Can Boston help me develop a roll of film from the 30s for my grandfather?

Submitted by twerkitout t3_z4d6xy in boston

I have an undeveloped roll of Kodak PX-135 35mm black & white film from around the 30s that I found in an older camera my grandfather gifted to me.

I’d like to develop it for him as a Christmas gift but I’m hitting some roadblocks.

I brought it to Newtonville Camera and they were helpful but they outsource their B&W processing and because of its age I’d like to make it a more personal process. I think it probably needs to have a few frames pulled and processed to get the times right because of its age, if it even has anything on it. I’d also like the canister back because it’s really special to see.

I did speak with ColorTek and it does seem like they could do it because they process on site but it’s a hike for me from Waltham so I thought I’d ask here too.

Alternatively, I can probably process this myself if anyone has recommendations on short-term darkroom rentals. I do prefer to just pay to have it done, I haven’t done my own rolls in years.

Thank you so much!!

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Otterfan t1_ixqkm92 wrote

If you're serious, this is exactly what Film Rescue International does, and I suspect many labs would point you to them. It's expensive, but they won't charge you if there are not usable images.

It is very much not local (Montana).

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twerkitout OP t1_ixqmow0 wrote

This is who CATlab recommended! Have you ever tried their services? They do look like a great option

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scientist4321 t1_ixqm39a wrote

I think this is your best bet. They seem to be experts in precisely what you are trying to do.

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JumboChimp t1_ixqvjqw wrote

FRI would be my suggestion as well. We're fortunate to have a lot of labs in the area and I'd trust any of them with a normal roll, but none of them are experts in developing 80+ year old film.

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midge t1_ixs7j8r wrote

This is very cool, I had no idea this sort of thing existed.

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GM_Pax t1_ixq8k52 wrote

I can't help you, but just want to make you aware that there's a high probability that the film has suffered some degradation in the ~90 years since it was used, so you can set your expectations appropriately: the image quality is likely to be on the low side as a result of those decades in the camera (and probably not in a controlled environment).

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twerkitout OP t1_ixqbb06 wrote

Fair point! Honestly I expect to sink a bunch of money into this and get nothing 😂 but I want to try anyway while he is still around to share it with. If nothing else it’ll be a fun story - he would love to see me go thru a bunch of effort to be sentimental for an empty roll! Worth the risk haha

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GM_Pax t1_ixqj98r wrote

>I want to try anyway while he is still around to share it with.

Oh, absolutely definitely do that!! :) I just didn't want you to go in expecting a perfectly crisp and clear result, then be disappointed with what you got. :)

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Edit to add: also, you might get really lucky and have large sections, maybe even most of the film, come out pretty damned well despite the almost-a-century sitting in the camera.

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NoraPlayingJacks t1_ixrhrdd wrote

This comment made me smile. I can picture my grandpa laughing at me for doing the same thing. Mine is gone now…this’ll be worth double whatever you have to go through to do it.

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Ponceludonmalavoix t1_ixqpabn wrote

You gotta post the pics if you get anything usable from it!

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monsterbucket t1_ixr832j wrote

I used Film Rescue several years ago to process a roll of 120 I found in an old camera I bought off eBay. Turned into an interesting story - The woman who owned the camera was murdered in Ohio and the crime never solved. Film Rescue was able to get the negatives processed and after some sleuthing I was able to reunite the photos with her family members by way of the police chief in the town.

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toinah t1_ixqblb5 wrote

There’s a new film store that just opened on Highland Ave in Somerville. Not exactly sure what services they offer but worth a look.

https://lumentation.com/

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Gryphon234 t1_ixqu081 wrote

I second these guys. Fast turn around, good prices, and the staff is very friendly

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TekJansen69 t1_ixqj5xv wrote

If none of the other suggestions pan out, you might try to call someone at MIT or the National Film Archives for advice.

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billie_holiday t1_ixr5lzn wrote

As someone who still gets film developed, here’s my suggestion. Catlabs will send you somewhere else, Colortek can be spotty with their developing. Reach out to @markandrewelliott on Instagram — he’s the former owner of Color Services and still does very limited development and I feel like he might do this for you. He’s local and you wouldn’t have to mail the film anywhere. Otherwise, contact LTI Lightside in NYC does phenomenal work but unless you’re willing to drive it down then you’d have to mail it.

