This for those that still need the services of a good photo lab (Ken, you know you are.)

I like photo labs. I worked in two of them in the 1970s. I really enjoyed working in there but the pay was shit and I ended up back at Boeing. They are becoming a bit of an endangered species today. I've been taking my 120 roll film to a local lab. She does the local 35mm developing and printing but her machine will develop 120 (no printing) and I've used it. However, she is not the cleanest. Film has come back with scratches and fingerprints and strange small blotches. Her machine broke down so I decided to send my film off to a lab in Seattle that I used once before: Panda Lab. Using mail is a pain, and more expensive, so I've avoided it until now. I will be going back.

Panda Lab charges $5 for develop only 35mm and 120. Black and white (Xtol) or color (C-41). They also offer develop and scanning to CD at the time of processing. An extra $8 for 120 and an extra $10 for 35mm. These are utility scans and are perfect for web work and screen viewing. Mine came in a 12 megs apiece. An excellent deal. That comes to 67 cents an image for 120 and 28 cents an image for a 36 exposure roll of 35mm. A *very* good deal. The negatives came back in PrintFile sleeves and were very clean. The scans came back on a CD:

And a print was included that makes a nice "contact sheet."

To get an idea of the quality of the scan, her is the entire image:

And here is a section at the scanning resolution.

Panda Lab is located at the Northwest corner of the Seattle Center. The store front is small and funky, which is the way I like my labs. I prefer to see the money go into processing and not decor. They don't have a website but here is their contact info:

Panda Lab
533 Warren Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98109
206-285-7091

I sent the order off late Friday and recieved it on Thursday -- five business days. It might have been quicker but they called when they received the order because I sent the film in black plastic canisters, for protection, and they thought it might have been infrared and didn't want to take any chances. They ended up loading the film and then checking the paper backing. Then they called for credit card info. I was a little slow getting back to them. Great service and good processing. They also do printing so get one of there price lists.