(4/23/2014: The Darkroom has earned and deserves 5 stars! See UPDATE below.) I have had excellent results and service for 120 roll film processing. However, over a month ago I ordered a 12x18 bamboo block print and sent in a 3.125Mb image file. They CAN'T produce this product with a 3.125Mb image! In fact, they told me that they can only print up to a 5x7 from a 3Mb image! Even if I give them 5 stars for wet 120 roll film processing, I can't in my wildest imagination give them more than 1 star for this latest transaction and response from them. Perhaps someone can explain to me why they can't print 12x18 from 3MB, and even more interesting would be if someone can explain to me why they will only print a 5x7 from 3MB. UPDATE 4/21/2014: Immediately upon seeing this review posted, The Darkroom called me directly and is looking the issue for a possible fix. I appreciate the attention to my frustrations and will further update the review as they deliver the product and service. UPDATE 4/23/2014: The Darkroom regained 5 stars from me! Just received the originally ordered 12x18, printed from the originally submitted 3.125Mb image, and it's excellent. They requested 2 image files, one of the original submission and another to demonstrate their product and service with an offer to print it at no charge. Excellent technical customer service! UPDATE 4/24/2014: The originally ordered 12x18 image and product quality was so outstanding that I ordered on 4/23 another 12x18, this time with a 5Mb image file. I received both this new 12x18 order and the extra 12x18 from a 2Mb offered to me on 4/23. Both were excellent, in print image quality and in the heavy substantial bamboo block product. Technical customer support was excellent, and the 1-day turnaround was awesome and very unexpected. Thank you Keith and all at The Darkroom! A visiting friend was so impressed by the service and quality that she will be ordering a few of their and her daughter's trip through Europe. read more

I sent my film here because I was given a couple gift cards. The convenience of sending out film can be appealing but when I recieved my film back the package was already open! The seal had dirt on it, and didn't seem reliable in the first place. I honestly don't know why they didn't wrap it with tape. When I voiced my concerns of privacy and also the possibility of losing my film, they just blamed the post office and said it rarely happens. Yet, it happened to me my first time using them. I also had a blank roll, which they still charged me for. I never had a blank roll at any of the local shops I've gone to, so now I'm questioning the overall quality of this place. I emailed the darkroom in hopes of figuring out a way to remedy the situation, but instead they didn't want to take the blame for the package and said they wouldn't send a voucher for the blank roll. Their response showed me they lack customer service, especially the tone deaf "have a wonderful day!" At the end of their response. I've been shooting film for ten years and this was a pretty bad experience. I wont be sending my film here again, I'm sticking to the local shops. Michaelkunicki.com read more

First time using The Darkroom, and all I can find myself saying is, "Wow." I had sent in a couple of rolls of 35mm and 120 B&W film with hesitation, as I had a really bad experience with another mail-in lab just the week before, but all my worries were laid to rest almost immediately after being notified they'd received my film. The Darkroom offers, what they call, "Standard Scans" free with every roll of film you send in to be developed; they'll email you a link to these downloadable scans as soon as your film is developed, which I'm sure all impatient film photographers would love. And though I was more interested in the prints I'd ordered, this service alone smooths over the price of development, especially when you have a few shots you weren't too sure about. The turn-around itself was amazing. I had my film shipped back to me - with tracking information - the day after I received the scans and waiting for me after a weekend away from home. Needless to say, they package their orders with great care, and include a free mailer for your future order, because they know you'll be coming back. The prints themselves were better than the scans, though they better be as they are an "add-on" service. Negatives neatly sleeved. Great email notification system. Honestly, beyond the price that's obviously the result of a threatened practice, The Darkroom is an amazing place shielded away from the flash of the digital age. Honestly, you can rest assured your film is in good hands here, especially with all the extra's they offer (for a price) that'll keep you wanting to experiment with film without worrying about the quality of development. TL;DR: I am floored with the service here, and seeing as the only real complaint Yelpers have is that SOMETIMES their order is delayed an extra day or two (eye roll), I feel it's almost a guarantee I'll get these consistent results from The Darkroom. Truly glad I found this place. read more

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They lost THREE rolls of my film. I got scans back that were not my photos. When I tried to contact them about this, they asked me if I was sure they weren't really my photos. (Yes, the photos I got were of teenagers in SoCal and my photos were from a Hawaiian vacation.) They were incredibly unresponsive and never found my film. This is, like, the ONE JOB of a film lab and they messed it up. Not only that, I had to reach out to make sure I got a refund. Awful, awful experience and terrible customer service. read more

