where to develop films?

[lena.87]

Hi, Im looking for a lab where I can send off my films to get developed. Does anyone know of any good ones in the UK? I've only recently started on film, and so up until now have been using dlab for digital prints.
Thanks, Lena

 

[kully]

www.dlab7.com are good for C41 and E6, another option is metro colour lab in Brum http://www.metrocolourlab.com/.

I can recommend both (although dlab7 is cheaper but it takes may be 3-4 days to get your negs/slides back instead of 2 with metro).

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Look into http://www.peak-imaging.com/htmls/pap.htm

 

[tritiated]

I recently came across this firm:
http://www.photo-express.co.uk/index.html
They dev+cd -3.25, and dev only 1.25.
Seems good to me, I'm just starting photography so am looking for cheap processing!
Unless anyone has bad news about the firm, I will give them a try. bw, Oli

 

[lena.87]

Just had a look on the site, the prices seem good, but they don't print black and white films, which is a shame cause that's mainly what I shoot with. But I might try out my colour films with them.

 

[Kim Coxon]

My favourite is Lab 35 in Milton Keynes. Their turnaround is good and I have always received an excellent service.

http://www.lab35.com/

Kim

 

[MickH]

Does anyone have experience of a UK Lab that can still develop 127 fillum? I've found one, but they batch-up processing and it may take up to 6 months before I get any prints. It's looking like I may have to learn how to DIY.

 

[tritiated]

Lena: Yeah their lack of bw processing is a shame. To me, bw development seems quite expensive overall, but the results are super nice. Your bw work is great, I particularly like the holyhead mountain shots and on the way to college.

Mick: good luck with the search, or the diy project!

 

[minoltist7]

b/w process is sooo exciting itself!
Try it in your bathroom - and you'll never want to send your films to the lab.

 

[Anglekat]

Club35 in london had a good review in a recent issue of AP. I`ve sent off a couple of rolls of XP2 to try them out.

http://www.club35.co.uk/

A scan to cd at a reasonable resoloution is only a fiver, so i`ve gone for develop only & a cd for about £8 per film.

They also do 120 B&W at a reasonable cost, which is probably what i`d use more.

Love the quality of shots on your blog Lena, nice one 🙂

Ken.

 

[MickH]

FYI These are the guys I have already discovered. They will do allsorts if you're prepared to wait.

http://www.processc22.co.uk/

 

[df cardwell]

Off topic, I know, but it is VERY easy to process your own film.
In a couple tries, you'll do a better job than you can pay for.
The only limit is that if you have a large quantity of film, it becomes overwhelming.

 

[tritiated]

df c: I have had a little peruse around the forum for info regarding home process, as I would like to do my own b+w (for economics + fun chemistry reasons). Do you have any advice on sources of chemicals and equipment?
As far as I could gather a robust developer is diafine, but it seems that film/developer compatability is important, any idea how it handles HP5? Also Fomopan (I want to try that out 'cause its cheaper).
I'm open to developer/film suggestions..
Also can you reccomend a reasonable scanner to complete the home laboratory!
Sorry for hi-jacking and dragging this further off topic. ho ho

 

[mwooten]

tritiated,
To help you lead the thread further astray... For HP5 I always liked Ilfotec HC for home developing. It's a syrupy liquid concentrate. For a quart of working developer I mix an ounce of Ilfotec HC with 31 ounces of water. Easy math.

lena87,
Home development of B/W film is the only way to go.

 

[tritiated]

mwooten: easy once I converted imperial to comfortable metric
thanks for that tip!
as for crimes of leading the thread astray.. it was entitled 'where to develop films?', and it seems one answer could be: at home! : )

 

[ibcrewin]

Lena and Trit..
Home develop your B&W.. It's been my experience that you save a lot of money doing this with the added benefit that you can control how the negs come out.

When I started out with film, not to long ago. I found this site. Very helpful in getting set up etc..

http://www3.telus.net/drkrm/filmdev.htm

When all is said and done it's a great reward pulling the negative out of the reel and finding all these great little images!

Use the search for scanners and film combos. Use flickr to search for pics with certain combos. Good Luck and Have fun!

 

[Charly]

I don't know if you ever travel to Cardiff - but on City Road there is an excellent independent lab that will dev your black and white. I used to use them all the time when I lived there - home processing was not an option in those student conditions! I'm sure they would do mail order but I don't know it's name!

If you cannot process at home for whatever reason - find a local college and sweet talk the photographic department - I used to do this too.

 

[lena.87]

I think you have all converted me-I was originally keen on home developing, but thought i'd try sending some films to labs first, just to check im handling my new cam ok. Home developing I agree is much better. You can get the results you want that way, and its a hell of alot cheaper.

Tritiated and anglekat: Thanks for your compliments about my blog- I'm using flickr to post my photos now, find it much better. I've got more shots on there and more recent ones. Link is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenalenaville/

 

[Chris101]

... thought i'd try sending some films to labs first, just to check im handling my new cam ok. Home developing I agree is much better. You can get the results you want that way, and its a hell of alot cheaper. ...

Whenever I need to check out a camera/lens/support device I shoot a roll of slide film. That way I'm evaluating the exact media exposed in the system I'm testing. Film prints or scans are processed and may mask issues that would show up on slides.

 

[lena.87]

Just thought I'd tell you guys, I sent away an ilford FP4 35mm film to 'the darkroom lab' in Cheltenham on tuesday, and received some really good prints from it only two days later on the thursday. Really impressed with quality of prints and speed of delivery. Would highly reccomend this place. At £9.95 for one bw film including p&p I think it's a good deal. Only downside is there's no price list on the website, you have to email or call them for prices. But when they send your prints they include all the price lists, brochures etc. Their website:

http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk/