Its en-trend to use an independent specialised lab to process film - But anyone tried Boots recently?

Jamie Gray · Oct 21, 2023

I recently popped into my local Boots superstore (Rugby, Warwickshire) and noticed at the area where the digital printers are was a sign listing other services and one was film developing for 35mm, 120 and APS.

Has anyone tried Boots recently? It seems the service is managed by CEWE, based in Warwick. CEWE have been around for years and under another name used to process the pre-paid envelopes that used to come in a box of Fujifilm (mainly transparencies). There is a great pedigree here, and it seems for £6.49 I can get drop my prints off to a person, and in approx 2 weeks have them back without paying any postage costs. On average I'm paying £12 which includes postage.

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pentaxuser · Oct 21, 2023

Is this a printing service only? If so what size of prints and how many prints does £6.49 cover and how are they done i.e. are these digital prints from high-end scanning or from a digital enlarger and processed on say Ilford RC multigrade paper by chemicals? Is it likewise for C41 negs but in that case on RA4 processed paper?
Thanks

pentaxuser

perkeleellinen · Oct 21, 2023

I thought that place was a printing outfit only now.

I used to live very close and back in the '90s when we would go skateboarding every day, the areas around that unit were good for us. Back then I think they were the main processor for process paid Sensia. There was always loads of photo and chemical stuff discarded in their skips. I had no interest in photography then but always remember the amount of stuff we'd find. There was a job there once in quality control that I considered, night shift, and that worked well for 25 year old me. Getting into photography, I thought it might lead to interesting places. Crazy to think I considered it now as it was a full 50% pay cut from my job working in the automotive parts industry.

Jamie Gray · Oct 22, 2023

pentaxuser said:
Is this a printing service only? If so what size of prints and how many prints does £6.49 cover and how are they done i.e. are these digital prints from high-end scanning or from a digital enlarger and processed on say Ilford RC multigrade paper by chemicals? Is it likewise for C41 negs but in that case on RA4 processed paper?
Thanks

pentaxuser

Not much is given away in the description, but it does say FUJIFILM paper, which leads me to think it's a chromogenic print most probably from a scan? The £6.49 is for a 'blank film', which I'm taking to believe is just process only, but again, it's not clear. The main price list is angled towards prints. Which must include processing too right?

Jamie Gray · Oct 22, 2023

perkeleellinen said:
I thought that place was a printing outfit only now.

I used to live very close and back in the '90s when we would go skateboarding every day, the areas around that unit were good for us. Back then I think they were the main processor for process paid Sensia. There was always loads of photo and chemical stuff discarded in their skips. I had no interest in photography then but always remember the amount of stuff we'd find. There was a job there once in quality control that I considered, night shift, and that worked well for 25 year old me. Getting into photography, I thought it might lead to interesting places. Crazy to think I considered it now as it was a full 50% pay cut from my job working in the automotive parts industry.

Yeah I bought some expired Sensia recently and the little envelope in the box had the Warwick address to send it to. Over the road in Coventry is One Vision which was and is still a good rival company, producing much of the same. One Vision used to send all their film and processing to Peak Imaging which folded last year. I don't know if CEWE do it all in house or similarly send it off to someone more geared up for the dip and dunk mass processing. Warwick is the last place I would imagine all those transparencies to head to back in the 90's.

MattKing · Oct 22, 2023

"Blank Film" most likely refers to what they charge you if you send in E6 film for processing - which they clearly offer - and the roll turns out to be blank. The sort of service that used to come back "no charge"

MattKing · Oct 22, 2023

Here is the website link for film processing: https://www.bootsphoto.com/photo-printing/in-store-film-development.html
As the price list is on that page, clearly "Blank Film" refers to the processing charge for C-41 films that also turn out to be blank.

Jamie Gray · Oct 22, 2023

MattKing said:
Here is the website link for film processing: https://www.bootsphoto.com/photo-printing/in-store-film-development.html
As the price list is on that page, clearly "Blank Film" refers to the processing charge for C-41 films that also turn out to be blank.

Thanks, it really doesn't say they what a 'just process' is then. I'll pop in to my local Boots store and see if anyone is any wiser. I think there might be a shout for "Sharon do we do film?". I jest but this is a really useful service for me as it takes the strain out posting things off. If something goes wrong it's good to have a bit of a rant to someone too.

I used to buy all my film from Boots back in the day. I remember the selection was quite vast, all the Ilfords and Kodak and Fujifilm. Konica was another one I think I liked.

Nitmoi · Jun 10, 2024

I recently bought a DNP DS80D 8x10 commercial printer. When I unpacked it I noticed it had a Boots sticker on the back!

Its en-trend to use an independent specialised lab to process film - But anyone tried Boots recently?

Jamie Gray

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