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Manitcor t1_ixqmp92 wrote

Film rescue international might be worth a shot

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ClarkFable t1_ixqvz99 wrote

I’d still probably go with B&H.

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Brosarioo t1_ixqm3tl wrote

Check out Color Tek by South Station!

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BenjaminoBob t1_ixqfmzb wrote

Try Tomorrow’s Studio in Nashua, NH. I bet Justin can give you a good deal.

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Commercial_Board6680 t1_ixqnayu wrote

I'm of no help, but I can't help but think of that 2017 film, Kodachrome. May your trek be pleasurable.

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Mysterious_Exam1425 t1_ixqyro1 wrote

Keep us informed...!!! This certainly got my attention even tho I'm not any help... As my Dad had a semi-pro darkroom when I was a kid, 1950's, and I certainly remember developing and printing/developing those black and whites...!!!

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helpthe0ld t1_ixr2g7j wrote

Thank you for posting this and to everyone who gave answers! I was given a camera that my grandfather owned and there’s still film in it. Not sure if there would be anything on it but I’d love to try.

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hermionieweasley t1_ixr8pda wrote

I can do it for you or you can use my chemicals/equipment. As it holds sentimental value though, giving it to Colortek is the only safe option

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coral15 t1_ixqpex0 wrote

There is a place in hull, begins with a P. He prints old pictures. Let me see if I can find the name.

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thspimpolds t1_ixqxmqo wrote

Try sending it to here https://www.indiefilmlab.com/

They have basically every equipment known to man.

I know it’s not onsite but they have an incredible reputation and people send film there from all over the world.

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GreenPylons t1_ixr0smu wrote

> I think it probably needs to have a few frames pulled and processed to get the times right because of its age

You won't know if it needs to be pushed/pulled unless there's a note saying to do so (if there's any notes left with the roll, or something marked up on the film canister). Most photographers who do push/pull their film also mean to do it to their entire roll, so there's no point to do it to a few frames (and you also can't do it to just a few frames - you can't really cleanly cut up a roll of undeveloped film as you don't know where one picture ends and another starts, so you'll almost certainly just cut through the middle of a picture. You won't know until it's developed, and once it's developed it's too late to push/pull, though you can correct the brightness digitally to some extent)

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LilibetSeven t1_ixrhkm8 wrote

When my grandmother died I brought all this video footage from the 1930s I found in her house to EverPresent in Newton. It was remarkable what they did. Sounds like this might not be what you are looking for but they did a great job digitizing it which for us is the way to go.

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lemonpolarseltzer t1_ixsbwl7 wrote

Panopticon Imaging in Richland MA. Small business, great people running it.

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rumbles4141 t1_ixsgsa8 wrote

Panopticon Imaging in rockland Ma might be able to do this for you...they are wonderful people .

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WHAAAAAAALES t1_ixspkwa wrote

FWIW I'm also in Waltham and Newtonville's outsource has done good work for me (if quite a bit delayed) in the past.

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misterflappypants t1_ixtgqpm wrote

I used colortek from 2012-2015 and loved them.

Affordable, no-nonsense. I only had one or two sheets of film with issues, and it was generally just negatives stuck to carrier sleeves.

I know color services is no more.

I have no problem, nor should you, of mailing film to good processing locations.

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Hippie23 t1_ixsihci wrote

Try local colleges. When I was in undergrad (2006-ish) I took a 35mm photography class, and we developed all of our own images in a dark room that was on campus. Some campuses may still have dark rooms, and likely would develop the film for damn near no cost.

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Ok_Fox_1770 t1_ixrfnj1 wrote

Gotta be some retired cvs photo lab hero who got to take home his life’s passion of Kodak processing. Just waiting for that bat signal but he’s probably 80 watching price is right. No clue what a Reddits is.

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riftwave77 t1_ixr886k wrote

Spoiler: the entire roll is NSFW photos of OP's grandmother's gams

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