I'm not a professional photographer, so I can't comment on how great the photos looked, or compare to a standard. The photos we asked to be printed came out looking great and was faster than expected. The five stars is for the people behind the service. You're dealing with some amazing people when you choose to do business here. They are compassionate and understanding. I will be back for sure. read more

Exceptional quality prints. Loved their matte finish. Quick service - did pickup service. Very fair prices for the quality! Will use for printing wedding photos. Nice that they have the collage options. Website easy to upload photos and choose options to purchase! read more

I had a last minute project where I needed some old pictures scanned and converted to a digital format. I was on a tight deadline, needing these pictures for my father's memorial service in about a week. The folks at Photolab were so courteous and understanding of the situation. As soon as they heard it was for a memorial they agreed to take on the task on a much tighter timeline than usual. With everything else I've got going on, their kindness and willingness to help was so appreciated. Thank you Photolab! read more

Friendly staff and quick turnaround! Got my film developed here twice and (standard) scan quality has been good so far

Great easy service, very friendly very professional staff and more importantly reliable

Thanks to Yelp, I discovered Photolab as a local printing solution. They are a great local business with great prices, communicative customer service, and good quality--something I'd vastly prefer over ordering over an online printing shop conglomerate. I've ordered a few prints from here and each they have always been easy and reasonable to work with. During COVID, they also enable a smooth ordering process by allowing you to order online and upload your photos and you can just call them once you're outside the building and be able to pick up when it's ready. I'll definitely continue to use Photolab when I have a printing and/or photo enlargement need. read more

Over the past couple years, I've relied on Berkeley Photolab to develop my 135 and 120 rolls of film and they always provide me with exceptional service. I receive my negatives clean and properly cut, fitted in protective archival binder sheets...something I simply do not get in other places. I highly recommend them to anyone that doesn't develop themselves, and whom are serious about receiving quality. If you take pride in what you've created, why settle for anything less?! read more

Photolab - Kodak 120 Tri X 400 - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Love getting my photos developed here! They charge $15 per roll of film and consistently get them to me within a few days. They send it via email so there's no need to pick it up at the store unless you want your negatives. A lovely small business that I will continue to visit! read more

Awesome service and great prices! Very responsive via phone and email, and I'm always pleased with the speedy service when processing my film. read more

Incredibly happy with the high quality prints and service I received from photolab. I printed and blew up iPhone photos that practically look professional at a fraction of the cost of online print shops and they were ready for pick up in less than 24 hours. Thanks Photolab!!! read more

Photolab - So happy with these high quality matte enlargements. - Photography Stores & Services Near Me - Berkeley, California

I dropped my film off Tuesday 2/16 and and paid extra for shipping to Sacramento, the man told me they would be done processing in a day and I'd get them in the mail no later than Friday the 20th. After I still hadn't received them a week later on Tuesday the 23rd I called to check on the order and found out that they hadn't shipped them out. The man said he would be sure to ship em out that day and he sent me a tracking number. I checked tracking a couple days later and they STILL hadn't been shipped. According to the tracking history they weren't actually shipped until the 27th, (10 days after they'd been developed) and I got them in March with 3/28 prints lost. Frustratingly negligent with my order read more

LOVE LOVE LOVE! this was my first time getting my film developed, and after reading all of the reviews, i knew i had to go to photolab! i simply went in blind, not knowing what i'd expect or have to do, but they were so understanding and kind. not to mention, the amazing results!! thank you:) read more

Disappointed. I'm sure they do great work and I was hoping to work with them. I called when they first opened to ask about a specific service (pricing, timeline etc) and was told I can stop by at anytime. I drove 30 mins one way, during work hours, to only be told that the person who does the service is out on vacation for about a month. This important information should have been shared on the phone. read more

I had an amazing time! John was so kind and helpful, especially since i didn't know how to take my film out of my camera to get the roll developed and scanned. The service was very efficient and they have a wonderfully helpful and kind atmosphere for newbie photographers like myself. You best bet I'll be back here to develop all of my photos from my future adventures! read more

