Back after some time away

Hi All

Well having moved from film to digital a long time ago I have brushed off my Nikon F3P and am about to start snapping again. When last I partook I was a FP4 HP5 advocate. With the current cost of processing and scanning of B&W film would I be better off going the C41 route? How many have made that jump?

Also can people recommend a good, cheap and high quality processing and scanning service which cover both B&W and C41. Ideally they will scan to the cloud rather than to a CD which to be honest I will only toss once I move it to cloud storage.

Thank

Arb

welcome back, C41 would keep all your options open. as to processing and scanning, right~fast~cheap pick any two.

Where are you located? I have used both Blue Moon Camera and The Darkroom. Some services (mostly drug stores that send film out for processing) do not return the negatives. Check this if getting the negatives back is important to you.

C41 or B&W depends on what you want to do with your images. C41 is easier to scan if your scanner support infra-red dust and scratch removal.

Speaking of scanners, 35mm used scanners are pretty cheap on ebay. If you plan to scan your negs, this will likely work out to be cheaper in the long run.

Why not develop the negatives yourself? It doesn't cost alot for the equipment and you don't need a darkroom, only a changing bag.

Of the Kodak and Ilford films I have tried, my favorites are FP4+ and TriX in B&W and Portra for color negative film. I haven't shot much slide film.

Have fun!

Regards,
Rob