I found this lab through a film photography blog, and I must say I have had an amazing experience with them! I am very new to film in general, but they were extremely responsive and helpful to all of my annoying questions! I don't have other labs to compare this process too (i.e. this was my first time experimenting with film, darkrooms, etc) but I feel like it was definitely a quick turnaround date - my film was received by them through mail Saturday afternoon, put into production Monday morning (I also opted to get enhanced ac, and my pictures were uploaded to my account Wednesday night! I then received my negatives by mail on Friday morning. All in all, I am extremely happy with not only this company's customer service and quick turnaround time, but my film came out AMAZING!!! I can't wait to continue working with The Darkroom Lab. read more

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First time in many years using an old Brownie camera. Instructions for mailing in the film to the Darkroom came with the roll I ordered. Took me a few shots to get it right but sending in the film for development was straighforward and the shots after I figured out what I was doing looks great! read more

DO NOT USE the DARK ROOM!!! They sent us pictures that were completely black and the charge was very expense! I had to give them a star to post my complaint! read more

Do not use this place IF you ever want to view your photos down the road. If you do not pay the monthly fee ( although small) for ever you can never see your photos again. They do not have adiqit server space since they are a very small company. So if you pay the 1,50 per month they have enough space . if not to bad. I also offered a preminu, to get my photos reprinted as they destroyed by water. They pretty much said to bad. Go away. Now I have family with tears wishing they has a chance to get these photos again. There are way more professional sites that can reprint your photos from 20 years ago. Not these guys. stay away! Stay away! stay away! your choice/my review good luck! read more

I had been really interested in using a disposable camera again, and I found them on Instagram and their feed looked amazing, as well as their prices. This was the first time getting filmed developed from them and in general for me, and I was so excited when I saw my scans. I forgot what pictures I had taken and seeing them in film was so beautiful. I can't wait to send them more film. read more

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Fast turnaround! Not sure if living in SoCal helps? My first time shooting film and it's safe to say that I'll continue to keep using The Darkroom to develop my 35mm here! read more

I thought this would be a hassle to get disposable cameras developed but they made it super easy. Fast response when I contacted them. I used a mailer and just mailed the whole waterproof camera. Within a week my photos are back crisp and vibrant! Nothing to worry about if I ever choose to go with a disposable camera. read more

The Darkroom - Scans from them 35mm - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - San Clemente, California

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I just received my second order from The Darkroom, and I can honestly say I wish I started using their services years ago. Ordering is super easy, shipping instructions for my film are very clear, and the time service is excellent. On both orders, I received my scans within three days after I mailed my film (New York to California, not bad at all, a shoutout to USPS). My instructions were followed to the letter. Negatives and disk arrived shortly after, and the packaging was very secure and professional. They even send pre-paid mailers for my next order. Their commitment to customer service, their high technical skill, and their photographic professionalism make doing business with The Darkroom a real pleasure. read more

I received someone else's film and when trying to return it, I gave them no information on or inside the package because I was in such a rush for a big trip coming up! They were so kind and understanding and even wished me a great trip. I felt so guilty for making their job harder right before my trip and they made me feel so at ease! The roll that I did get that was mine came out perfect! There were no streak or water marks. They were taken with such great care and love. Totally recommend this place every single time!!! read more

I really like the darkroom because 1. dropbox Very convenient for downloading scans. 2. fast turnover It usually takes them less than 24 hours to process and scan. read more

The Darkroom - 35mm super scan 6774x4492 - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - San Clemente, California

11/10 Film pictures came out bomb as heck and were developed so quickly and negatives and cd were mailed to me within a week! read more

The Darkroom - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - San Clemente, California

Great service! Was told about this company by a friend and I just got my digitals back from my first roll and it was fast! They accepted it yesterday and got it developed and scanned today! Website FAQ says 3-4 business days. I recommend them to everyone! Thank you Darkroom!! read more

The Darkroom - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Love the simplicity and was so impressed by my scans! I can't wait to send more!

The darkroom made developing my film camera so easy and quick. I love that the digitals are sent straight to my phone. Highly recommend to anyone considering using this serivce read more

I guess they went out of business for a few months during COVID, and I don't know who bought them up again. Some people seem to say they're good, but I have no response from them. Did you know that the United States Postal Service photographs every piece of non-junk-mail; all first class and direct packages. If you own a business, you can receive a list of EVERY incoming package at the time that it is sent to you. For free. Why doesn't the Darkroom? The last time I had a package go missing in the US Mail was 2007. It was from Japan, and the Japan Post Service sent an investigator to the US, where it had arrived. It was insured. Yet the Japanese Post Service took pride in their job. It's nice to see that someone does. read more

