Cost of processing 120 color film?

[haris]

Here it is same as for 35mm, that is 1 to 1,5 EURO for C41 processing only, no contact sheets, no printing. Here nobody make prints from 120 in commercial labs... But for years nobody here gave 120 film for processing in labs as I was told by lab workers...

 

[Antje]

Oh, guys, that's truly awful. But look at the bright side: You have the perfect excuse to build a really great darkroom with processors and enlargers.

Antje

 

[FilmIs4Ever]

With the cost of chemistry at a little more than $43 a kit (I'll assume the price is $40 for simplicity of demonstration), and with 120 film having roughly the same area as a 24 exp. roll of 35mm, and with one kit being able to do 120 rolls of 35mm 36 exp rolls (for the equivalent of 180 rolls of 24 exp. 35mm or rolls of 120), the cost comes out to $0.23 a roll, maybe $0.27 or 0.28 with the actual cost being $43. or 44. I'm going to say $0.30 for a roll of 120 to factor in stuff like water. This is with chemical replenishment every 20 rolls and a dump every 40, which gives 3 refils with a 4L tank and 13.5L kit. So, around 5c/foot of 35mm or 10c per foot of 70mm/medium format. The lowest I've seen a lab charge is $0.60 per foot of 70mm, so labs make a fair profit on it, anywhere from 2-6 times as I don't know the price they're spending on their C-41 chemistry. I'd say the cost is between 10 and 30c per foot of 70mm film or 5 and 15c per foot of 35mm

Regards,
~Karl Borowski

 

[PHOTOTONE]

I was wondering why anyone would use a scan to make a 20x24 enlargement. when you have the negative and make a conventional enlargement? The 120 neg has to have much more resolution than the scan. Maybe just for convenience because traditional labs with actual enlargers may be harder to find these days? Just wondering.

Steve Perry

Those of us who can scan our own medium-format at 4000dpi find that making a ultra large digital print from our 120 film negative can be very very nice, if we also do the print ourselves, particularly and specifically a color print. B/W still has advantages in the darkroom for sure. I had to stop making the large darkroom print in color because it was so infrequent I would wind up needing all new chemistry and paper every time I wanted to make one print, thus rendering it uneconimical. Fortunately b/w paper has a very long shelf life, and b/w print chemistry is also very lasting, and I do not worry about keeping stocks for my printing.

 

[mikebarger]

"If you aren't afraid of shipping things, you might contact Dwaynes in Parson's KS. I've only done one roll of Kodachrome (they are the only ones left in the US as I understand it). But they did a good job, reasonable price (for Kodachrome) and I've heard nothing but good things about them in general.

http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/film_pro...g_services.htm

(not affiliated with Dwaynes, just satisfied and want to see a good lab stay in business)"


I sent some 120 there and got the results back today, good quick service. I'll continue to use them as my local lab quit printing 120 color sometime ago.

Mike

 

[PatTrent]

Our local Longs Drug Store offers Fuji Processing ("Premium" and "Standard") for 35mm, including "develop only" services. I like to use it for 35mm, as I hate to mail film, and there's no photo lab nearby.

I use 120 Fuji Reala occasionally, and with great difficulty (and 2 days' effort) I was able to confirm that Longs Drug Store's Fuji service will accept 120 film for develop only. The down side is that the turn around is 7-10 days, but then I've waited that long when I mailed 120 film.

I don't have a price yet, but thought I'd mention this to those of you who have a Longs Drug Store in your area. It's an alternative to mailing if you don't have a local photo lab.

Pat

 

[epatsellis]

With the cost of chemistry at a little more than $43 a kit (I'll assume the price is $40 for simplicity of demonstration), and with 120 film having roughly the same area as a 24 exp. roll of 35mm, and with one kit being able to do 120 rolls of 35mm 36 exp rolls (for the equivalent of 180 rolls of 24 exp. 35mm or rolls of 120), the cost comes out to $0.23 a roll, maybe $0.27 or 0.28 with the actual cost being $43. or 44. I'm going to say $0.30 for a roll of 120 to factor in stuff like water. This is with chemical replenishment every 20 rolls and a dump every 40, which gives 3 refils with a 4L tank and 13.5L kit. So, around 5c/foot of 35mm or 10c per foot of 70mm/medium format. The lowest I've seen a lab charge is $0.60 per foot of 70mm, so labs make a fair profit on it, anywhere from 2-6 times as I don't know the price they're spending on their C-41 chemistry. I'd say the cost is between 10 and 30c per foot of 70mm film or 5 and 15c per foot of 35mm

Regards,
~Karl Borowski

Karl,
what C41 kit are you using?

erie

 

[vanspaendonck]

Here in Amsterdam, I pay EUR 2.50 for a roll of 120 E6 process, and EUR 3.50 for C41. In both cases my camera shop on the corner sends it out. Turn around time is two days, but I have been told that it will be three days as of March 1st.
4x5 Ektachrome Readyloads are also EUR 2.50 a piece (regardless of how many you drop off) and everything comes back in acetate sleeves. So far, I have been happy with the quality: no bends, dust or fingerprints. If you don't want your film cut, you get it back in a carton roll (toilet paper core size) with two plastic end caps and protective paper in between, at no extra cost. I'm happy, but I wonder how long this will last.

 

[jedrek]

120 C-41 here in Warsaw, Poland - $1.95/roll; E-6 is about $6/roll

 

[wy2l]

Suggest Eastern Photographic Services in Lowell MA

Have you tried Eastern Photographic Services (5 Webber St., Lowell MA)? It's local to you, and I have has pretty good service in the past. As I remember, prices were competive, and there are no shipping costs...

 

[snegron]

Ask others for their experiences first, but Dwayne's pricing for 120 with 4x4 proof prints is less than I can get locally (upstate NY) for develop only, as long as I send a few rolls to make the shipping worthwhile. Therefore, I'm stocking a few rolls of 120 to send to them on a trial run.

My (indirect) experience with them has been fine. I sent some print-film out through a local store, and it came back with labels indicating Dwayne's had processed it. Decent color, no scratches or fingerprints. They didn't fix my compositions, but nobody does everything.

I have had a couple of bad experiences with Dwaynes. One experience was when they cut several slide frames in the middle when mounting them, gave me some lame excuse about having to cut the ends of the roll. Overall I thought the mounted slides looked somewhat sloppy in general (not including the ones that were cut in half).

Another was when the lost a roll of Kodachrome I sent them. They argued that they never recieved it, yet it was included with several other rolls in the same shipment I sent them.