How Long Does Film Developing Take?
The time to process film depends on a number of factors but is usually a few days from receiving your film. The actual time take a few minutes for most colour and black and white films. Additional services like scanning and printing add extra time, and then the current workload of the film lab dictates how quickly this process can be started once your film is received. Our typical turnaround time for development and scans is 3-5 days for C41 and Black and White film, and E6 is processed once a week, so may be a few days or more depending on when we receive your film.
The Process
The process starts when you place an order through our website with lab work on it. We prepare a work envelope, essentially an envelope with spaces where we can write details, which we write your details, the order number and the type of process you’ve ordered. We also get a board back envelope ready which we also stamp your order number on, this for the return of your negatives or prints. This then gets placed in our ‘to be expected pile’.
Then when we receive your film we match the order number up with the work envelope, and your film goes in there and joins the queue for processing.
The film is processed depending on the format of film (35mm or 120) and the type (C41, B&W, or E6).
If scans have been selected then the film joins another queue for scanning.
The film is passed through a scanner and digital images are made of the images. Sometimes these scans require a further slight edit to bring out the best of them in which case the scans are uploaded to a photo editing software where these tweaks can be made.
The final images are then uploaded to a file sharing site, in our case we use WeTransfer, and a link is sent to you.
If you choose to have prints made we print out these at this point.
After all this the film is sleeved in a protective sleeve. We then match up the order number to the board backed envelope and place your negatives in there along with any prints, and then we post it all back to you.