David_Manning
Well-known
I know Precision Camera is a forum sponsor, but I just got an email from The Darkroom in California.
Looks like C41 OR true b&w, $10 for processing and standard scans, plus downloadable scans included before you receive the CD in the mail, AND they provide a mailer for the rolls sent to the lab.
It seems like a good deal if you're price-sensitive, only need web scans (I re-scan selects anyway), and need results a bit faster.
Of course, if Precision Camera matched this...
Looks like C41 OR true b&w, $10 for processing and standard scans, plus downloadable scans included before you receive the CD in the mail, AND they provide a mailer for the rolls sent to the lab.
It seems like a good deal if you're price-sensitive, only need web scans (I re-scan selects anyway), and need results a bit faster.
Of course, if Precision Camera matched this...
frank-grumman
Well-known
I have had these guys do a couple of rolls and I was completely satisfied! As good as Philly Photographics and w/o the hassle of going into that ****e hole of a city.
anjoca76
Well-known
The Darkroom is fantastic! They are my go-to lab now for color these days. I used to use Precision Camera, but they messed up at least something every single time, which is too bad because I wanted to like them, but I had to stop because it was driving me nuts.
The Darkroom's customer service is top-notch, as is the quality of their work. I live in Boston and it takes no more than a week ever from the time I drop the film off till the time it arrives back on my doorstep. And the price is good too. I highly recommend them!
The Darkroom's customer service is top-notch, as is the quality of their work. I live in Boston and it takes no more than a week ever from the time I drop the film off till the time it arrives back on my doorstep. And the price is good too. I highly recommend them!
rfaspen
[insert pithy phrase here]
Me too. For those times I don't want to, or can't, do the developing at home, I send off to The Darkroom. I can't do C41 at home, but I occasionally shoot it just because of these guys and their fast, low-cost service. They give me just what I need, too. Negs, and moderate-res scans. The immediate download of the scans is a wonderful part of the service. I'm really happy with these guys.
Now, they're not perfect. They've sent back a couple rolls with unacceptable scratches; One or 2 substantial scratches along the entire roll. Enough to render the negs un-usable (without hassle and poor results). This kind of thing is hard to eliminate when you're feeding lots of film to the processing machine all day long; it just takes one little grain of sand or whatever to cause so much headache and damage. And you have to deep clean the entire machine to get rid of it because you have no idea where that little sand grain is. Deep cleaning is costly because you lose the existing chemistry. So I keep in mind the volume these guys must be handling, and the fact that most film comes back great. I can certainly forgive the rare scratch issue, but I won't send critical work to them for this reason. If its B+W, I'll do that at home. I can have a custom "home developed" C41 by someone locally if necessary. Chrome should go to A&I Labs in Lost Angeles.
Just a couple more shots on the C41 roll in my new Ricoh 500. Darkroom-bound!
Now, they're not perfect. They've sent back a couple rolls with unacceptable scratches; One or 2 substantial scratches along the entire roll. Enough to render the negs un-usable (without hassle and poor results). This kind of thing is hard to eliminate when you're feeding lots of film to the processing machine all day long; it just takes one little grain of sand or whatever to cause so much headache and damage. And you have to deep clean the entire machine to get rid of it because you have no idea where that little sand grain is. Deep cleaning is costly because you lose the existing chemistry. So I keep in mind the volume these guys must be handling, and the fact that most film comes back great. I can certainly forgive the rare scratch issue, but I won't send critical work to them for this reason. If its B+W, I'll do that at home. I can have a custom "home developed" C41 by someone locally if necessary. Chrome should go to A&I Labs in Lost Angeles.
Just a couple more shots on the C41 roll in my new Ricoh 500. Darkroom-bound!
enzozhang
Member
I just mailed them my roll of tmax100. Can't wait to see what they can produce!
danielsterno
making soup from mud
used them for the first time: 14 rolls: B&W/color slide high density scan- excellent work & price….
kdemas
Enjoy Life.
I've had good luck with Dwayne's for Color, Chromes and APS. Scanned 35mm is a bit under $12/roll.
raid
Dad Photographer
I know Precision Camera is a forum sponsor, but I just got an email from The Darkroom in California.
Looks like C41 OR true b&w, $10 for processing and standard scans, plus downloadable scans included before you receive the CD in the mail, AND they provide a mailer for the rolls sent to the lab.
It seems like a good deal if you're price-sensitive, only need web scans (I re-scan selects anyway), and need results a bit faster.
Of course, if Precision Camera matched this...
Thank you for this tip. Precision Camera is cheaper for 220 film, but for 35mm and 120 film there are more options here.
v_roma
Well-known
thedarkroom is also currently my goto lab. They are the best balance between price and quality that I have found by far if you can live with web quality scans, which I can for most of my stuff. Resolution aside (and you can get high res scans if you would like, by the way), they do a great job with processing and scanning.