western states — 120mm color film developing lab

documentklep

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Hi there!

I will be traveling through the western united states next year with a bunchload of 120mm color neg. film.
Does anyone know some good photo labs in California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Montana where I can get my films properly developed and scanned (lowres)?

Thanks in advance!
Catherine
 

Rick A

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Send it back to where ever you bought your 120MM film.
 

BAC1967

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I use The Darkroom in San Clemente, CA. They do a great job of both developing and scanning. If you go to their web site you can print free shipping labels and order forms, all you will need is a padded envelope. They will send your negatives to you with a CD of your scans. You can also upload your scans from their web site. I use them no matter where I am in the US, Florida, Hawaii, Alaska, Saipan, American Samoa...
https://thedarkroom.com/
 

cjbecker

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I second the darkroom, good people to deal with, and do good work.

Im using agx imaging in MI for all my e6 now tho, closer to home.
 

Grim Tuesday

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Big fan of Citizen's Photo in Portland Oregon. I live on the east coast and send all my color film to them... I believe that are the cheapest dev only in the US for C-41 and E-6
 

ic-racer

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If making inkjet prints or images for the internet, a digital camera in the first place can avoid a lot of headache.
 

Sirius Glass

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Samys Camera, Los Angeles, Pasadena and other locations
 

BradS

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Swan Photo (AKA The Darkroom) in San Clemente, California. They do it all and do it well at very fair prices.
 

MattKing

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At the risk of appearing totally pedantic, it isn't 120mm film (which would be about 5 inches wide) - it is 120 film - the number is simply a designation.
Good luck with your search!
 
OP
OP

documentklep

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MattKing said:
At the risk of appearing totally pedantic, it isn't 120mm film (which would be about 5 inches wide) - it is 120 film - the number is simply a designation.
Good luck with your search!
Click to expand...
Thanks for pointing this out Matt, I wasn't aware I made this mistake. Now I know this thanks to you
 

MattKing

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documentklep said:
Thanks for pointing this out Matt, I wasn't aware I made this mistake. Now I know this thanks to you
Click to expand...
You are very welcome - and you have lots of company. I see that error fairly frequently, and it is frustrating.
I blame so called "35mm" film, which is more properly designated "135" film, but probably got the 135 designation because the film stock itself (including the sprockets and edge printing) is indeed 35mm wide.
The motion picture variant of 35mm film is 35mm wide, and quite properly is referred to that way.
Now that pedantry has been completed, when you search for your lab, it would be wise to enquire how the film is packaged and protected before it is returned to you. Some labs sleeve the film, which I find preferable. Other labs will cut the film and put it into negative filing pages, but usually that costs extra.
 

Dr. no

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Let's do be pedantic...
34.98 ± 0.03 millimetres, to be precise (and accurate).
This is the width of film stock for most movie production since 1909 (at least) and also the most popular consumer, news and general still film use over the decades, and led to the size of the "full frame" digital sensor when used in the 135 proportional format (which coincides with 8 sprocket holes per frame). And the width of a movie frame is actually 24mm or less.

Since the film base comes "unframed" and can be used as "half-frame" (about the same as movie frames), square, or panoramic as well as the 135 proportion, so the common appellation "35mm" remains correct despite the format.

To be fair, many manufacturers labeled the rolls 135 but next to that is "24 exposures" (or 20, 12, 36...). The Fuji I have on hand says 35mm x 24mm 24 Exposures and doesn't have "135" anywhere.

And 120 was an arbitrary, or more likely the next ,number, when Kodak introduced it as yet another 6cm film format. 220 was marketed as doubling that, but then it should have been 240, n'est pas?
Pedantry abounds!
 

wyofilm

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In Salt Lake City, Utah, there is the Nichols Camera Store ( http://nicholsphotolab.com ). I haven't used them, but I personally know someone who regularly uses them.

In Orem, Utah, there is TheFind Lab. I haven't used them, but they have a nationally active mail-in program. https://thefindlab.com

Enjoy your trip!
 

logan2z

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spark said:
Photoworks in San Francisco is another good lab.
Click to expand...
I'm a little late to this thread but I would not recommend Photoworks - I used them in the past but after poor customer service and several scratched negatives I took my business elsewhere. I've been using Oscars Photo Lab in San Francisco for the past year and have been very happy with them.
 

BradS

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Do you walk in or mail in to Oscar’s ?
 

ME Super

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I second the motion on The Darkroom; if you're just after develop-only services (or develop and mount in the case of 35mm E-6) and can do your own scanning, there's also Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas. Dwayne's was the last lab in the world that could develop Kodachrome, until Kodachrome processing was discontinued in 2010. Both labs do traditional B&W, C-41, and E-6 processing.
 

Wallendo

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How long is the trip. Considering the wide geographic area described (California, Texas, Oregon and Montana), this seems like a long trip. Do you need to have the negative returned to you immediately or can they be mailed to you? Do you have a place your negatives can be mailed while you are away?

If your negatives can be mailed to your home or business (or a PO Box or drop station), I would agree with thedarkroom.com or Dwayne's. If you plan on being away from home, you may want to contact them to see if they can hold your negatives for a while. I don't know if either is able to do that, however.

Are you from the US. If not, then the shipping cost from mail order will be much higher.
 
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