Best Lab in Central US for C41 and E6 processing??

Locutus of Borg · Mar 12, 2022

I was recently gifted some very nice 35mm cameras: a Nikon N8008s with several Nikkor AF lenses, and two Canon AE-1P cameras with 3 Canon lenses each . I also have a very nice Pentax KX and K1000 SE.

In addition to the cameras I was also gifted FIVE Fuji Provia 100 Professional 100ft bulk rolls that have been frozen since new in 11/1998. A lifetime supply for me. I would have preferred 5 bulk rolls of Tri X Pan or Panatomic X but do not look a gift horse in the mouth Included with the Provia was several dozen Pro Packs of various Portras, Ektars and some other C41 stuff all frozen with the Provia Bulk Rolls.

While I do mostly 6x6 Black and White and I have done some limited E6 and C41 processing my results were not consistent even though I have precis temperature control. Moving forward I will be only processing B&W. The color chemicals are getting expensive and the process is too glitchy. So looking for a lab to process the Provia as I use it up. I just want the film processed and returned, I do not need it scanned/digitized I can do that myself.View attachment 300293

Looking forward to your replies and experiences.

Thanks!!!

MattKing · Mar 12, 2022

Do you want your cassettes returned as well? If so, that would be an important factor to include in your question.

AnselMortensen · Mar 12, 2022

Another consideration is whether or not you want to have the E6 film returned as mounted slides.
Will you be scanning the film? If so, how?
I have sent bulk loaded film to North Coast Photo Services in CA and they returned my cassettes.
Tip from ex-photo lab tech: Label your cassettes well

P.S. Congratulations on your fortunate score!

Moose22 · Mar 12, 2022

North coast photo is my local. I actually go in to drop off and pick up. They are good and will take care of your film, though I haven't asked for cassettes back. Good to know they'll do that for you.

I don't know the best in the whole of North America. But these guys do the job well.

Locutus of Borg · Mar 12, 2022

MattKing said:
Do you want your cassettes returned as well? If so, that would be an important factor to include in your question.

Yes!! I totally forgot about that.
Thanks Matt!!

Locutus of Borg · Mar 12, 2022

Thanks for the mention of North Coast Photo. I am in South Central Missouri. USPS to California is ridiculous with time and expense. Would like to keep in somewhere in the Central US.

Locutus of Borg · Mar 12, 2022

AnselMortensen said:
Another consideration is whether or not you want to have the E6 film returned as mounted slides.
Will you be scanning the film? If so, how?
I have sent bulk loaded film to North Coast Photo Services in CA and they returned my cassettes.
Tip from ex-photo lab tech: Label your cassettes well

P.S. Congratulations on your fortunate score!

Thanks Ansel . . . I will be scanning using my Epson V600.
Do not want them mounted.

Paul Howell · Mar 12, 2022

Question: Do want processing only or processing and prints as well? If you want prints, you have a choice of basic machine prints, a minilab, or custom hand prints. Here in the Phoenix Metro we have 3 labs, I used all three and have not seen any difference in quality if machined printed. Last custom printing I had done was by Blue Moon in Portland none, of my local labs optical print. Been so long don't know if Blue Moon optically prints R4.

Steve Goldstein · Mar 12, 2022

How about Edgar Praus in Rochester, NY? Does that meet your "somewhere in the Central US" criterion?

laser · Mar 12, 2022

For C-41 I would use Miller's/Mpix. They are in MO but more importantly they are a World-class color negative film lab. They do not run Process E-6.
SEND US AN EMAIL
info@millerslab.com
MAILING ADDRESSES
Miller's Columbia
1712 East Pointe Dr.
Columbia, MO 65201
Fax: 573.875.7974

Bob Shanebrook
www.makingKODAKfilm.com

shutterfinger · Mar 12, 2022

https://www.dwaynesphoto.com/site/services

Locutus of Borg · Mar 12, 2022

shutterfinger said:
https://www.dwaynesphoto.com/site/services

Perfect. I just found Dwayne's doing a Google search. Now how is there reputation?

laser said:
For C-41 I would use Miller's/Mpix. They are in MO but more importantly they are a World-class color negative film lab. They do not run Process E-6.
SEND US AN EMAIL
info@millerslab.com
MAILING ADDRESSES
Miller's Columbia
1712 East Pointe Dr.
Columbia, MO 65201
Fax: 573.875.7974

Bob Shanebrook
www.makingKODAKfilm.com

Thanks Laser . . that would be a great option for C41!

Steve Goldstein said:
How about Edgar Praus in Rochester, NY? Does that meet your "somewhere in the Central US" criterion?

