A long list of by-mail US film labs

In film’s resurgence, lots of new labs have emerged here in the United States alongside a handful of labs that have been processing film for decades. Mail in your film, and after a while they email you a link to your scans and mail back your developed negatives.

When I send film off to a lab, I usually want developing and scanning at whatever their base resolution is, plus my negatives cut and returned to me.

Here’s a catalog of all of the by-mail labs I know of, listed in alphabetical order. I’ll share what they charge to develop a single roll of C-41 color film and create their base scans. The prices I list reflect all of that plus return shipping of cut negatives, unless otherwise noted. They do not reflect what it costs to ship the film to the lab, unless the lab gives you a prepaid shipping label, which will be noted. A few of these labs calculate return shipping by ZIP code — I’m in central Indiana; shipping cost to where you are may vary.

All of these labs process 35mm and 120/620 color (C-41) and black-and-white negative films, unless otherwise specified. If they process other formats (e.g., 110 or 127) and/or film types (e.g., slide), the notes say so. Most, if not all, of these labs offer larger scans than listed here at extra cost.

I’m approaching this as a hobbyist film photographer, and I’m sharing the basic information I think other hobbyists will want to know. You might want to know other information, such as whether they can provide contact sheets; unfortunately, you’ll have to check for yourself.

The labs I use and recommend are Fulltone Photo, Dwayne’s Photo, and Old School Photo Lab.

If you know of by-mail labs I haven’t listed, let me know in the comments and I’ll add them! If you see errors here, let me know in the comments and I’ll correct them!

