No negatives returned to me?!!

forgotten

forgotten

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Obviously I have been out of touch for a while regarding film processing at local stores (Walmart, Walgreens etc) I have been processing my own B+W film and have not touched color (except digital) Now I find out they send color film out, and send back disc ... but no negatives!! This is probably not a shock to most here, but I am upset. I like running my old color negs through scanner using ICE (for Nikon scanner) it cleans them up nicely, and then convert to B+W if I wish. So now I can stop dreaming of buying a nice Leica M6 and having lab keep (or destroy my negs) WTF?!! Don't wanna do B+W film all the time. And occasionally its nice to have someone else develop film for ya. So.... whats the incentive to buy a nice camera/lens for film when they are just slowly pecking away at my life?! Sucks.
(no, I don't want to process color on my own) I quickly glanced at the darkroom forum here and noticed there are mail-in-labs i can send to?
Anyway....:bang:
 
I used to take my color film to Walgreen and have it processed then scan at home. Them not returning negatives is news to me.

How would they handle a request to process and return negatives without their disk?
 
Most people have no use for negs, so that may be standard process.

I would not deal with a company that throws the negs away because sooner or later it will happen again, even in error.
 
I think Walmart started doing like that about 18 months ago for 35mm color film.

For medium format, they still return negatives.

There is a guy on ebay selling color development of 35mm film for about $18 for 10 rolls. Never used but may use it in future if it is still available then.
 
forgotten said:
Obviously I have been out of touch for a while regarding film processing at local stores (Walmart, Walgreens etc) I have been processing my own B+W film and have not touched color (except digital) Now I find out they send color film out, and send back disc ... but no negatives!! This is probably not a shock to most here, but I am upset. I like running my old color negs through scanner using ICE (for Nikon scanner) it cleans them up nicely, and then convert to B+W if I wish. So now I can stop dreaming of buying a nice Leica M6 and having lab keep (or destroy my negs) WTF?!! Don't wanna do B+W film all the time. And occasionally its nice to have someone else develop film for ya. So.... whats the incentive to buy a nice camera/lens for film when they are just slowly pecking away at my life?! Sucks.
(no, I don't want to process color on my own) I quickly glanced at the darkroom forum here and noticed there are mail-in-labs i can send to?
Anyway....:bang:
Click to expand...

forgotten,

Find a camera shop that does processing on their own equipment, or send your film to a professional lab for quality service. Don't buy a Leica M and go to Walgreens to process the film...

G
 
I get my colour 35mm developed and scanned at my local Costco (Marina Del Rey, CA)
They do a fantastic job,the scans are good enough for 12 by 18 prints as long as you do not crop the images.
Always get the negatives back (that is so weird not to get them back), and the price is $4.86 including tax. And you get it in an hour!

Mail order I have used thedarkroom.com (ok) and ncps (good) for my 120 colour film.
 
xcube said:
I think Walmart started doing like that about 18 months ago for 35mm color film.

For medium format, they still return negatives.

There is a guy on ebay selling color development of 35mm film for about $18 for 10 rolls. Never used but may use it in future if it is still available then.
Click to expand...

I am planning to try the eBay guy out soon. My local Walgreens wants $12 a roll for 35mm develop only! I can't do that. If the eBay guy doesn't pan out, it's B&W and C41 kits at home for me!

-Greg
 
Your profile does not reveal if you live in North America.

If you do, it turns out a RFF sponsor, Precision Camera & Video (Auston TX) does an excellent job processing and scanning color negative film. Of course, they return your negatives.

To avoid hypocrisy, I will disclose I abandoned film usage in 2009 because local, high-quality processing was slowly, but surely, becoming impractical. I admire those whose dedication to film media greatly exceeds mine.
 
I would not give up my negatives. I always hope I will learn to scan them properly eventually.
I prefer color slides to color film. I just cut and scan.
I think you can mail them and have them processed and returned properly.
 
Huss said:
I get my colour 35mm developed and scanned at my local Costco (Marina Del Rey, CA)
They do a fantastic job,the scans are good enough for 12 by 18 prints as long as you do not crop the images.
Always get the negatives back (that is so weird not to get them back), and the price is $4.86 including tax. And you get it in an hour!

Mail order I have used thedarkroom.com (ok) and ncps (good) for my 120 colour film.
Click to expand...

Costco -- Depends on the location. They are running their processing gear in each location till something goes wrong and then it's gone. Costco in my area do not process film.

Costco prints are great. 12x18, 20x30, good quality, consistent color, very good prices.

Develop and scan: Precision (sponsor here, C41) or North Coast Photographic Services (San Diego, C41 & BW).
 
Godfrey said:
forgotten,

Find a camera shop that does processing on their own equipment, or send your film to a professional lab for quality service. Don't buy a Leica M and go to Walgreens to process the film...

G
Click to expand...
Camera shop......Camera shop...? Lets see....Oh yeah, I remember those now, long time ago they used to have them didn't they. Haven't seen a real one for over a decade but I guess there are still a few around.

All kidding aside finding any place that has walk in C-41 is rare. Instead we are told to..."just send it out" with resultant postage cost and even worse, if the lab does a lousy job, scratched negs, greasy fingerprints, lost film, etc. it's too far away for complaining to have any effect (no face to face). I've often thought that the death of film will be more a death of processing options, at least for color.

Special note; Have you seen how fast the price of the Tetenal kit is going up. So even if you want to do it yourself the cost is rising fast.
 
forgotten said:
Well, I guess it's digital photography for me now…..I give up….. they win
Click to expand...

Who win what?

My local Walgreen returns the negative to me.
When I ask them to save the film cartridge with a little bit of film sticking out, they ask "Why?"

When I explain that I use the cartridge to bulk load Ilford XP2, they said... Cool!

It's of course your choice to give up film, but just know that there are still local labs who would accommodate your requests.
 
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