Thanks Steve . . I was hoping for something like within a 200 mile radius . . . and Dwayne's in Kansas and Millers/Mpix in Columbia, Missouri fits the bill

Paul Howell said:
Question: Do want processing only or processing and prints as well? If you want prints, you have a choice of basic machine prints, a minilab, or custom hand prints. Here in the Phoenix Metro we have 3 labs, I used all three and have not seen any difference in quality if machined printed. Last custom printing I had done was by Blue Moon in Portland none, of my local labs optical print. Been so long don't know if Blue Moon optically prints R4.

Thanks Paul, no prints. I just want my negatives returned with my reloadable cassettes.

albada · Mar 12, 2022

Locutus of Borg said:
Thanks for the mention of North Coast Photo. I am in South Central Missouri. USPS to California is ridiculous with time and expense. Would like to keep in somewhere in the Central US.

If you change the title of your thread to something like "Best lab in central US" instead of entire US, you'll probably get some responses about closer labs.

Anyway, I had North Coast Photo Services develop and scan several C-41 rolls for me. Their work is fine.

Mark Overton

Paul Howell · Mar 12, 2022

Not sure about current rep, Dwayn's was the last lab to develop Kodachrome.

shutterfinger · Mar 12, 2022

I haven't used Dwanes in years. I was satisfied when I did, 120 C-41, uncut.
My photo instructor in the mid 1970's used Millers, excellent work.

Huss · Mar 12, 2022

Paul Howell said:
Not sure about current rep, Dwayn's was the last lab to develop Kodachrome.

A working pro I know very well will never use them again after they ruined his film.

Huss · Mar 12, 2022

Locutus of Borg said:
Thanks for the mention of North Coast Photo. I am in South Central Missouri. USPS to California is ridiculous with time and expense. Would like to keep in somewhere in the Central US.

Expense is the same no matter where you ship in the US. Time? They use USPS Priority which will get to you in 2-3 days.

MultiFormat Shooter · Mar 12, 2022

Huss said:
A working pro I know very well will never use them again after they ruined his film.

How long ago was this? I only ask because I didn't have issues with them, when I used them.

Huss · Mar 12, 2022

MultiFormat Shooter said:
How long ago was this? I only ask because I didn't have issues with them, when I used them.

I think about 5 years ago, not sure. He was 'visibly upset' when I asked him if he had used them. Guess that's what happens when they cost you a gig.

cramej · Mar 12, 2022

Dwayne's is only an hour and a half from me and I have used them twice. I still elect to send my film to North Coast Photo. A small priority mail box is only about $8 and gets it to California in 3 days. You can fit a lot of film in the small boxes.

Miller's and Mpix only do C41... no E6 or B&W. If I did a lot of c41, I wouldn't hesitate to send it to Miller's. They have a good reputation in the midwest.

Locutus of Borg · Mar 13, 2022

cramej said:
Dwayne's is only an hour and a half from me and I have used them twice. I still elect to send my film to North Coast Photo. A small priority mail box is only about $8 and gets it to California in 3 days. You can fit a lot of film in the small boxes.

Miller's and Mpix only do C41... no E6 or B&W. If I did a lot of c41, I wouldn't hesitate to send it to Miller's. They have a good reputation in the midwest.

Thanks for the post cramej . . I checked Millers website and could not find any info for just processing . . I will give them and Dwayne's a call on Monday. Thanks for the tip about the small priority mail box

runswithsizzers · Mar 13, 2022

I last used Dwayne's about 3 years ago. The C41 processing was OK, but the lab scans were not satisfactory. (between 1970 and about 2000 I sent them a lot of slide film.)

Process One in Overland Park, KS did a good job for me in 2019 with a couple of rolls of E6. More recently, I sent them some C41 for processing, only. The processing was good, but my special instructions, asking for the film to be cut to 6-frame strips did no good - I got back 4-frame strips.

I'm in SW Missouri (Springfield) and turn around to Citizen's Photo in Portland Oregon was only one day longer than to Process One in Overland Park, KS. Citizen's does both C-41 and E6. I didn't check prices for E6, but Citizen's C41 was cheap.

Looks like Miller's has a lab in Columbia, Missouri, but from their website it is hard to tell if they have any retail facilities. Their website looks like they cater to professionals and specialize in print packages and albums. Processing is not even mentioned on their website. I lost interest when became apparent that I would have to create an account before I could see any prices.

Amusing anecdote: Way back in the 1970s Miller's used to have a lab here in Springfield. The rumor among local photographers was, don't get your film processed at Millers if there are any nudes on the roll - or you won't get your film back. No idea if it was true, but this town was very uptight and prudish in those days.