Lab NameCost Dev/Scan 35mm C41 (incl. return shipping of negs when info available)Standard Scan ResolutionNotes
Austin Camera and Imaging, Austin, TX$18.89 + tax1200×800+ E-6
+ 110, 126, 127, 620, APS
Bellows Film Lab, Miami, FL, and Chicago, IL$29 (Miami lab) / $31 (Chicago lab) + taxNot specified+ E-6, ECN-2
+ 220, 110, APS, 4×5, 8×10
Bleach Film Lab, Atlanta, GA$15 + taxNot specifiedDSLR scanning
Blue Moon Camera and Machine, Portland, OR$34.572075×3125TIFF scans available
+ E-6
+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 127, Disc, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10, Minox/Spy, 16mm Still
Bodega Film Lab, Pittsburgh, PA$20Not specified
Boston Film Lab, Boston, MA$10.50 + return shippingNot specifiedTIFF scans available
+ E-6
+ 220, 4×5
Boutique Film Lab, Mount Juliet, TN$18.503000×2000TIFF scans available
+ E-6, ECN2
+ 220, APS, 110, 126, Disc, 4×5
Brooktree Film Lab, Decatur, IL$11.703012×2008+ APS, 4×5
Cactus Film Lab, Houston, TX$12.50“Ideal for social media use and 4×6 print size.”No scans for color, temporarily
DSLR scanning
+ E-6
+ 220, 4×5
CatLABS, Jamaica Plain, MA$10 + return shipping1500 pixels on the long side+ 110, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Citizens Photo, Portland, OR$11 + return shipping1500×1000Must pay by phone
+ E-6
+ 220, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14
Coastal Film Lab, Tampa, FL$17 + tax3000×2000+ E-6, ECN-2
+ 220, APS, 110, 4×5
CT Prints, Hamden, CT$17.351800×1200+ E-6
+ 220, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Dale Laboratories, Hollywood, FL$17.902048×3072
The Darkroom, San Clemente, CA$17.95 + taxNot specified (but my experience is ~1500 px on the long side)+ E-6
+ 110, 126, APS, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Darkslide Film Lab, Bridgeport, CT$22.95 + tax“8-10 MB JPEG”Cut negatives at extra charge
+ E-6
+ 4×5
DSM Film Lab, Des Moines, IA$22.20Not specified+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 4×5
Dunwoody Photo, Dunwoody, GA$7.99“8 inches”PayPal or by-phone payments only
+ E-6, ECN-2
+ 220, 110, 126, 4×5
Dwayne’s Photo, Parsons, KS$142740×1830+ E-6
+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 127, Disc
Exposure Therapy, Brooklyn, NY$17.502400×1600+ E-6, ECN-2
+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 127
The Find Lab, Orem, UT$19.95“10 inches on the long side”Custom profiles available
Flats, Houston, TX$19“5x7in output size”+ 220, 110, 126, 4×5
Fromex, Signal Hill, CA$24.94 incl. shipping to lab“4.5 MB for 4x prints”+ E-6
+ 220, 110, 126, 127
Fulltone Photo, Louisville, KY$11.50 incl. shipping to lab1545×1024+ E-6
+ 110, 126
Gelatin Labs, Maplewood, NJ$21.993000×2000“Flat” scans (no post processing)
TIFF scans only
+ E-6
Goodman Film Lab, Addison, TX$18 + return shipping3600×2400Custom profiles available
Indie Film Lab, Montgomery, AL$203130×2075TIFF scans available
+ E-6
+ 220
Knoxville Film Lab, Knoxville, TN$14Not specifiedSite does not make clear which film formats they process
Custom profiles available
+ E-6, ECN-2
LagoVista Film Lab, Austin, TX$26.99 + tax3130×2075C-41 only
+ APS
Last Good Film Lab, Los Angeles, CA$20 + taxNot specified
Lumentation, Somerville, MA$12.69 + tax1536×1024
Memphis Film Lab, Cleveland, OH$141512×1002B/W and E-6 processing same as C41
+ E-6
+ APS
Mike’s Camera, Boulder, CO$19.992048×1024+ 220, APS
Milford Photo, Milford, CT$22.97Not specified+ 4×5
MPIX, Pittsburg, KS$11.95 + tax and return shipping“4.5MB, up to 5×7” print”C-41 only
Negative Lab, Tarzana, CA$18 + tax2048×1358TIFF scans available
Negative Zombie Film Lab, Baltimore, MD$20 + taxNot specified.+ 220, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
New Jersey Film Lab, Kingston, NY$181916×1306+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 127, 828
Nice Film Club, Brooklyn, NY$24.983000×2000Paid membership reduces per-roll cost
+ E-6
North Coast Photographic Services, Carlsbad, CA$19.503072×2048+ E-6
+ 220, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Northeast Photographic, Bath, ME$22 + tax“A file that can be printed up to about 8-10” in the long dimension.”TIFF scans available
+ E-6
+ 4×5, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14
NYC Film Lab, Brooklyn, NY$30 + tax3130×2075TIFF scans available
+ E-6, ECN2
+ 4×5, 5×7, 8×10.
Old School Photo Lab, Dover, NH$19.75 incl. shipping to lab3072×2048+ E-6
+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 127, 828, 4×5
Palm Film Lab, Miami, FL$9.50 + return shipping“5 MB”Sells house-branded b/w film
TIFF scans available
+ E-6, ECN2
+ 4×5, 5×7, 8×10.
Photodom, Brooklyn, NY$191500×1000TIFF scans available
+ E-6, ECN-2
+ APS, 110
Photo Impact Imaging, Hollywood, CA$23 + return shipping“Up to 6 MB”TIFF scans available
Film returned uncut by default
+ E-6
+ 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Photovision, Salem, OR$182700×1800Basic 35mm service includes prints
Custom profiles available
+ 220
Photoworks, San Francisco, CA$301544×1024TIFF scans available
+ E-6
+ 4×5
Picturehouse + The Small Darkroom, New York City, NY$23“10 MB”+ 220, 4×5, 8×10
Picture Perfect Photo Lab, Albuquerque, NM$141800×1200
Process One, Kansas City, KS$9.98 + return shipping3600×2400+ 220, APS, 110, 126, 4×5
Pro Photo Supply, Portland, OR$12 + tax and return shippingNot specified
Reformed Film Lab, Ormond Beach, FL$17.951818×1228+ E-6
Relics Film Lab, Long Beach, CA$22 + tax1818×1220
Rewind Film Lab, Orange, CA$14 + return shipping3600×2400Custom profiles available
TIFF scans available
+ 220
Richard Photo Lab, Santa Clarita, CA$29.421450×1025Custom profiles available
+ E-6
+ 220, 110, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14
Safelight Labs, San Diego, CA$12 + return shipping1512×1002+ E-6
Seattle Film Lab, Seattle, WA$17.99Not specified+ E-6, ECN-2
Sharp Prints, Eau Claire, WI$18 + tax for WI residents, incl. shipping to the lab3130×2075+ 220, APS
The Shutterbug, Salem, OR$19.94Not specified+ E-6
Southbound Film Lab, Nashville, TN$12.002000×300035mm only
In-store negative pick-up only
State Film Lab, Louisville, KY$14 + return shipping3000×2000TIFF scans available
+ E-6
+ APS, 110, 126, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Supercolor, Laguna Beach, CA$25.45 + tax for CA residentsNot specified+ 220
Thackers Film Lab, Fort Lauderdale, FL$131565×1037
Treehouse Photo Lab, Honolulu, HI$12.00 + taxNot specified+ 220, 110
Tuttle Cameras, Long Beach, CA$23.25“4.5 MB”+ 110, 126
Underdog Film Lab, Oakland, CA$29 + tax“16 MB”+ E-6
+ 110, 126, 4×5, 5×7, 8×10
Void Film Lab, Lynchburg, VA$19 + taxNot specifiedTIFF scans available