I'm quite upset with the service here (I would give them 1 star but Yelp filters the bad reviews). I gave them a disposable digital camera set for 27 pictures on the film. I picked up my order and didn't look at it until late at night, only to find that I had 14 pictures and 14 negatives... I didn't receive an email or phone call to explain what happened. Supposedly they reimbursed me on the bill, which I wasn't notified about either. I called them and asked what happened, and I basically got a roundabout answer saying that it was probably my camera's fault. But here's the kicker -- my friend has 2 of the same camera with pictures taken at the same time and format as mine and she got her 54 pictures in total (all developed from Walmart of all places). I have an inkling they messed up developing my photos and they didn't want to tell me and the customer service gave me some b.s. answer, because I know how to take pictures on old cameras and such. I will NOT be coming back here because of this and I am VERY disappointed and upset that I cannot get those photos back at all. Their lack of communication is appalling, too. HALF OF MY PHOTOS ARE GONE, SERIOUSLY?! To everyone else, do not go here especially if you have an older camera or disposable camera, apparently go to Walmart instead. read more

Amazing service. Great printed product. Looking forward to continuing my business with this team.

Incredible! Staff was super friendly and helpful. Got my film quickly and drop off was so easy. Not pretentious at all. Great experience.

I needed some locket sized photos very last minute and had called place after place around town. Photolab was the only place that could print the small sized photos in such a short time frame. I paid extra for expedited printing and they were able to get it done next day. This saved my gift! Extremely nice employees and very willing to work with you. read more

Solid place - kind of nestled away far from campus, but I developed two disposable cameras for ~$30. Realy flexible with pickups and friendly. Not sure if I owe it to them, but I had dropped one of my disposables in the water and they managed to print em. Think the prints look pretty sweet read more

Sad to say that I found this place to be mediocre; I was hoping it'd be a nice go-to local spot. The good is that the development itself seemed fine. The less-good is that, even after spending upwards of $100 on my processing order, there were noticeable textile artifacts on the scans for 2 or 3 35mm prints that were (as far as I could tell with a magnifying glass) not on the negatives. The scans get delivered via a CD you pick up with your negatives; you can get them delivered digitally via email, but for some bizarre reason, that costs $1 extra per roll. Lastly, my order took more than 10 days to get processed--which is whatever--but they didn't contact me when it was ready for pickup, and they didn't mention when I placed it that they wouldn't be contacting me. You'd think for somebody willing to drop $100+ they could pick up the phone. I mentioned it when I called to check up on the order and the person on the other end of the line said "Yeah, we don't usually call." OK. I'll go back if I have to, I guess. read more

I am in no way a professional designer or photographer, but these women (yay, woman-owned business!) helped me digitize some old photos and make them into a poster for a memorial, and ship it across the country. They were amazing, very patient, very helpful. I really appreciated their help on a very stressful personal project. read more

Went there to develop some film digitally for the first time and DAMN the turnaround was so fast! This was such an easy process and all the staff are super friendly and helpful! This will be my go-to place from now on! =) read more

They develop film quickly and efficiently. I've been using them for the past half year with 35mm and medium format negatives.

Amazing business! I needed photos developed quickly and they were kind, professional and extremely fast. Thank you, photolab, for going the extra mile! I would not hesitate to use them again. read more

