Cheapest way to have old film developed?

[puck]

My mother passed away recently and while going through her things I found a lot of old disposable cameras and rolls of film. I have no idea what's on them or if the film is even still good. They could be precious memories or pictures of stucco repairs on property my mother managed 15 years ago lol. There's no telling.

Is there a place that would develop the film and put them online for me to look through before printing? How can I do this cheaply? I don't actually like having a bunch of printed photos around. I'd rather have them stored on a thumb drive or similar. What is the cheapest way to convert film to digital photos? Thanks.

 

[starry_solo]

I just did a search online and found this:

http://www.fotobridge.com/

and

http://www.scandigital.com/

 

[puck]

I just did a search online and found this:

http://www.fotobridge.com/

and

http://www.scandigital.com/

Thank you. I've seen services like these but they all seem to be for existing photos and they put them on DVDs or CDs. I don't have a DVD player and my computer doesn't have a DVD/CD reader. I need to find a place that will develop the photos and put them online or on an external memory source.

I know years ago Walgreens would put your film pictures on a disk for you instead of printing out photos. Is there a place that does that but instead of putting them on a disk they put them online or on a thumb drive? I keep seeing people talking about having photos made into calendars here I thought maybe someone would have experience with mailing in film to be made into digital media?

I just don't want to waste the chemicals and photo paper for film that may be worthless. I would think there would be a way to take digital pictures of the film rolls and send them to me online.

 

[starry_solo]

When I did a briefcheck at those sites, it made it sound like they could do negatives to digital.

 

[SMD]

If you want contact sheets instead of prints, contact a local photo lab. I don't think it's going to be cheap. Ever since Costco stopped developing film the cheapest I've gotten it done locally is about $8/roll.

 

[lanejudy]

I believe Walgreens still offers film developing, though I think they send it off-site and it likely isn't "cheap." You'd have to ask if they can provide a contact sheet or web access; it likely won't reduce the price much if at all since I believe the majority of the cost is for the developing from film to a negative, with the actual costs associated with prints being relatively minimal in comparison.

Good luck!

 

[LadyD]

I believe Walgreens still offers film developing, though I think they send it off-site and it likely isn't "cheap." You'd have to ask if they can provide a contact sheet or web access; it likely won't reduce the price much if at all since I believe the majority of the cost is for the developing from film to a negative, with the actual costs associated with prints being relatively minimal in comparison.

Good luck!

Most Walgreens are now digital and do not offer any film services across the country, with some states being entirely digital such as California. Same with CVS.

http://www.digitalmemoriesonline.net/35mm-negative-scanning-digitize-scan-negatives-to-cd-dvd.htm

This website seems to have what you're looking for potentially. They offer a cloud service for scanning negatives that you could theoretically download to a thumb drive.

 

[lanejudy]

According to Walgreen's website, any location with a "Photo Lab" will accept film to send out for 3rd party developing. Not on-site.

All Walgreens stores with a photo lab can accept your 35mm film. Select stores with a photo lab can also accept APS (Advanced Photo System), 110 film, 127 film, negatives, or a disposable/single-use camera. Walgreens stores that can accept the rolls/negatives will use an outside service to fulfill the orders. Please use the Store Locator to contact the store for any additional information.​

Whether that is outdated info, I don't know. Since OP has disposable cameras, those may not be accepted as readily as 35mm film canisters. I don't have a local Walgreens but this past summer I was in one and overheard someone enquiring about film developing services. It's worth OP checking to see what may be available.

Just to clarify -- "film" is not the same as "negatives" -- the film must be processed first to create a negative. You cannot simply pull the film out of a canister and declare it as negatives for scanning. So services that will make prints from negatives or will scan negatives is not helpful until the OP gets the film processed first. It does appear that the link provided by LadyD also offers "APS/Advantix Film Scanning" service but also indicates that the film must be developed first. Again, could be worth a call to check it out.

Good luck, OP! I could easily find myself in your shoes as we go through my father's stuff, though he did switch to digital about 10 years ago because of the challenge of developing film.

 

[TCB in FLA]

I used Walgreens earlier this year to develop a underwater/throwaway camera. They printed out a 4 x 6 of each picture, plus included free CD of them. I think it only took two days and was not particularly cheap – $13.57.

 

[mich311e]

I'm glad I read this! We have a disposable camera or two in the fridge. I better get them developed before Walgreens stops offering it!

 

[Ranger111]

I don't know how they compare price-wise, but you can do mailorder if no local places suit you.

Way, way back in the 1980s, Mystic Photo had a big lock on mail-order film processing services. They topped the list in price, quality, customer service, etc. in Consumer Reports and people across the nation used them, including me.

Eventually, the owners of Mystic decided to shut down, but a group of employees got together and started it up again, sort of. While they no longer specialize in mail-order processing, they still will do it for you. And, they offer to put them on a CD and online for you also.

I used Mystic all the time, never used the new place, but if they are taking their cue from the old Mystic, they are probably great. Click on the mailorder tab on their home page.

http://abcphotolab.com/

I am sure you can google them from some reviews.

 

[jsgrant5]

I just found two rolls of film and took them to my local Walgreens. The young girl working had no idea what they were. She did send them off and just got a call yesterday that they are ready. 14.00 per roll. They did tell me I could refuse any pictures on there that I don't want and only pay for the ones that I like. My DH passed away 3 years ago so I am hoping there are pictures with him.

 

[4shinystars]

I've been looking also. I recently found 40+ rolls of film and disposable cameras that need to be developed, all taken at least 10 years ago. Someone told me Costco, but there are none within 4-5 hours of here, and I'm not going to buy a membership for that only.

 

[starry_solo]

I've been looking also. I recently found 40+ rolls of film and disposable cameras that need to be developed, all taken at least 10 years ago. Someone told me Costco, but there are none within 4-5 hours of here, and I'm not going to buy a membership for that only.

Do you have a Sam's club? I think they might still have photo printing