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Comments

48 responses to “A long list of by-mail US film labs”

  1. Stew Bryant Avatar
    Stew Bryant

    Pro Camera in Charlottesville, Virginia, procamera.us, develops C-41 in a machine and B&W by hand, scans on a pro machine like a Fuji Frontier if I recall, and hand-convert each frame in Photoshop… the photos I sent them looked fantastic with accurate colors. They offer different sizes of scans. I got the high-quality option which was 30MP, 6774x4492px. I think it cost $16 per roll but I forget.

    Southeastern Camera, Carrboro NC, http://www.secamera.com/, very similar service, equipment, pricing, and results. They might have the ability to process more types of film.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks for the tips! It looks like neither lab accepts by-mail orders right now, but when they do I’ll add them to the list.

  2. Thomas Slatin Avatar

    I send all my film to The Darkroom. http://thedarkroom.com/

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’ve used them. My go-to lab these days is Fulltone Photo.

      1. Steve Rosenblum Avatar
        Steve Rosenblum

        Hi Jim–Do you know what BW developer they use at Fulltone Photo?

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          I don’t.

        2. P Avatar
          P

          As long as they haven’t changed from what they were using several years ago, they use Clayton F76+.

  3. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    Black & White Photo Lab in Portland Maine is on my short list of labs to try because they were recommended to me as a lab that has a traditional processing and contact proofing service. It’s amazing to me that many labs do not offer this service at all (I know, I called a lot of them!). To me, storing conventional film with its contact sheet is the archival and organizational thing to do, and having a premium, high res, and corrected scan made of the one or few selected “print worthy” images per roll would be more valuable to me than marginal machine scans made of the entire roll.

    Thanks for this list tho, Jim, you can’t believe how many times I get asked about this from the film newbies, and I will pass on..

    1. Kodachromeguy Avatar

      Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas can make a proof sheet for only $3.

    2. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’m sure I’m going to regret not having proof sheets one day. I need a better system for storing my negatives than putting them in envelopes (marked with camera, lens, film, date) and then into big plastic boxes in date order.