I tend to use a different photo lab (online ordering/prints mailed) to print my digital photos. Their shipping can take upwards to a week (or if I pay a lot more extra, one day expedited shipping). However, I needed to print 2 pictures for a Christmas gift and receive them ASAP, so I started researching on yelp for a local place to get high quality prints (I knew I didn't want to go the route of going to Walgreens or Target simply because I needed them quickly). Although, Photolab had extremely positive reviews (there a few negative reviews on customer service), there were hardly any that mentioned online ordering experiences. The reviews that do exist on this service are mixed. I still went ahead and ordered (they were only 2 pictures), and thankfully mostly everything worked out well. The website to order prints probably needs to be modernized, it's more functional than enjoyable to use; and most definitely needs updated information. There was no indication anywhere on the ordering website that there was a cut-off time for same-day printing. I placed my order at 2:20 pm and by 5:00 pm I hadn't heard from the lab. I called to ask about my order and was told the cut-off time was 2:00 pm. [This is where the five-star rating from me comes in: Customer Service]. I was told that the lab technician can get them printed for pick-up around 5:30-5:45 pm. I arrived at 5:30 pm and waited for them to get printed. I can only imagine how busy they must be during the holidays (definitely tired looking employees). I observed a employee, perhaps the owner(?), attending to a customer who was new with developing rolls of film; she was patient, thorough, and informative on the ordering process. (It was 5:45 pm too! Close to closing time!) I received my prints at this time as well, with the technician's apologies for the wait. The prints came out fine for same-day printing (they were glossy prints). They were not the type of prints I would have wanted for a special gift, but it's obviously my fault for waiting until the last minute to get this done. If I need to do same-day printing again or ever need to develop rolls of film, I'll come back! My customer service experience & observations were really positive! read more

Some of us started with the venerable Pentax K1000 35mm SLR. And hours in the darkroom making magic happen with Tri-X or TMAX. That era's quickly passing, but there's still one place that'll know what you mean when you say depth of field, out of focus quality (bokeh) and the like. I don't know what I was smokin' when I thought that Ritz would be a good place for developing prized photos, say, from a trip to Iceland-- of which a roll or two came back scratched!! :-( But Photolab now does color and will digitize both B&W and color into TIFFs (or equivalent), big (5MB or so), and really big (18 MB [for B&W]). And they print, the old fashioned way, and I thnk the new fashioned way too (digital). It's more expensive than Long's or Costco. But you can go in there, talk to someone, learn about the difference between Tri-X and HP5. They have photographers working there. Those other places, which really can't compare (like Ritz), give you the "did you just stop speaking in English?" look when you ask about the possibility of dodging and burning, nay, even contrast control, when they make large prints. Maybe chit chatting about Leica vs old Nikon glass isn't worth the premium, but their attention to detail is. Here's an example. I asked for glossy machine prints of a bunch of B&W photos. These were from an awesome trip to SE Asia, and I was uber anxious to get them back (see, digital has taken away this anticipation). They called me and said, "Well, it's ready, but b/c our machine wasn't perfectly calibrated, there's a little extra cyan. We can reprint them, but it won't be till tomorrow to get them." So I got there thinking that I'm going to get the cyan version of sepia toned photos (still not quite sure what cyan is). And what did my eye see? B&W photos. W/the barest hint of cyan. They said they could run them again for me. I said, eh, this is fine. Not worth the wasted chemicals and paper. And they offered me a discount. BTW, in the future, know that matte is more common, and thus the channels are properly calibrated. So that's what I'll do for my last roll from my trip (finally finished). Yes, it's more expensive. But here's what you do. Say you still like the wonderful texture and exposure latitude of B&W; say you like the discipline that having 36 shots in a roll imposes on your shutter finger; say you have a nice old camera (guess they're called "classics" now) to do your really important photography (color too- like Fuji Reala mmm!), and you have a P&S d-camera for snapshots. So go shoot 1000 JPEGs w/reckless abandon and find a couple worth sending to Snapfish to print; and shoot film and come here to get it developed. That's the way to do it. A photographer's photo lab but you don't have to be one to go in. Fall in love with photography all over again. read more

I got 4 rolls of 35mm film back yesterday, with CDs of the images -- if I'm only going to scan them anyway, I might as well have Photolab put them straight to a CD instead of printing. The pricing was about the same as what I used to pay at a less vaunted photo shop in LA. The service was great and reasonably quick. I asked for non-rush developing, which took two days. Two of the rolls had been over-advanced and were stuck in cameras, and the technician took them out at no charge. The staff that I encountered (two women) were knowledgeable and friendly, and definitely didn't come off as art snobs to a student fooling around with cameras in her spare time. I'm looking forward to getting more work done at Photolab, and I would definitely recommend their film developing and scanning services. read more

Great professionalism and service. They were able to pull pictures from negatives (1982) of my parents wedding. My mom choked up a little when she saw the pictures in a clear and detailed finish. Thank You Photolab! read more