The only other labs on my list that are not on the East or West Coast are:
Sharpprints, Eau Claire, WI
Precision Photo, Austin, TX
The FIND Lab, Orem, UT
... these have been recommended on photo forums by others, but I've never tried them

[Edited: Process One is in Overland Park, KS and not Kansas City.]

Locutus of Borg · Mar 13, 2022

runswithsizzers said:
I last used Dwayne's about 3 years ago. The C41 processing was OK, but the lab scans were not satisfactory. (between 1970 and about 2000 I sent them a lot of slide film.)

Process One in Overland Park, KS did a good job for me in 2019 with a couple of rolls of E6. More recently, I sent them some C41 for processing, only. The processing was good, but my special instructions, asking for the film to be cut to 6-frame strips did no good - I got back 4-frame strips.

I'm in SW Missouri (Springfield) and turn around to Citizen's Photo in Portland Oregon was only one day longer than to Process One in Overland Park, KS. Citizen's does both C-41 and E6. I didn't check prices for E6, but Citizen's C41 was cheap.

Looks like Miller's has a lab in Columbia, Missouri, but from their website it is hard to tell if they have any retail facilities. Their website looks like they cater to professionals and specialize in print packages and albums. Processing is not even mentioned on their website. I lost interest when became apparent that I would have to create an account before I could see any prices.

Amusing anecdote: Way back in the 1970s Miller's used to have a lab here in Springfield. The rumor among local photographers was, don't get your film processed at Millers if there are any nudes on the roll - or you won't get your film back. No idea if it was true, but this town was very uptight and prudish in those days.

The only other labs on my list that are not on the East or West Coast are:
Sharpprints, Eau Claire, WI
Precision Photo, Austin, TX
The FIND Lab, Orem, UT
... these have been recommended on photo forums by others, but I've never tried them

[Edited: Process One is in Overland Park, KS and not Kansas City.]

Thanks for the effort to post all of that runwithscizzers. We are practically neighbors, I have a small farm near Mountain Grove.

I also found the Millers website difficult. Creating an account to see prices is not conducive to obtaining my business.

In the 1970s in NH the only way to get nudes processed was to do it yourself so it wasn't just MO. Fortunately for me my focus then was on Aviation and Autosport photography.

Thanks again for compiling this list. I will be checking all of them out. One key for me is to return my reloadable 35mm cassettes . . not an issue with 120 . . .

runswithsizzers · Mar 13, 2022

Locutus of Borg said:
Thanks for the effort to post all of that runwithscizzers. We are practically neighbors, I have a small farm near Mountain Grove.

I also found the Millers website difficult. Creating an account to see prices is not conducive to obtaining my business.

In the 1970s in NH the only way to get nudes processed was to do it yourself so it wasn't just MO. Fortunately for me my focus then was on Aviation and Autosport photography.

Thanks again for compiling this list. I will be checking all of them out. One key for me is to return my reloadable 35mm cassettes . . not an issue with 120 . . .

My wife has relatives in Mountain View, Missouri, so we often made the drive on US 60 through (by) Mountain Grove. Also, due to my interest in home wine making, we have visited the MSU Fruit Experiment Station a few times.

mohmad khatab · Mar 13, 2022

Locutus of Borg said:
I was recently gifted some very nice 35mm cameras: a Nikon N8008s with several Nikkor AF lenses, and two Canon AE-1P cameras with 3 Canon lenses each . I also have a very nice Pentax KX and K1000 SE.

In addition to the cameras I was also gifted FIVE Fuji Provia 100 Professional 100ft bulk rolls that have been frozen since new in 11/1998. A lifetime supply for me. I would have preferred 5 bulk rolls of Tri X Pan or Panatomic X but do not look a gift horse in the mouth Included with the Provia was several dozen Pro Packs of various Portras, Ektars and some other C41 stuff all frozen with the Provia Bulk Rolls.

While I do mostly 6x6 Black and White and I have done some limited E6 and C41 processing my results were not consistent even though I have precis temperature control. Moving forward I will be only processing B&W. The color chemicals are getting expensive and the process is too glitchy. So looking for a lab to process the Provia as I use it up. I just want the film processed and returned, I do not need it scanned/digitized I can do that myself.View attachment 300293

Looking forward to your replies and experiences.

Thanks!!!

View attachment 300294

Are you thinking of selling one of these reels or exchanging them for any other category of film

Best Lab in Central US for C41 and E6 processing??

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Best Lab in Central US for C41 and E6 processing??

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