Where to develop and scan Film in Canada?

R

randomT

Member
Local time
6:13 PM
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
23
Hi!

I'll be living in (and travelling through) Canada later this year for a couple of months. Since I only shoot film and I won't be able to take a scanner with me, I'm looking for an affordable, yet acceptable scanning service. I don't want to postpone scanning until I return home and rather document my travels on the go so to speak. I don't need high-end tiff files but at least 2000x3000 pixel per image (35mm), preferably more. I know of North Coast Photographic Services in California who offer a package deal of processing and scanning at a resolution of 3339x5035 for the price of 17,5$ per film which seems like a good deal to me. However, I would prefer not send my films across international borders, since I assume shipping would be more expensive and there is a higher risk of the mail getting lost. So, do you know of any Canadian company that offers similar services?

So for I found Elevator and Borealis, but both are more expensive. In another forum someone pointed me to http://www.silvanoimaging.com in Toronto, they look good for b&w and negatives but slidefilm is rather pricey (28CAD for processing and scanning of one film).

I shoot mostly 35mm b&w and slide film. Any hints are appreciated.


Thanks,
Tim
_______
 
I really like Borealis, but they are expensive when it come to scanning... But they are using drum scan with a 16bit Tiff output... ;p
 
That's good to know! If I understand the information on their website correctly, their scanning services aren't even that expensive (7-10$) but I didn't find any information on the resolution of the scans.
 
Shoppers Drug Mart or Costco.
all the scans on my flickr are from Shoppers. Mine charge 3 dollars per cd of scans instead of by developing. i got three rolls developed and scanned on one CD for 3.50
 
Costco in the eastern provinces does C-41 color film. Their scanning is terrible. I have a local place here that does E-6, but their are quite expensive so I don't use it very often!
 
I'm quite surprised, btw, that developing e-6 seems to be more expensive in North America than c-41 and even more that many labs seem to charge more for developing films with 36 exposures than with 24. The process is identical, isn't it? Well, I guess that's just a matter of cultural convention.
 
You don't mention where you will be staying. You can get access to E6 developing pretty much anywhere- but you will have to wait for a long time if you are outside Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto. If you are out west the Don's Photo in Winnipeg does E6 as does the one in Calgary. These would be a 2 day service. There is/was a place in Edmonton that does/did E6 on Tuesday and Thursday. Sadly, I forget the name of the place and the last time I was there 2 years a go so I can't confirm if they still do it.

Either way, it can be done easily, but perhaps not quickly.
 
If you're in the Montreal area, I can recommend PhotoService in old Montreal. The charge $2.50 per 35mm roll for development only, $3.00 per 120 roll (both plus taxes). I imagine a scan to CD wouldn't add that much to the cost (I believe it depends on scan quality). I'm not sure if they're equipped to handle film that's mailed in (if thats what you're planning to do).

Cheers
Steven
 
Thanks! Well, I don't know myself yet where I will be staying, but I'll probably start in Montreal. The duration of my stay will pretty much depend on how much I like the city and whether I'll be able to find a temporary place to live (and a job to pay for it). Eventually I want to move on to other places, further to west, probably to BC / Vancouver area. The final destination of my travels would be the Yukon in spring/summer 2011. But I figure it doesn't make much sense to make fixed plans right now, since I don't know too much about your country. Of course, a local lab would be ideal whenever possible. However, it's not easy to compare the offers merely on the basis of the individual websites, so right now I'm just collecting recommendations and addresses and will visit them once I'm there.
And of course, I would also very much like to meet local photographers and hear their recommendations on places to visit, but I was planning to ask for that in a different thread.
 
Last edited:
Try Blacks. They have stores across the country.
I use them to develop my slide film, (but scan it myself), and I assume they'll do the scanning for you as well.
 
Were I travelling a lot, I would probably stick to C-41 for both b&w and colour. That way your negatives can be processed at a variety of places, and you can pick up cheap scans at the same time (suitable for posting on the web). You can always re-scan your favourites after the trip.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Well, I'll see how it goes, it is certainly an option. However, i was never really satisfied with 35mm c-41, always a bit too grainy for me, which is why I'm mostly shooting slide film now. With b/w I either use extremely slow films for high resolution shots (Adox CMS 20 anyone?) or for fast films which can be pushed (i.e. tri-x), I didn't find substitutes for either in colour film. As I wrote, I don't have fixed plans yet, I'm not even sure which camera(s) I'll pack ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom