For years I've been developing my film at Walgreens because I don't live near any good photo labs and all the mail-in ones I had found online were way overpriced. Recently I found The Darkroom and saw that their prices were about the same as Walgreens, so I thought I'd give them a try. I sent in 12 rolls of film, most of which were old and I had no idea what was on them. I did have one roll of film that needed to be pulled a stop, so I emailed the customer service department with questions about the process, and they responded quickly and were very helpful. After only a couple of days I received an email saying my photos were all uploaded to my account. I was SO happy with the quality! Its a bummer that I mostly sent them old rolls that were not of anything special... all this time I've been sending my important rolls of film to Walgreens and getting back ruined negatives and washed out scans. When I uploaded some of them to Flickr, the difference in color quality compared to my previous uploads was very apparent. Oh well, lesson learned. The Darkroom will be receiving all of my business from now on. read more

Let's talk about over all turnaround times. I've used them on 3 separate occasions. As far as shipping times, my film takes over a week to get to them using their prepaid mailer (I'm in Texas- I think I'll pay the shipping myself to get it there via 2 Day priority mail next time). Once they receive the film, it takes about 3-4 days to get your uploaded scans. That's almost 2 weeks. By the time I actually receive my negatives and prints it's probably exactly 2 weeks to 16 days max. I'm a bit of an impatient person so I won't be too unfair in my criticism. I attribute the long lead time to high volume. Business is good, I guess. As for the quality of their work, the scans are much better than that of a Walgreens. I've never experienced any dust or water spots on my scans so I will say they do offer professionally quality lab work. They lose a star from me only due to long lead times. Other than that, I am very pleased with their work and their prices are about the best in the business. I haven't found anyone else online who can beat their prices for the quality of work they offer. read more

The Good: + Economical! Compared to other labs, you safe more than $5 per film for developing and scanning (enhanced scan) a roll of 35mm B&W film. + Free return envelope for your next order. That saves another $2.30 shipping an envelop to them, plus you don't need to buy envelopes and print out address labels. Overall savings compared to another "North Coast" lab: $10/film!! + Free ftp upload, so you can see and download your scans 2-3 days before the envelop arrives in the mail. + Free "contact sheet" + Negatives are cut and put into a protective envelope, plus CD-ROM with scans for archiving. + They return your (cut) negatives and CD-ROM in a flat envelop (unlike other labs who return your uncut film roll in a big box). This makes shipping a day faster compared to a box, plus it is easier to archive a flat envelope compared to a box. + Scanner settings are spot on in terms of exposure and contrast! The Bad: o Dust on scans: I found on average 1 dust speck/fiber per scan. This is above the average compared to other professional labs. o File sizes: even the enhanced scans only have 1MB per file (!!) and barely oversample the film grain. If you intend to do gallery shows with large printouts, the enhanced scans will not have enough resolution. They are suited, however, for smaller prints and online posting. The Ugly: - Customer service: good luck trying to give them a call. They don't advertise their phone number anywhere (neither on their web site, nor on Yelp). If you happen to find out their phone number, you will be greeted by an employee who makes clear by her demeanor that she is in no mood talking to you! I have rarely been treated so rudely by any customer service!! Verdict: Given that I safe around $10/film for development and scans, I will use them again in the future -- despite their horrible customer service. I also love that I get the ftp upload a few days before the negatives arrive, and appreciate the flat envelope of the cut film and CD-ROM and the free postage-paid envelop for my next order. If I decide to use some of the photos in a show, I will have them re-scanned at higher resolution by a different lab. read more

I had searched all over for a place that would produce a photo for me from an old (1978) 110 negative. Very few places offer this service, but I found the Darkroom and they did a fantastic job for me. I am now going to send them more old negatives. read more

The darkroom did my Canadian passport photos. They are tricky and need to be measured exactly right, or they will be rejected. They are the only place on the peninsula I have ever found that was able to do them. Thanks so much! read more

Not one to normally write yelp reviews but seeing as The Darkroom has mixed reviews I wanted to give them a 5 star one. They are fast to respond to any questions and my film came back looking great. I was fed up with the services and results I was getting at Walgreens and The Darkroom is lightyears better, only wish I lived closer so regular shipping didn't take so long. read more

I just recently heard of the Dark room via an Instagram post & decided to check them out. I sent in some film last week & was happy to already have my scans back in just five days, and everything mailed back to me in one week. Very fast & very easy, would highly recommend. read more

