Good Lab In Manhattan?

Hello All,

 

Can anyone recommend a good film processing lab that's relatively cheap in Manhattan? Obviously

there must be a ton of them but I'll be staying on the upper west side so that area would be best. I'm

open to any good one that's relatively cheap, though. I'm shooting Tri-X the whole time.

 

Thanks,

 

Craig

Two I would use are <a href="http://www.crc-nyc.com/SERVICES.html">CRC</a>

and <a href="http://www.mvlabs.com/index.html">MV Labs.</a> <p>Expect to pay

for quality work. It's not really cheap, (especially in New York), but consider the value

of clean, well processed negatives of your film, and it gets a lot easier to pay for. I

used to

process film at a very high end custom black and white lab in

Tribeca; I

encourage you to pay a good craftsperson a reasonable fee to do a good job

consistently for demanding labor. Out of a desire for both quality and fairness, I'll

say this is a good example of getting what you pay

for.<p> However, I understand not being totally flush with cash. Whether or not

you'r eating ramen noodles, you might also consider buying a dark bag, tank, reels,

and chemistry. It's

easy to get good negatives from Tri-X with just a little effort- and after the inital

investment in the basic equipment, it's cheap. If you have the time to do it right, it

might be your best option. Do this rather than take your film to a bad lab.

Andrew -- that place charges 54 dollars a roll to process black and white overnight.

Otherwise it is 18 dollars for 2-3 days. That is insane. My local black and white only lab

charges 9 dollars for dip and dunk overnight with a contact sheet, 5 for film only, 11 dollars

for hand processing. Now I am not saying that they are not going to do a great job, but

developing is not really rocket science. Perhaps I am misunderstanding what they do there,

but even for careful hand processing that sounds like a lot. But who knows, I process my

own, so perhaps that is what it costs...

Yes, MV's cost can be pretty dear. But consider a few things: Jim Megargee is

recognized as one

of the foremost black and white craftspeople in the world; the business is located in

Manhattan (try paying a commercial water bill anywhere in lower Mahattan- and using

toxic chemisty, in 2006...now pay all the other bills associated with the business and

the location.location.location...). Also consider: they work for some of the most

recognized names

in the photography

world- many of whom have large (rich) clients. And still, they are busy- which only

adds to the cost of the overnight service you quote; if you opt for regular service, it'll

bring the price more inline with sanity (which I believe to be a fairly elastic

term).<p>Besides, I agree, it's not hard (relatively speaking) and not pricey (except in

terms of time) to do it yourself, which was, in the end my other suggestion. Just

trying to present a range of options.

I certainly understand. It was not my intention to criticize the choice, so much as to express

my surprise at it! I would have thought that services like this would be setup on a per job

type of basis rather than a la carte. If I were looking for a master printer, I suppose I would

hire one on a per job basis rather than pay 100 dollars per 11x14...

I use Westside Color at 148 24th Street. 212 242-2840.

Small lab, one block fom the #1 train which runs up the westside.

They give a discount if you pay cash.

I've found Modernage to be priced reasonably and have no issues with the quality of their work. They're located in midtown Manhattan but it's only a short subway ride from the upper west side.

 

They've been around at least 30 years that I know of. Here's their price list.

 

http://www.modernage.com/catalog_0305.pdf

 

Rich

I had great luck, especially for the price with A S Photo Lab: <a href="http://www.asphotolab.com/">www.asphotolab.com/</a><br><br>

 

It is unfortunately nowhere near the UWS, though it is somewhat near Adorama if you were in the area..

L&I is great and cheap. 17th street btwn 5th and 6th aves.

 

Danny

When I lived in the City and shot a lot of black and white, some years ago, Modernage did excellent developing and printing, for both amateurs and professionals. I gather from one of the posts here that they're still in business. If they've maintained their standards of quality, they're definitely worth checking out. Shoot a couple of rolls of Tri-X, paying close attention to the exposure, get Modernage to develop & contact, pick a couple of negatives for 5"x7" or 8"x10" prints, and see how they come out.