      1. Andy Umbo Avatar
        Andy Umbo

        I have over 300 rolls of 35mm film with no contact sheets at all, comprising my pocket camera street photographs from about 1984 to 2010. Worrying about this keeps me up at night, thinking about all the stuff I have to identify if I expect to bequeath my professional photography files to the state historical society; which many professionals do in my state. I recently ran a test on making contact sheets by scanning a page of negs in Printfiles, through the 8×10 sized transparency scanner on an older Epson scanner, and then sizing and printing the jpeg on 8.5×11 paper. It was amazingly pretty good. I would have thought scanning through the Printfile would screw everything up, but no, it was sharp enough to function pretty much like a legitimate contact sheet. You might try this Jim!

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          I’d have to get a scanner with an 8×10 transparency thing, but that would work.

          1. seatacphoto1951 Avatar

            I make my contact sheets in the Lightroom print module.

  4. sonny rosenberg Avatar

    Great list! Thanks Jim!

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Hope you find it useful!

  5. adventurepdx Avatar

    The local lab I use most, The Shutterbug, has mail-in options for 35mm and 120 for both color and black and white here:
    https://www.theshutterbug.com/mail-in-film-development

    1. adventurepdx Avatar

      Also, the other lab I use, Citizens, does mail-in processing as well, but does not have it set up on their website. You can call them to set it up. They also do E-6 as well as color/b&w.
      http://www.citizensphoto.com/processing

      Finally, the other-other-other-other lab here in Portland, Pro Photo Supply, does have mail-in service here:
      https://print.prophotosupply.com/en/printing/categories/mail-in-lab-services/329349

      1. adventurepdx Avatar

        And our sister city to the north, Seattle, has some options:
        Shot on Film Store:
        https://www.shotonfilmstore.com/pages/film-developing
        (The new Ballard Film uses the same processor)

        There’s also Moon Photo, but I don’t see anything on their website about mail-in services.
        https://www.moonphotolab.com/film-scanning/

    2. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks for these! I’ll add them.

      1. adventurepdx Avatar

        You are welcome, Jim! Thank you for this great service.

        Quickly scanning the list and seeing that there are a few labs in my native Connecticut reminded me that Milford Photo (the place I almost bought my first film SLR) does mail-in processing:
        https://www.milfordphoto.com/film-services

  6. Steve Rosenblum Avatar
    Steve Rosenblum

    Memphis Film Lab (now located in Cleveland) is a small family run lab that does C41, BW, and E6 for 35mm and 120 with multiple scan size options at very economical prices. They can deliver TIFF files if needed. I have found their processing and scan quality to be excellent. They don’t do prints, just process and scan. They use Jobo processors and replenished Xtol for BW. https://www.memphisfilmlab.org/

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks Steve!!

  7. Dan Avatar

    Sharp Prints in WI

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks Dan!

  8. Gil Aegerter Avatar
    Gil Aegerter

    Supercolor Imaging in Laguna Beach, Calif. Henrik does quick, excellent work there, and his prices are competitive. I used that lab on a recent vacation there, and in one case when he knew I was leaving the next day, he got me developed and scanned in about 45 minutes!
    https://www.supercolor1.com/

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Added! Thanks.

  9. Caleb Savage Avatar

    I run a lab in Brooklyn and we’d love to be included in the list! We accept film in the mail and in person. You can print labels from our website or use your own. https://www.exposuretherapy.nyc/services/film-processing

    Same price for 35mm and 120, C-41 and B&W, and all disposable cameras

    Develop & Basic Scan – $10.00
    (1600x2400px .jpg files)
    Develop & Premium Scan – $15.00
    (2000x3000px .tiff files)
    Develop & High-Resolution Scan – $25.00
    (4000x6000px tiff files)
    Develop Only – $7.50

    Shipping $5-$10

    E6 & ECN, APS, 620, 110, 126, 127 processing also available

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Happy to add your lab! Check back in a few minutes and it’ll be there.

      1. Caleb Savage Avatar

        Thanks so much for the post! Would you mind correcting the price when you get a chance– our standard price per roll is $10 which includes both developing and scanning.