My black and white negatives were covered with a ton of dust. The owner offered to rescan but I've already archived the negatives in my basement. read more

An absolutely incredible company! Outstanding service and they converted 175 of my 35MM slides in to prints that were better than the originals. I would not hesitate to use them again for any photo need. read more

BAD, DON'T USE! They don't seem to give a hoot about their quality or practices. No wonder they do not list their phone number anywhere. A few years ago we send in film and it came back: one roll completely blank and the other roll with each picture fuzzy and the color and contrast awful at best. We thought it was our fault. I have taken successful snap shots for 45 years and probably never had results as bad, which lets me think it was not my fault. Then we send in another roll this year and the film AGAIN was processed poorly with terrible results. The photos for sure look like light got on the film as they developed it. I know this look from art school when I use to process my own film. read more

I used The Darkroom to scan negatives onto a CD. They guy was nice, the service was fast, the price was right. But the CD contains a virus which turns out to be an ad urging me to use them to have prints made, and my computer won't open it. The guy was helpful in getting the prints transferred from the infected CD on to my hard drive, but who needs the aggravation! read more

Pretty darn impressed! I found four old (like 15 yrs) rolls of film and almost threw them out. No idea what was on them. Happened to stumble across The Darkroom while searching to see if anyone still develops film. I completed the order online, printed their label and sent them off. I rec'd emails when my film was rec'd and when it was mailed and in just a week, my CDs arrived! Absolutely flawless! read more

I sent 3 rolls of film I have had for a while, big mistake... it cost me $33 to develope and $8 to ship.. I got exactly 8 very dark pictures, 7 on one roll 1 on another, the 3rd roll was blank, I could hardly make out the pictures on any of them.. a little bit of rip off.. then they sent me CDs of poor pictures.. read more

False advertising, they don't do any passport photos. Competence of the front desk staffer is less than inadequate. A highly disappointing waste of my time. read more

I usually get my film developed and scanned in person at Lomography in Manhattan. However, because I was out of town for an extended period and needed to get my film developed, I decided to try Darkroom out. Bad decision. Mailed my film in, turn around time was fast, but quality of scans were terrible. I particularly care about scans because most of my film gets uploaded online, so I paid extra for "Enhanced" scans. Their enhanced scans are so low res that it makes you wonder how bad is the "standard" scan. Pics become badly pixelated when slightly zoomed in on. I was extremely disappointed because I had heard good things about this place and their services. Wasted of my money and time. I recently found out my usual spot does mail in developments and scans too, so I'll definitely be sending this negatives to Lomography where my scans actually turn out crisp. Plus they dont charge me extra for scans based on the resolution or quality. Their only scan option is the best quality and resolution for those who care about scans. Im not talking about prints bc I didn't order prints from Darkroom. But if you care about having great high res scans that dont pixelate when zooming in, hit up Lomography because it's better and cheaper. I just wish i'd known this earlier smh read more

Lost my film! I sent my film out got the scans uploaded online(which are very low quality as others have mentioned) and when I received my package I had the CD but my slide film was missing! Customer support was lousy with zero interest in finding out what happened, finding my film, or refunding my money or anything, I am just developing at home now for $18 in supplies I can do 8 rolls instead of just one and it's a very easy process to do C-41 & E-6 at home. If you value your film just develop it yourself! I would NOT trust this company for any serious work. You'd think labs would be more customer service oriented these days, but not this place! read more

The Darkroom is a bit expensive if you order prints with your film developing, but it's definitely worth it. They're the best photo lab I have ever used. I use exclusively film, because I can get better quality pictures with film than any digital camera. I'm a regular customer, and I've sent a lot of film to them over the past couple of years or so. My pictures have always turned out great, and the negatives have always been very clean with no spots, scratches, etc. They obviously know exactly what they're doing and they're very careful with film. Their customer service is fantastic - they send an automated email as soon as they receive your film, then they send another email when they've developed and scanned your film, and then they send an email to let you know when they've shipped your pictures and photo CD. On the very rare occasion when there was a problem, the staff I talked to on the phone was very helpful. If you send them a message on their website, they contact you very quickly. If you shoot film, (and you should!), and you're looking for a good, reliable photo lab, I definitely recommend The Darkroom! read more