Looking for a lab to develop 116 film...

I know, I know, it's really outdated. But I found a No. 1A Kodak Autographic Special snug and safe in its leather case with 7 exposures that belonged to my great grandparents and I'm itching to see if any of them can be recovered. I live in Toronto and am hoping to find a lab that is capable of doing this. A pipe dream?

Why not do it yourself in a daylight tank? Rewind the film and see if it will fit the fully expanded spool. If not, Google for “seesaw” method (full darkness, 3 deep tanks). Google film type for developers and times.

This sounds like the method I used to develop x-rays. Unfortunately I'm not a film photographer (the price to develop deters me as I'm a starving student) so I definitely need to find a company that knows what they're doing. I made note of the seesaw method though!

A professional lab that specialized on such cases is ProcessC22 in the UK.

ancient film

I have done a lot of "remedial processing" over the past 40+ years, and while there are no guarantees, it can be surprising how much
of a latent image can survive with a thin emulsion film. The unused eighth frame can be used for test strips to come up with a process.
If you can find a school or community darkroom and a teacher or very experienced darkroom worker, I can give you a no-test strip
stab in the dark method: Diafine with a small dose of bezotriazole(Edwal Orthazite) in each bath; in a reel or taped to the column of
a daylight tank(you wind & unwind loosely). Be careful not to over agitate in the second bath. This process is very forgiving of your
two main problems- fog and speed loss. Otherwise, you'll have to pay someone like me to be very methodical and test like crazy to
get your best process- and you still may have nothing or pictures of ceilings, feet, the front door, who knows? It's like a free lottery
ticket if you do it yourself, or a pricey bet on a longshot at the track if you pay someone. I(or someone else) can help, but I think it
would be a great feeling if you do it yourself and you have something there.
Good luck, have fun, and tell us what you get.

Check www.rockymountainfilm.com

coombzy said:

This sounds like the method I used to develop x-rays. Unfortunately I'm not a film photographer (the price to develop deters me as I'm a starving student) so I definitely need to find a company that knows what they're doing. I made note of the seesaw method though!

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Hey coobbzy, welcome to APUG. You statement "the price to develop deters me", I never found a commercial lab that is cheap and if they are real good, they get paid more. Anyway, if its the only time you would want to develop, probably better to get some help. The teacher idea mentioned might work for you. Good Luck.

Rocky Mountain Film went bust recently and people who sent their film there are having great difficulty in getting it back (huge backlog).
I suggest you DO NOT SEND YOUR FILM THERE.
Process C-22 on the other hand are a very reputable company, albeit in the UK. They charge (I believe) £20 for development only, then more for scan/prints. I'd suggest getting them to process it, then scanning yourself or locally (it's a lot cheaper).

Why not contact Bob Carnie at Elevator, one of APUG's Sponsors, based in Toronto.

It's an odd old format so it'll need tray processing, and no-one will be cheap.

Ian

Ian Grant said:

It's an odd old format so it'll need tray processing, and no-one will be cheap.

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I've got a tank that ought to be able to handle the width of 116 film, although it would need a custom-cut spacer (just a hollow plastic cylinder cut to length), or maybe a 10mm washer to extend the existing MF spacer. Unless 116 film rolls are very long, this tank (with the addition of a spacer) should do the job without resorting to tray processing. According to Camerapedia, the format was discontinued in 1984, so there must be other developing tanks out there that can handle it.

Film Rescue in Indian Head Saskatchewan should be able to do it as well. I have used them in the past.

Kodak made aprons for 116/616 film for use in the Kodak developing tanks. This means that I have tanks that will work, even if I don't have the required apron.

The 120 aprons might work, although the edges most likely wouldn't be evenly developed.

mattmoy_2000 said:

Rocky Mountain Film went bust recently and people who sent their film there are having great difficulty in getting it back (huge backlog).
I suggest you DO NOT SEND YOUR FILM THERE.
Process C-22 on the other hand are a very reputable company, albeit in the UK. They charge (I believe) £20 for development only, then more for scan/prints. I'd suggest getting them to process it, then scanning yourself or locally (it's a lot cheaper).

Click to expand...

Sorry, I did not realize this or I would not have suggested it. There website say there moving, did not mention anything about going out of business.


Regards

I have a couple of AGFA tanks that can do 116 film. They show up on eBay once in awhile. As a matter of fact I developed some 1956 vintage Ansco Plenachrome Fast Orthochromatic film I exposed in a Kodak Hawkeye 2B Cassette camera.

Many of the pre 1950 Tanks will adjust to 116/616. I seem to recall seeing my last roll of fresh 116 back in the 1960s. Friend bought it to try an old box camera, and we developed it in his "FR" tank.

Only problem with finding such a tank is that many e-bay sellers are estate clearing folks and are clueless about what they are selling. Look for FR tank, or Yankee tank