The Darkroom is amazing! The film developing ordering process is very straightforward. The quality of the scans is amazing. When your photos are done, they tell you via email, but they also have an IOS app that notifies you when you can view your scanned photos in the app. They develop films pretty fast also. Definitely have your film rolls developed in The Darkroom! read more

3-18-18 This is another update of the work I have sent to the Darkroom. The last couple of orders have been good and have updated my comments to reflect that. Most of the orders I have sent to the Darkroom over the last 6 years or so have been developed, scanned, and returned promptly. And getting a set of prints at a reasonable price is good to. Pros 1. Mailer bags so it is easy to send film to them and not have to putz around with going to the post office for the right amount of stamps. Film is not flat and therefore you cannot just weigh the envelope to get the right postage. The Darkroom mailers make this easy. 2. 3 sizes of scans. The Super Scan really is super detailed. More than anyone else I know of. 3. They do C-41, B&W, and E6. 4. A set of prints at the time of developing is a very good deal. 5. They post the pics on their web site and that makes it easy to look them up or download before you get the CD. Cons 1. I have had some issues getting the orders placed in a timely manor. A couple of times they could not get my credit card to run right and they suggested I pre pay. I did and there were still some hickups getting the order placed relatively fast. Overall these guys do a lot right. Easy to send work to by mail. Even when I am on a long trip I can mail work in and see the scans via web site before I get home. Mailers easy to use. Scans very detailed. read more

Was nervous sending them film, but probably the best decision for film development. They answer emails quite and the website explains the process clear and throughly. Then ultimately they develop the film well and scan them for you and make it easy to download and print the ones you love. They send film back unlike other places. read more

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Online ordering was very easy and straight forward, they provide the shipping label which makes it easier too. I had my 3 rolls of 35mm developed two days after they received it. My absolute favorite part is the online album they provide where you can view and save pictures as well as order the prints of the ones you want. The Darkroom will be my go to film lab for all of my film from now on. Highly recommend to anyone. read more

Mailers get there in record time, film is processed quickly and uploaded for viewing fast. Amazing service. read more

Super easy, fast, professional, and great prints! I used them to develop 4 rolls of medium format 120 black and white film from when I went to yosemite. Could not have been happier with their offerings, their communication, or their whole process! Highly highly recommend. read more

Sent 2 black and white rolls, and I was happy with the results. Took about 5 days to get my uploads and received my negatives a couple days after that. Prints were in good quality, and I paid for the better scans which i believe is an extra $4. They're online communication is great, and you get status and tracking info online. I highly suggest you start an account on their website before placing an order, that way all your information is stored on your account. Also recommend following their IG for info on photo contest and giveaways Cons: Shipping cost read more

Big fan of their developing, scanning and return times. The app to see my film scans right after they've been uploaded is very convenient. Wish I could order on the app though. read more

Tried them out with a few rolls. Not thrilled with their customer service or mail order process. My negatives were shipped back before they even read my immediate email that they were scanned improperly. Their digital photo storage is glitchy and not user friendly. I won't be a return customer. read more

The Darkroom has provided me with the best service for the price! Quality scans and uploads! The ease of use was phenomenal. I recommend the Darkroom lab for anyone starting out in film photography. The contest that are held with varying themes are great practice and enjoyable. Love you guys! read more

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I rarely write reviews unless my experience very positive or very negative. I showed up about an hour before closing and the lady who helped me was extremely kind and professional. I told her it was my first time getting my film roll developed and she explained to me carefully about each selection and what they meant. I also asked her about an ETA on when I would get my scans (around 3 days) and my negatives back (around 6 days). I got my scans literally the day after and my negatives back in 3 days! (Probably so quick because I live fairly close to this place). I got my package back in a very tight and neat enclosure, containing many things which blew me away, an envelope containing my negatives, a single printed image of all my pictures from my roll, a CD, multiple cards thanking me for my business with them along with another fill-out form and a prepaid return package for the next time I were to do business with them. First time doing business with any darkroom service and boy you guys have set the bar very high! Thank you guys so much, and also the scans were top notch!! read more

Used them for a few years and thought they were great . Then last January I sent them an irreplaceable family photo for touch up and reproduction and they LOST it! I have delayed posting this in the hope that the photo would turn up but it hasn't. I know they received the photo because the package included a roll of film and they processed the film. RV read more

These people are the best of the best. Things are kind of funky with the covid right now, but they can still be dependent upon to take care of your needs. Highest recommendations. read more

