We Develop Film!
Whether you're a professional photographer or a hobbyist, we understand the importance of preserving the unique characteristics of your film. We are here to guide you through the process of getting your film developed and scanned. We currently develop C-41 (or color), black and white as well as slide (or positive) film through AcmeLabs.
The cost to develop and scan a roll of 35mm film is $16. Although we strive to keep our turnaround time between 1 to 5 business days for color and 1 to 7 business days for black and white, those time frames are subject to change. Please reach out to us to get the most updated turnaround time. Digital scans are delivered via link to customer’s email. We are currently not offering printing services.
Our Development Process
We use the Noritsu V30 film developer, which is renowned for its consistent and high-quality results. This developer allows us to process color negative, and color positive (slide) film with exceptional accuracy and care, ensuring that your images come out with the richness and vibrance they deserve. The Noritsu V30 is designed to optimize the colors and tones of your film, bringing out the best in each frame.
Black and White Film Developing
Our black and white and e6 film is developed and processed by hand to Kodak's recommended standards by a trusted third-party. This careful, hands-on approach ensures that your images receive the attention and expertise they deserve, delivering quality results.
Precision Scanning with the Frontier SP3000
After your film is developed, whether it’s color, black and white or slide, we use the Frontier SP3000 scanner to digitize your images. The Frontier SP3000 is a high-resolution scanner, specifically designed for film. It's known for its ability to capture incredible detail and produce crisp, clean scans. Unlike many other scanners, the SP3000 delivers better color accuracy, enhanced dynamic range, and smoother gradations, making it the ideal choice for those looking to get the most out of their negatives.
Key differences between the Frontier SP3000 and other scanners:
Superior Color Accuracy: The SP3000’s advanced color processing capabilities allow it to capture the true essence of your film, ensuring that colors are rich, vibrant, and true to life.
High Resolution: The SP3000 delivers stunningly sharp scans, capturing even the finest details in your images.
Optimized for Film: Unlike flatbed scanners or other digital solutions, the Frontier SP3000 is specifically designed to handle negatives and positives, making it the best choice for film lovers who want the most out of their film images.
Speed and Efficiency: The SP3000 is fast, allowing us to process and scan large batches of film while maintaining consistent quality.
Developing, Scanning, and Printing Film: What’s the Difference?
When talking about processing film, you’ll typically hear about three main services: developing, scanning, and printing. Each plays a different role in the process:
- Developing: This is the process of chemically treating the film to reveal the images. It’s the first step in making your photos visible, but without scanning or printing, the images stay on the film in negative form.
- Scanning: After developing, scanning converts your negatives into digital files. This allows you to view, edit, and share your images on a computer, phone, or online.
- Printing: Printing takes your developed film or scanned digital images and creates physical photos on paper. Neither Acme Camera Co. or Acme Labs are currently offering printing services.
Which Service Should I Choose?
If you're looking to simply preserve the images on your film, developing is the way to go. It’s the essential first step to make your photos visible, but they’ll remain in negative form.
If you'd like to have digital files of your photos, scanning is ideal. It’s great for sharing on social media or storing in a digital archive.
If you want both a physical and digital copy of your photos, choose both developing and scanning. This way, you get your negatives processed and digital versions of your images for easy access.
TL;DR: Developing, Scanning, and Printing Film
- Developing: The process of processing film to reveal the images. You get negatives but no digital or physical copies.
- Scanning: Converts developed film into digital files for easy viewing and sharing.
- Printing: Creates physical copies of your photos from developed film or digital scans.
Which Service Should I Choose?
- Developing only: For film preservation in negative form.
- Scanning only: To get digital files of your photos.
Both: For negatives and digital files.
To Keep or Not to Keep Your Negatives?
When it comes to the question of keeping your negatives, it's a personal decision. While scanning and storing digital versions of your images is a great way to preserve them, many photographers choose to keep their negatives for various reasons:
Why Keep Your Film Negatives?
Film negatives are the original, unaltered version of your photos. While digital files can be easily backed up and shared, negatives hold a unique value for film enthusiasts and photographers. Here’s why you might want to keep them:
- Archiving: Negatives are a long-lasting format for preserving your photos. With proper care, they can last for decades, whereas digital files can be lost due to hardware failure or data corruption.
- High-Quality Reprints: If you ever want to make larger or higher-quality prints, negatives can be scanned again for superior resolution, often yielding better results than reprinting from a digital file.
- Future Projects: Negatives provide the raw material for future editing, enhancing, or creating prints with different looks. Some photographers enjoy revisiting negatives to experiment with new printing techniques or to create alternative processes like contact prints.
- Collectible Value: For certain photographers or subjects, negatives can become a collectible, especially if the images have historical, artistic, or nostalgic value.
Ultimately, keeping your negatives ensures you have access to the highest quality version of your photos for years to come.
We provide you with the option of keeping or discarding your negatives, depending on your preference. We’re here to make sure that your film experience suits your needs and your creative vision.