Film by mail, then scanned online?

[ekasbury]

<p>I have been searching for a film processor that takes film by mail, processes it, and then scans the negs for download online. Does anything like that exist? I'm beginning to think not, but boy would that be an easy way to integrate film into a digital workflow. I figured if anyone might know of a solution like that, they could be found here. Thanks in advance for any tips or insight! </p>

<p>- Elliott</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>What type of film are we talking about? C-41,E6 or B&W? Also what country are you in as this helps? I know Wal-Mart was doing this along with Snap fish and a few others.</p>

[ekasbury]

<p>I am stateside, and most interested in C-41 and B&W. Thanks! </p>

[marc_rochkind]

It's a good question. Lots of places do the scanning (e.g., Dwayne's), but they provide the scans on a DVD. My local processor uses the national LifePics service for uploading, and uploads the scans to their web site, although not for the highest resolution scans.

 

Might be a bandwidth and storage issue for the processor.

 

I'm with Elliott, though... this would be a great service.

[larrydressler]

<p>Here is your answer.</p>

<p>http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/tourdeveloping</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>MPIX does this as well, However, while everyone lauds their digital RA-4 printing, the reports on their C-41 processing and scanning have been decidedly mixed.<br>

There's a large capital expenditure to have an online website for downloading your scans, and high bandwidth costs as well. Not the sort of thing that a small company who takes a lot of care in their processing and scanning work can afford. (Big companies don't historically care about you or your film, just your money.)<br>

Ken Rockwell continues to recommend the develop and scan services of North Coast Photography Services.</p>

[brian_quinn2]

<p>Dwayne's photos on CD are a larger file (2,000 x 3,000) than snapfish provides (1,000 x 1,500). Snapfish is posted right to the web however. I can see the prints before they get to me by snail mail. Dwayne's prints are better. The down side is they charge twice as much. I use Snapfish for snapshots and Dwayne's for the rest. I also have a high end 35mm scanner if I really need a large file. But the mail in service saved me tones of time. Give Snapfish a try to start out and then upgrade if you want more.<br>

PS I also tried MPIX but did not feel they were any better then Dwayne's and I shoot a lot of slides and Dwayne's is the place to do that.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>I think DalmatianLabs.com does that.</p>

[matthew_rusbarsky]

<p>I started shooting film with pro scanned negatives. The downside is it is expensive, even for low-res scans. A nice flatbed film scanner from Epson is significantly less than $200 brand new, much less used. Manual scans from a home flatbed can outperform auto scans from commercial services on superior equipment. Start out with pro-scans, but keep in mind that the cost of scanning 12-15 rolls can buy you the gear that will give you superior results at home.</p>

[dave_s]

<p>North Coast 'enhanced' scans are about 28Mp, which is big enough to enlarge from. They work fast and they send a DVD in a few days. Why settle for 6Mp or 1.5Mp?</p>

[brian_quinn2]

<p>A good 6 MP scan is far better then a bad 28 MP scan. Not to say you lab does bad work but you can't rate a scan just by saying it is more MP and therefore better. Remember the days of <em>interpolated pixels? not to mention poor color balance, poor contrast, poor etc.<br /></em></p>

[rcoop]

<p>I believe www.clarkcolor.com does that kind of thing.</p>

 

[william_markey]

<p>Brian Quinn - I've used Northcoast Photo for their develop & scan services....and they do an EXCELLENT job! This is my "go to" lab for great scans at the time of developing now.</p>

[m_m3]

<p><a href="http://store.uniquephoto.com/e/index.php/lifepics">http://store.uniquephoto.com/e/index.php/lifepics</a> <- only does c-41. <br /><a href="http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=39886">http://www.precision-camera.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=39886</a> <- ftp service coming soon. so you can download your photos.</p>

[brian_quinn2]

<p>As far as I can tell:<br />Clark and York are now the same lab. Just different names. The Snapfish film is developed by them under contract too. See the shipping address on the mailers. Is seems like they do a better job with the Snapfish orders. Maybe a little more QC is demaned by their contract with Snapfish.</p>