Film developing in San Francisco is not the large industry it once was, but there are still a handful of excellent photo labs available, all ready to handle disposable camera developing, 35mm, and 120 film developing.
Looking at reviews, it can be tough to find somewhere reputable that develops film in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Do you trust the one-star reviews, the five-star reviews, or neither?
I’ve looked for examples of people who regularly use these services to get an idea of which are the top San Francisco film labs, and which you can trust with your film.
So, if you want to know where to develop film in San Francisco, then read on for the full low-down.
The Best Places for Film Developing in San Francisco
All of these locations are excellent choices to develop 35mm film in San Francisco – you shouldn’t take the positions given as fixed.
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|---|---|---|
 C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 63 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
I don’t have enough positive things to say about Oscar’s! They do an amazing job developing and always surprise me with how quickly I get my scanned photos back.
Google Reviews
Oscar’s Photo Lab has been around for over 40 years serving the needs of San Francisco’s photographers, and is still going strong.
They cover all types of film for a very reasonable price given their location, and can also scan and print from your negatives, plus they offer a mail-in service.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 171 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Service was great, prices were fair, and they return your negatives unlike Walgreens or CVS.
Google Reviews
Photoworks also date from the 1980s and still remain under the same ownership, and will cover everything you need from film developing right up to professional printing, mounting and framing.
All of their services are in-house, meaning that color film can be turned around in 1 – 2 days, 2 – 3 days for black and white, and 4 – 5 days for color side film, at prices in-line with those of other labs in the Bay Area.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
 E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 40 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Awesome local print shop. They have a really cool DIY option where they let you use their calibrated workstations and cutting boards to process your own prints.
Google Reviews
Although Dickerman Prints are primarily a print shop, they also offer film developing services, plus unusually the opportunity to rent space to scan your own negatives.
If you are also wanting to get high quality prints made of your photos, then Dickermans is the place to go.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 51 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Best place to develop film in the city! My go to place, fast (two hours of time or less) & efficient & gets the job done well.
Google Reviews
Photo Plus don’t have a website, and are only open Mon – Fri during normal hours.
Don’t expect to be able to process large format film here, or do anything too complex, but they are very fast at processing standard C-41 color film, with some customers getting their film back within the hour.
If you’re in the area and need a cheap, quick lab, then Photo Plus is a good choice.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 70 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Very friendly local photo development place!!
Google Reviews
Underdog Film Lab seem to be the go-to guys in the San Francisco area, although are located in Oakland, with many camera shops outsourcing film development to them.
They are very highly regarded, offering development of pretty much any film you can get your hands on, and open for a few hours on Saturdays making in-person film drop-off that much easier.
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||
|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 74 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Great local film processing for B&W films. Their quality and attention to detail is what one would expect from a pro-level store.
Google Reviews
A friendly lab in the Easy Bay area, Photolab offer a wide range of developing services, with JPEG / TIFF scans at different qualities and mail-in services.
Film developing usually takes 2 – 3 days for color and B&W, and 5 – 7 days for slide film.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 121 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
If you love film, go here. Great guys who know their stuff.
Google Reviews
A small camera store with a wide range of analog film cameras, this is a great place if you are looking to buy film developing chemicals for your own darkroom, as they stock everything you might need.
They also serve as a drop-off point for film developing, with film then sent on to Underdog Film Lab for processing.
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||
|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 77 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Dropped off some film there and got one of them back within a few hours of dropping it off!
Google Reviews
Outside of the city and a part of a small chain of stores, Mike’s Camera beats bigger chains like Walgreens in that they still develop film in-house, in the store where you drop your film off.
You can get all standard film developed including APS, and they also sell a wide range of film and camera supplies.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 12 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
Every time I come here it’s a great experience. Everyone who works here is super friendly and knowledgeable!
Google Reviews
Although mainly offering photo restoration services and the like, A1 also develop most film types, and offer scanning services.
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|---|---|---|
| C-41 (Color) |
E-6 (Slide) |
B&W |
| 120 (Medium Format) |
Large Format |
APS |
from 223 reviews |
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What Do Their Customers Say?
I don’t think there’s any other camera shops like this around… helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly staff.
Google Reviews
One of the cheapest places for film developing the Bay Area, Looking Glass Photo don’t actually process their films in-house, but have it developed elsewhere within the city.
There’s basically every type of film development on offer that you could want, so it pays to give them a call if you have something particularly unique.
Other Places to Develop Film in San Francisco
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from 10 reviews |
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from 65 reviews |
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Film Developing San Francisco Map
Here’s the top ten places for film developing in San Francisco on a larger map of the area.
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