a tenner for a Pro-Lab to develop + CD, so why say otherwise....:(
if he's aware of costs and still goes ahead - likely he may stay with it IMO
 
Yardbent said:
actually never understood why people buy OOD film,,,,:shrug:
Click to expand...

you attach the word "Lomo" to it and it will sell, look on ebay, you can often find "film for lomo" which is out of date film and it sells for more than the in date stuff :wacky:
 
I bought OOD film just to try as it was cheap off here. Will labs develop out of date film?
 
I've had plenty of OOD film, it's absolutely fine if it's been looked after ok.
 
I see you used Snaps Photo services for those. Reccommended?
 
trencheel303 said:
I see you used Snaps Photo services for those. Reccommended?
Click to expand...

Well it's first time I've used them so my experience is for 5 films.....anyway the results were excellent in that there were no dust marks or scratches and the negs returned nicely packed with recorded delivery......so I'll use them again, but too expensive for one film because of postage so will have to wait to use 5 more 120 films ;)
 
As far as OOD film goes, there's a load of it in my Freezer - I tend to buy film when the mail order co's get it on special offer as it's "short dated" - as long as its been properly stored beforehand it's normally fine. I'll buy a pack of 10/20 rolls - shoot one as it arrives to check it's not already munged, and if it's okay, I seal it into vacuum seal freezer bags in batches of 2/3 rolls, then stick it in the freezer. I have a big box in the chest freezer for long-term storage and a small tupperware box in the fridge with a selection of films ready for use. As I take something from the fridge box, I replenish it from the freezer box. That way I can have cheap film, on hand, and only have to wait a hour or so for the film to get to room temp, rather than a day to thaw out.

For processing, as a get-started solution, especially for someone coming from the immediacy of digital, I'd happily recommend shooting, then taking the film to Boots and paying the premium for 1 hour processing, Dev, Print, and Scan to CD. Stuff it, it's only the price of a few pints and you can get real prints in your hand, processed pretty well (if my local Boots is anything to go on, at least!) and a CD to share with the online world. And if you like it, THEN start to look into somewhere that may be a little more affordable. Or, take up home processing and Scanning - Black and White really is pretty easy, and E6 slide's not a great deal harder. A decent set-up for processing and scanning can be sourced for about the same as I've just dropped on 2x8gb memory cards - not exactly something that will break the bank for someone who's into photography :shrug:
 
1l Tetenal C41 kit is about £16 and does about 16 films. Honestly its not much harder than B&W to dev, mine turn out ok and I just do them in the sink as a waterbath to maintain temps.

If you have an older PC with PCI slots a scsi film scanner can be had for around £50-60.

my local snappy snaps does a great 40min ish dev service for £3 or there abouts another couple of quid if you want scanned to cd.
 
I'd definitely recommend processing your own film if you get into shooting film regularly, though I'd say it's probably a bit of a big leap to make for your first couple of rolls. After a few rolls of film however, you generally have a feel for if films for you or not, and if it is, then home processing is probably the way to go. Personally, I process my own film - B&W,c41,e6,35mm or 120, I'll do any of it. Not because its cheaper than getting Peak Imaging to do it - but because I like being involved in the entire process, from selecting the correct film for the situation, taking the photograph, selecting the correct processing - including x-processing if I feel like it/the shots require it, then scanning the negs/trannies and finishing the processing dijikally.

From what I can remember of the OP's other postings, I don't think he's a typically shutter-happy digital user, and shouldn't be driven into penury by the cost of film and processing.
 
Anyone tried Tesco lately as they send the film away and the results might be better for some of the members who've had bad memories.
For me I've found a VG Asda.....dev, scan put onto a CD at about 4mp, with a viewing program Hmm, print of miniature thumbnals of shots, negs in sleeves and all in a large folder for £2.98 done in 1 hour while you shop during the week. Oh and the important bit why I say "VG Asda" was very few hairs and spots from results at the branch I've found at (Park Royal London).
Ah forgot:- if you just want to see if you new camera or lens is working properly they will develope the neg for £2 (I'm sure the staff is wrong for this price, as I said to her "but this means you supply an index and put up to 36 shots onto a CD for another £1").
 
Last edited:
Market research can only be posted with permission of site Admin. Please use the contact us facility if you wish to discuss further.

Link to relevant section of the rules: HERE
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I use this company all the time, great quality, large file to CD and a discount of 50p per film, £4.00 develope and scanned inc P&P. Have a look.

http://www.photo-express.co.uk/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top