Best Mail-Order Lab for C-41 processing, scanning & printing (in that order).

Howdy all,

I used to have a local lab that would process film, create high quality scans and print nice 4x6" prints that actually looked good, but of course they've recently closed.

Wal-mart/Target is great for processing only, but the scans/CD's and subsequent prints look like absolute rubbish. I might as well be shooting on a $100 digital point & shoot.

I know there are many great labs throughout the US, but which ones do you recommend for good scans (meaning that contrast, color and exposure are perhaps executed by someone with an iota of aesthetic intuition) and possibly prints.

Oh, and also, price is important. I'd love to find a place that could do processing, scanning & shipping for less than $15 (prints added to that price would be a double bonus).

Thanks!

edgar Prauss in Rochester N.Y...if you want good quality and service

North Coast Photo in Carlsbad, Calif.

I can't think of a way in which they could improve. Always well done. Quick, efficient and polite if a tad terse in phone and email commo. I have no affiliation, live in Nebraska, but hesitate to go anywhere else even if it's a little cheaper, because they do such a consistent good job.

Dead Link Removed does C-41 35mm for $8 and then there's a section about "CD Burning". It says "Burning from your CD-R" = FREE, "Burning from our name brand CD-R" = $5, etc.

I'm not even certain what they're referring to. Does this mean scans onto CD from the C-41 processor? And if I include my own CD-R they'll just do it for free? If so, that certainly seems like a great service, but the wording is a bit confusing. If you don't know, I'll send them a question. I don't see a cheap printing service either.

North Coast Photo appears to offer $5.75 C-41 develop and $6.95 for budget scans. Printing looks to add another $5-6.5, and then shipping on top of everything.

The Darkroom does $10 process and scan, $5 for prints and $4 for shipping.

Photographic Works (who I've used for 4x5" in the past) in Tucson does C-41 for $3.5, scans for 30 from an uncut roll ($10ish), apparently no option for typical 4x6" prints. Plus shipping.

I appreciate the recommendations thus far. I should also mention that I'm specifically searching for my girlfriend, who enjoys shooting film but doesn't need professional level quality by any means, just something that looks better than Wal-Mart! We were incredibly disappointed with her last roll.

Onward!

I have used Dwayne's and North Coast Photo and have been happy with both. I tend to use North Coast Photo a lot more because they are very close and the shipping is pretty quick. They have developed a lot of my film ranging from 35mm to 120/220 to 4x5 and their quality has been quite good. Their scans are great, particularly the high quality scans.

They also do well with black and white but I do most of my own black and white developing now so haven't used them for this for quite a while.

I have sent a few rolls of black and white to dr5 Chrome and they do an awesome job with, but the cost is fairly high. However, even at that cost, if you have a roll or two of black and white that you think are particularly well done they will certainly do a fine job with it. I particularly like their work with the older, slower stuff like Efke, Adox and Rollei.

there's a section about "CD Burning". It says "Burning from your CD-R" = FREE, "Burning from our name brand CD-R" = $5, etc.

Click to expand...

This may just refer to the cost of the CD, not including the scanning.

The local lab I use does that: charges about $3 to $5 for the blank CD to scan to.