Where to get 35mm and 120 film developed?

I soon learned that the local one hour places did a horrible job. The local photoshop send my 35mm and Medium format film to some "better lab" down the road. But I'm still seeing a lot of developing issues in the final product.

Can you guys tell me who you go to for developing? Is there some place that I can mail the stuff to myself that does a great job developing?

I'm tired of having to do things like crop off the edge off say, every 4th negative because of some strange light leaks or streaking of some sort in the developing process.

Unfortunately it's the old problem of being at the mercy of the lab ! .

If it's a 1hr Lab , it doesn't matter how much trouble you went to , to set your camera properly and / or for various effects , the machine will kick in and try and average everything to make all the pictures look the same .

Then you've the problems of a disinterested spotty adolescent operating the lab kit .

The biggest problem is scratches from the rollers and all the subsequent spotting that needs doing in Photoshop

Example from Truprint - cheapskate me , got a free film with " Amateur Photographer ( Kodak BW + or BW400CN ? ) and sent it to Truprint Mail Order ( £0.99 GPN Dev & Print for 24 exposures )
http://www.flickr.com/photos/norbet/2671910988/? editreplace=1

The only alternative is send them to a pro lab that does " dip and dunk " , some don't like Amateurs as they try and blame everyone bar themselves for poor results . A pro will stick his/her hand up if he/she screwed up .

There was a Lady on Ebay who was sick of too grainy and scratched B&W films that she'd had developed for Fine Art college work , that she learnt and started doing it properly for herself ; and offered her developing services as a business .

I'm afraid you'll have to do some Googling . : - ) )

Hi,

I use a online lab called Fuji Digital Imaging.
I send all my film stuff to them and so far have had no problems with them. Ive been using them now for over 2 years since my local place closed down. They normally print me work the same day they receive it and post it back to me on 1st post, so most time i get my films back within 3 days. They also give a film photo CD which is a nice touch too. www.PhotoFilmProcessing.co.uk

Hope this helps,
Best Regards,

Steve

steveseddon
Thanks for posting your experience and the link to the lab.
There are a lot of people out there always looking for a good lab. Their prices look good also.

Do you know if they optically print (wet process) or do they just do digital printing?

Hello,

Yes they are a wet lab. I asked the same question before I sent off my first film, and apparently digital is a very small part of their business and they specialise in film, unlike many other labs.

I believe this can be done at any Walgreens and CVS pharmacy with a photo lab. Ritz camera, walmart, target, Sams to name a few also does them. Shutterfly also has this service. 35mm can still be developed anywhere where there is photolabs, not the 120mm it has to be sent to other lab to develop. It really depends how you want it.
Hope you can find what you are looking for...