WORST CASE SCENARIO. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I decided to convert my 1st and 2nd birthday vhs/vhs-c for my 30th birthday. I sent the two tapes to Darkroom and they send me back the movies with the DVD. BUT one of the vhs they sent me back was not mine. I know since my dad labels every vhs with a year or note and the one they sent me back had no writing and is not a vhs brand that we own. I checked the DVD and it is indeed not my home movie. Truly disappointed. There is no phone number for the Darkroom. You have to email them and tell them to call you. Here's a kicker, if you miss their call and try calling the number back, they just pick up and hang up on you. So you need to be sitting and waiting for them to call you. They describe to me that they have no back up servers, no true tracking system of movies that enter their facility. Movies are received at one facility and then moved to another facility to do the transfer. Possibly, my vhs was lost or mixed up in sorting and transit. Pretty much they explained that I would have to sit and wait to see if they find my video - which they probably sent to someone else or just lost. It has been over 2 months.. priceless 1st birthday video GONE FOREVER. Another red flag is that they told me when they make a DVD they label the chapters based on writing on the tape submitted. However, my DVD had not chapter titles and my one correct vhs had a label on it. Which to me means that the video converter was very sloppy and likely the root of the mistake. They refunded me their fee - great. woo.... really makes up for their mistake.... Truly disappointed. SUGGESTION: document all items you send to Darkroom. Take pictures and label. Since they do not keep an inventory, you need to keep it yourself so you have proof that they made the mistake. If not they just point the finger at you. Even if they do lose it like mine, it wouldn't make a difference if I had documented or not - as my home movie is no where to be found. Regardless, what would you do take them to small claims court. I am in NY and they are in CA, attorney fees and time wasted - if there was a case the $$ wouldn't make up for the lost tape, so it is pointless but documenting could help if you are in my scenario. I had over 40 videos in my collection that I still need to convert, as you can assume, I will not be using them in the future. I am sure I am one of few but it sure does stink to have lost a priceless home movie. read more

I was looking for a lab to do some black and white prints for me and I saw that The Darkroom was still operating during the Covid-19 crisis. I sent them a couple of files and got back some prints that were spot on perfect. My vision was fully realized with their print service. Considering the world we live in, they did far better than I was expecting in speed of service and price. Well done, and I certainly would no hesitate to use them for any of my future needs. read more

I've been using the darkroom for 4 years. It's great in it's turn around time, email communication (customer service and notifications on receiving and processing), and ease of sending and receiving film. The postage paid return envelope they give you for a few rolls is awesome - 5 stars for that! But if it's a bigger order you need to postage differently - they still make you pay round trip at almost $6, so you lose money. (Film is media mail and can be mailed super cheap). As to chemicals, it's fine for consumer rolls. They even cross process pretty well. But I can't really tell the difference between my slides and C-41 rolls. And only a slight temperature difference when I use prosumer Kodak and Fiji - sometimes I can't even tell which roll is which, which should be a pretty big difference. It's probably the way they scan. Which brings me to their horrible scanning procedure. Yes scanning is super time consuming and particular. They offer it at no additional charge which is great!! It's good for 4X6 prints and digital media but not for any enlargements. And they send you a CD! Even though MacBooks stopped having cd drives in 2013, they demand to use cds even today. I tried to get them so I could include a flash drive when I sent my rolls in, but for security they couldn't do it, which I understand. However, they will charge you $20 per roll for super scans and a flash drive. Way too much. Probably want you to go elsewhere, which you should if you need that big of scans. It wouldn't be too bad if they actually had an upload platform that actually worked! For years they used lifepics - odd presentation and can only download one by one. In November 2015 they updated their website! Hallelujah! Except not really. Now you can download the whole album, but mostly it doesn't work or is slower than downloading each photo individually. And when I mean slower - make sure you have a book or some other multitask - it's the only way. They do this cool thing to connect dropbox to it, but again your phone has to be connected to wifi for like twenty minutes at having a chance of it uploading. If I can give the darkroom advice, it's to HIRE A WEB DEVELOPER. For goodness sake a student could do a better job than this shit. They gave 25 days notice this past October that they would be disconnecting from Lifepics, but just one email, then one day it was gone. I freaked out, thought my photos were all gone, asked for help, and they just said too bad, they can't do anything. Turns out Lifepics still has my account, it's just a different link now. And they were super friendly and helpful, unlike the asshole from the darkroom who thought he was playing a joke telling me years of photographs were deleted? I've been disappointed with the darkroom for quite awhile, but it still is the cheapest out there it looks like. And they've never lost a roll. Forgot to scan a few, but never lost the negatives. I just found a company on the east coast for about the same price, and I'm almost an adult who can afford Freestyle Photo in LA (my current city). Film isn't going anywhere and I assume more small processing shops will open up! Darkroom, you were cool when I was in art school and every bay area processor charged an exuberant amount, but you kinda suck now. I know you've expanded so much since then, and still hope you can get it together and improve. Good luck! Peace out for now. OH PS! I have developed near-infrared bw film there. It comes out super grainy but ok if you're just playing around. My infrared photographs for my thesis a few years ago came out great - I did my own scans but I'm pretty sure I sent the rolls there. ******updated to 3 stars because I've found a good processing company now, but I do appreciate The Darkroom's mail in. That envelope is a really smart idea. Still small scans, still inadequate upload/download platform for 2017. ****lowered it to 1 star because of Keith's misquote. My response follows: 1. The letter was sent Sept. 30. Photos were gone before November 1st. = less than 30 days. (I think it was Oct 25 and I confused the deletion with Nov 1). But honestly who cares, I'm not trying to fight, but misquoting me and your information to try and be defensive rather than just talk is not good business practicality. So it wasn't a smooth transition and you still need to work on the platform. It's ok, keep going and getting better. 2. Where are the customer service responses? I asked twice, and twice they said they no longer had access to photos, as well as failed to inform me that Lifepics could not only recover the photos, but that they had never went away. The darkroom basically said nope, sorry. Lifepics helped, The darkroom didn't, end of story. 3. You should probably second guess posting internal content on a public platform. read more

