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Film developing in Los Angeles, CA
21 film labs and 3 camera stores that develop film in Los Angeles, 4 confirmed to process on site. Scanners documented locally: Frontier, Noritsu.
Labs and shops in Los Angeles that develop film
J&F Photo Lab Inc.
4.6 ★★★★★ 332 reviews
Family-owned photo shop selling film, with a film-developing and scanning service.
Gold Photo
4.5 ★★★★★ 203 reviews
Photo lab providing film developing and scanning services.
Quik-Pix Photo Lab
4.5 ★★★★★ 174 reviews
Popular shop that develops photos quickly and provides passport-photo services, too.
FranksProductions 30 Min Foto
4.7 ★★★★★ 103 reviews
Photo shop offering a variety of film stocks, developing services, and film cameras.
The Icon
4.3 ★★★★☆ 111 reviews
Full-service photo lab offers scanning, printing & restoration services for digital media & film.
Berry Flash Photo Lab
4.3 ★★★★☆ 105 reviews
Independent shop specializing in photo developing and printing, passport photos and scans.
D & J Digital Imaging
4.2 ★★★★☆ 102 reviews
Friendly place for film processing, plus prints, scans and negatives.
One Stop Film Lab
4.5 ★★★★★ 73 reviews
Friendly film shop offering processing for negative and slide film, 35mm and 120 formats and cameras.
Post Mix Film Lab
4.6 ★★★★★ 58 reviews
Film lab providing camera scans and 30-day film storage.
Film Scouts
4.7 ★★★★★ 43 reviews
Friendly shop for analog and vintage cameras (including 35mm) and film.
Photo Experts, Passport Photos, Notary, Mailbox Rental, Head shots Wheelchair Rental
4 ★★★★☆ 43 reviews
This store offers a range of services, including film processing, passport photos, shipping & more.
What a roll costs in Los Angeles
| Service | Typical independent price |
|---|---|
| 35mm C-41, develop only | $5–12 |
| Develop + scan | $16–35, depending on scan resolution |
| Black and white | +$4–6 over color (hand-processed) |
| E-6 slide | $12–20 |
| Push / pull | Free–$3 per stop |
| Rush | +$2–14 per roll |
For comparison, the drugstore counters charge $15.99–18.99 at CVS, $15.99–17.99 at Walgreens and $14.96–16.96 at Walmart — all of which ship your film out, return 1–4MP scans, and generally do not give your negatives back. Walgreens ended in-house processing in April 2015, and Costco, Sam's Club and Target left film processing entirely. A Los Angeles lab is usually cheaper for developing alone and always better for what you get back.
Turnaround to expect
- 2–6 business days for color negative at a dedicated lab, with same-day service at 2 of the shops listed above.
- Longer for black and white and slide film — hand-processing and batching both add days.
- 7–10 days at a drugstore counter, and about three weeks for black and white or slide, because the film travels to a central facility and back.
- Up to a month for E-6 or ECN-2 at labs that only run those chemistries in batches.
Scanners running in Los Angeles
The scanner sets the look of your files more than anything else the lab does. Documented locally: Frontier, Noritsu. Frontier files come back smoother, punchier and slightly cooler; Noritsu files are sharper and flatter with more room to edit; a Flextight is for frames you plan to print large; a Pakon is a fast, low-resolution proofing machine.
Develop it yourself in Los Angeles
2 businesses here are documented to offer darkroom access — bench time, chemistry and an enlarger, usually hourly or by membership: LA Film Lab, Color&Black&White.
Film developing near Los Angeles
Developing film in Los Angeles: common questions
- How much does film developing cost in Los Angeles?
- Independent lab pricing is national in shape: about $5–12 to develop a roll of 35mm C-41, $16–35 for develop-and-scan, $4–6 more for black and white, $12–20 for E-6 slide film, and $2–14 extra for rush service. The cheapest per-roll price we have read off a Los Angeles business's own site is $9.99. A CVS, Walgreens or Walmart counter charges $14.96–18.99 for the same roll and sends it away.
- Which Los Angeles lab should I use?
- Ask three questions: do you develop on site, which scanner do you run, and do I get my negatives back. On-site processing means faster turnaround and someone accountable if a roll goes wrong. The scanner sets the look of your files — Frontier is smoother and punchier, Noritsu is sharper and flatter for editing. And negatives are your archive; any lab worth using returns them. 4 of the 24 listed here are confirmed to develop in-house.
- How long will it take?
- Expect 2–6 business days at a dedicated lab for color negative film, and 2 listings here offer same-day service. Black and white and slide film take longer because they are hand-processed or batched. Drugstore counters take 7–10 days for color and roughly three weeks for black and white or slide, because the film is shipped to a central facility and back.