C-41 Film

What is C-41 Film Processing? 

C-41 is a designation created by Kodak to define the type of film and the developing process. It’s not necessary for the photographer to know this code, but it tells the lab how to process the film – what chemicals to use, what temperatures, and what timing. C-41 processing produces a color negative which is used to make scans or color prints.

Color Negative Film Processing & Scanning Services

Boutique Film Lab provides high-quality C-41 color film processing services at an affordable cost. We offer an intimate lab experience where we will not only process and scan your film, we will also work with you to build your skills as a film photographer. C-41 film processing is comprehensive and precise in practice. It requires significant familiarity and knowledge of the multi-stage dye process, as well as, expertise with color development hardware.

While other retailers will just process your film through a machine, we take a much more detailed approach to make sure that your images turn out perfectly. Carefully inspecting your film and correcting color, density, and contrast allows us to deliver a high-quality product to you at the end of our service. Here at Boutique Film Lab, our on-staff team has years of experience working and perfecting C-41 processing. Due to our skillset and results-driven approach, we have become a popular C-41 film processing choice for photographers from around the country.

Premium vs Basic vs Auto Scans: Which is best for me?

C-41 Premium Scans –
Premium scans are great for customers who want:

• In-scanner adjustments AND post-processing corrections (color grading, exposure, cropping and contrast edits)
• Fully edited images delivered that are ready for you or your client
• Custom color profiles (good if you have a brand and want consistent coloring that matches your style)

Premium Scan Pricing

C-41 Basic Scans –
Basic scans are great for customers who want:

• In-scanner adjustments only (no additional post-processing corrections will only be made)
• Full control of the editing process (good for photographers who like to edit their own photos)

Basic Scan Pricing

C-41 Auto Scans – Automatically includes our fastest turnaround time (2 business days) without the need to pay for a rush order.

Includes auto-scanner adjustments only (no custom color profiles or manual color correction).  The negative is fed into the scanner and each frame is auto-corrected by the scanner using built-in color and density algorithms.  This scan service is ideal for a photographer who is confident that the film has been metered correctly and the exposures are very consistent.  This is also a great service for a beginner photographer who is just starting out and wants to evaluate different film stocks.  Additional editing such as cropping, color, toning, and density may be needed to achieve a finished product.   All of these differences are corrected in Premium Scans but are left as-is for Auto Scans.

Auto Scan Pricing

Additional C-41 Processing Details:

While C-41 film processing has been around for several decades, it still requires a deep understanding of the procedure to successfully meet the high-quality standards expected with film photography. Our team understands the proper chemicals, colors, timing, and environment setting that must go into C-41 processing to be correct. At Boutique Film Lab, we treat your C-41 film like our own.

• We develop C-41 film using Kodak Flexicolor chemistry. This developer is a long-time standard for processing Kodak color negative films in process C-41.
• We offer push processing at no additional charge for C-41 film.  Max of 2 stops.
• We scan on the Fuji Frontier SP3000 and the Noritsu HS-1800. The Frontier offers highly sought after skin tones and gives an overall pleasing color palette. The Noritsu offers unparalleled highlight retention and can create ultra-high resolution files for very large prints. Both produce very high-quality results.

C-41 Film Sizes:

• 35mm
• 35mm panoramic
• 120
• 220
• 4×5
• 110/126
• Disc
• APS

C-41 Scan Sizes:

• Normal (8”)
• Large (12”)
• X-Large (16”)

C-41 Film Processing & Scanning Services:

• Process & Premium Scan
• Process & Basic Scan
• Process & Auto Scan
• Process & Print
• Scan-Only (Already Developed)
• Process-Only (Negatives are returned UNCUT)