I submitted an order to The Darkroom (DR) via mail on or about February 2021 for the development of three single-use cameras, 3 mini cassettes and one 8mm film (Invoice #074692), order total $134.28. I received an invoice from The Darkroom (DR) a week later stating I did not fill out my order properly, in which they provided the description of my order as mentioned here. The final invoice was $184.31. In mid-March, I received my order, three sets of prints from the single-use cameras, two CDS of the converted mini cassettes (which should have been three CDs but they decided to clump two cassettes in one CD). Oh, and I also received a yellow 8mm roll which was clearly not mine (mine was blue). I then realized the film that was converted was not my family film. I quickly notified DR and they said they would look into the mix up and that they would send me an prepaid envelope to return the film. A week later or so I contacted them again because I still had not update, nor an envelope. They quickly sent me an envelope which I promptly returned to DR. From March to May I kept asking about my film. This film was recorded in the 1970s and the converted film was going to be a gift to my mom for her 75th birthday on April 5th. I was so disappointed that our family would not get to see this film. It took two months of me following up with DR (not once did DR follow up with me about any update on my missing 8mm film), they simply washed their hands and refunded me $38, the cost of the film conversion plus I am guessing tax included. My 8mm film was never returned and two months of me following up, I get a $38 refund! I placed 100% trust that my 45 year old family film was going to be developed as indicated in my order. My film was obviously lost in the care of DR, but they are simply washing their hands based on their limited liability clause, which is ridiculous. read more

Both times I've entered special instructions for the film I've sent them, they've been ignored or overlooked. One of these times, they irreparably ruined an expensive roll of out of production film; not to mention, of course, I could never get back the images on that film. This has left me with the impression of an assembly-line operation, and not the kind of custom attention one might desire when trusting someone else with a one-of-a-kind item like your roll of film. read more

Been using them for years for photo prints &scans. Turnaround is medium slow and they sadly don't process some of the films they used to. Their phone number is (949) 366-1144 idk why they hide it from the customer read more

The Darkroom is AMAZING. Their customer service is out of this world and I (and my clients) are blown away with the scans EVERY TIME. I process every roll of film I shoot for my weddings or portrait aessions and they just nail it every single time and it is just so beautiful. I live in Ohio so the week turn around at first was so pins and needles, but the fact that they upload full res downloaded files for you to have without having to wait on a cd or usb that comes with your negs is DOPE. 10/10 recommend every time. read more

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I try to support small local businesses as much as possible through work and in private life so when the last local photo lab stopped processing black and white film I was in a bit of a panic. I work in archaeology and black and white negatives are a requirement for curation at most museums because of its archival potential. We process large volumes regularly. After trying many out of city and state photo labs I gave the Darkroom a try and we will not use anyone else. Ordering online is very simple and developed photos are excellent and high quality. Return packaging is excellent and you can tell they put a lot of thought into how negatives and photographs are shipped back. Most labs stopped providing proof sheets but the darkroom gives that option. Which saves a lot of time in not having to create one on the PC. Prices are comparable with what we were paying locally even with shipping and we always receive our photos very quickly. I love that once you use the lab photos are also available online through the website for several weeks. We won't use anyone else. read more