I need helping in deciding where to develop film.

[emen mali]

I bought several rolls (after reading about it here) of Kodak 400UC film, along with Kodak

BW400CN film.

 

What should I look for when having these films developed? I live in Chicago and close to

Gamma Photo and Helix. Gamma is charging $12 for a proof sheet and 7.50 to develop the

roll. Is this a good price? Can these be sent somewhere else for cheaper?

 

Plus is it a good idea to have these developed at your typical Walgreens/Target store?

[mawz]

That's ridiculous. I'm paying $5.50 for developing and $2 for a 4x6 proof sheet at Downtown Camera here in Toronto. And those are Canadian Peso's, not US Dollars.

[neal_wydra1]

Dear Norm,

 

Dominick's still sends out to Kodak/Qualex (my personal choice). Many Target's now have new equipment for developing/scanning/printing on site. My local Target offers "Perfect Touch" processing in-house. I've had good luck there since the new equipment arrived. A local Walgreen's or Osco might work out a deal to develop without prints for around $2.50 if you ask.

[alvin_wong]

<p>Based on the prices you quoted, I would gather that Gamma is a "pro lab" that has the full range of film developing service (B&W, E-6, C-41) and traditional B&W printing. $7.50 for "develop only" is not unreasonable for a pro lab. When you paying a pro lab $7.50 to develop a roll of film, there's the expectation that the lab workers will process and handle your negatives with care. There's the expectation that the lab will have a manager who pays close attention to the functioning of the line, and replenishes the chemical when necessary, etc. There's the expectation that the lab will have experienced technicians who know how to get good results from any given negative. Any good pro lab will be mindful of all these things.</p><p>When it comes to processing film, you usually get what you pay for. You should not consistently expect to get "top notch" results from your typical drugstore/one-hour photo place. You certainly shouldn't expect one-hour labs to return clean negatives free of dust, lint and scratches. Of course, there's always the possibility that you will luck out and find a one-hour photo lab that produces consistently superb results. If you find such a place, by all means stay with it.</p>

[stephen hazelton]

For the quality that I expect from my photos, and considering the expertise and equipment that goes into making them, the local Walmart does just fine. I usually get the photo CD as well, and that gets me my digital print if I need to email anything.

 

Seriously, it's whatever you wanna do. If you're making 4x6's to hang on the fridge, there's no reason to pay umpteen dollers to have it all done. And if you're looking for professional results, you pay the price.

 

I have seen numerous posts discussing drug-store (or Walmart) processing that emphasize the fact that it somewhat depends on who is running the machine that day.

[freehueco]

My question is, are you comparing proof sheets with contact sheets?

 

Proof sheets are often just digital scans of the negs printed at a small size; where as contact

sheets are made by laying the negatives on a sheet of paper and projecting light through the

negs. There is much more work involved in printing contact sheets, thus the higher price.

 

We charge $12.75 for contact prints.

[john_shaeffer1]

Get some mailers from Mpix.com. They will provide scans online and you can get prints of what you want. They aren't the cheapest, but reasonable, seem to do the best job for the price and they are fast by mail.