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          Hi Caleb! The price I listed includes return shipping.

          What I am trying to reflect in this table is total cost of developing, scans at whatever the base resolution is, and shipping negatives back. That’s the service I almost always want personally.

          I added some text to the table heading and to the post itself to make that more clear.

  10. Steve Rosenblum Avatar
    Steve Rosenblum

    Hey Jim–Here is one more lab that I think you should add to your list, but it doesn’t really fit your list format. The lab is AgX Imaging in the Michigan UP, Sault Saint Marie. They only do one thing, and do it with extremely high quality at a reasonably price–the develop E6 film. They only charge $8/roll to develop and sleeve 35mm and 120 transparency film. It’s more for slide mounts. For years they have been used by many of the world’s top photographers who shoot, or have shot, E6 process film. They don’t do the standard process and scan, the only scans they offer are drum scans. But if you are after the best available commercial E6 processing, they are your lab. https://www.agximaging.com/

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks for this link Steve. It will live on in the comments but not in the list above given that it’s a special-purpose lab. But drum scans of transparencies! Wow!

  11. Steve Rosenblum Avatar
    Steve Rosenblum

    Yet another: https://www.knoxvillefilmlab.com/

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Adding! Thanks.

  12. Pál K. Avatar
    Pál K.

    Blue Moon in Portland can process and print negatives from large format to subminiature. 8×10, 5×7, 120, 220, 620, 116, 35mm, APS, Disc, 16mm, and 8×11 Minox, maybe a few others I haven’t mentioned. Their color prints are amazing because they make the effort to produce good optical prints and not just run your negatives through a machine. I am just a satisfied customer of many years and am not affiliated with them in any way.

    I tried Pro Photo’s lab just once a few years ago (although I’ve bought a lot of cameras and lenses from Pro Photo). From my medium format negatives they printed my 8×10’s with the image backwards.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I keep meaning to have Blue Moon develop and print a roll of my film, just to experience their optical prints.

      Oooooooooof to Pro Photo.

      1. adventurepdx Avatar

        Getting optical prints at least once is a nice way to treat yourself. I’ve done it a few times. It’ll never be my default method, but it’s sure nice!

  13. Steve Rosenblum Avatar
    Steve Rosenblum

    Hi Jim–Memphis Film Lab has fixed its website so that now it states what the scan size resolutions are and the pricing. The pricing is here: https://www.memphisfilmlab.org/pricing The description of what the resolution is for each scan type is here: https://www.memphisfilmlab.org/shop/35mm They charge a flat fee of $5.00 to mail your negatives back to you whether it is for one roll or 100 rolls, so I generally wait and send them 5 rolls or more, and the return shipping is then $1 or less per roll.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks! WIll update.

  14. Robert Avatar
    Robert

    Hey there! Owner of Brooktree Film Lab here! Thank you so much for this amazing list, we recently upgraded the quality of our base scans from 2mp to 6mp (2008 x 3012 for 35mm)

    Price is still the same!

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Awesome! I’ll update the article.

  15. Steve Rosenblum Avatar
    Steve Rosenblum

    Hi Jim–How do you like the quality of the processing and scanning you get when you send BW film to Fulltone Photo?

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I have developed and scanned B/W myself for the last several years, but if memory serves, their work is good. The best work I’ve gotten from a lab on b/w is Old School Photo Lab, however.

  16. Lee Avatar
    Lee

    Dunwoody Photo, which is either the same as, or just associated with, the Atlanta Film Company

    https://www.dunwoodyphoto.com/

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks for the tip!

  17. Thomas Leventhal Avatar
    Thomas Leventhal

    You might look at Fromex Photo in Signal Hill, Ca. Color and black and white 35mm is $7.49 and 120 is $9.49. Don’t know about shipping costs, etc, as I drop off and pick up. Often, my film will be done the same day.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      How did I forget Fromex? I’ll add them to the list. Thanks!

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