This is where I loved to take my B&W film to get processed when I lived in the East Bay and I always got amazing results. They can push and pull black and white film in 1/4 stop increments. One employee there was making some really awesome large prints there and he was showing them to our photo class at CCSF. Everyone was really impressed with the prints. Anyways, I love this lab. I hope it never closes like Custom Process on the other side of University Ave. that specialized in color. I was sad when they closed. I used to take all of my most important color work to Custom Process. Photolab is one of the best options you will ever find in the Bay Area to get your black and white film developed at. Considering how professional they are I think their prices are on the low side for the service they provide. I do love this place and I like how they show photographs there. They are near Highway 80 and have plenty of street parking. read more

I'm new to getting my photos professionally printed, and after window shopping online for local printers, I found Photolab. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the place was nearby and the price was right, so I sent in five jpg files to be enlarged to 8x10. I went in as soon as I got the email saying my project was ready. (They are FAST!! Five photos ready in one day. Wow!) I could see by the sample projects hanging in the lobby my fears were unfounded. The photos in the lobby and my photos were bright where they needed to be bright, and they were dark where they needed to be dark. And *SHARP*! We're talking super quality, here. Only a couple of things slightly put me off: there wasn't anyone in the room where I came in--I had to go into a back room to talk to a clerk & pick up my project, which almost made me feel like I was going in an employee only area (I wasn't), and their online cropping tool is a little inflexible & constrictive: it cropped off part of one of my photos I wanted to be printed...but not terribly. (And that might just be because I'm not accustomed to their cropping tool. Maybe with practice I'll get better results.) I'll definitely be coming back to Photolab soon, and would recommend their service to anyone needing photos enlarged. read more

I'm a traditional artist (i.e. drawings and paintings) and not a photographer. I had a difficult time finding a place that could photograph/scan my larger paintings and make decent prints. However, this place is fantastic, and once I found out about them I didn't look elsewhere. They are more than competent when it comes to art prints. When I first looked into them and saw that they have price listings for fine art and giclee prints, it gave me a lot more confidence in them as compared to other photo labs I went to that didn't really know what to do with anything other than a photograph. I have been bringing my work to them for over a year now and they do a fantastic job of digitizing my art, even the pieces that are more difficult to work with. The staff is extremely professional and nice. They always remember me when I go in there and I'm completely confident that they care about the results they produce for me. I'd highly recommend them to any artists wanting to get really nice prints of their work. They're about as pricey as any photo lab would be, but that's to be expected for quality art reproductions. read more

Photolab is fantastic. I take all of my medium format film to them. I've yet to get any prints made there yet, but the quality and speed of their film processing has been great. I also love that they offer different options for image resolution when scanning. This way, if I don't need a full resolution scan, I don't have to pay for it. They also give the option to leave the negatives on a roll or to have them cut, in case you may have to go back and have them scanned at a larger resolution later. You'll save yourself some money on the scanning with the film uncut. Thanks, Photolab! read more

They are fast and consistent, always have great experiences with customer service, getting questions answered, and great film services every time. Very fast turnaround too. read more

First time at PHOTOLAB and I give them a 4 stars. I think they did an excellent job reproducing my paintings into digital images and the price was decent, the people that work there are very friendly, and it took a couple of days to get my paintings back, the disc, and proofs. However, I didn't notice that one of my proof of my paintings had a different colored sky. I didn't realize it until a few days later sitting at my Open Studio that I am sharing at Bridge Art Space. So, I went back to Photolab early this week on Monday and pointed the mistake out. They took care of it right away. ...so minus 1 star for that. The images on the disc were correct however, so I am happy about this place. However, now that I compare this place to Berkeley Giclee- I prefer Berkeley Giclee. Just read my review- you'll see! read more

Little pricy, but then again developing C41 film is these days. Their quaility is 2nd to none. The customer service is excellent. Once they were late on a couple rolls I had pulled. They called me several times to make sure I was informed and they gave me a new ETA for the film. Small gesture, but it went a long way. This is now the ONLY lab I bring my film to in the Bay. Kind of a drive from me coming from East Oakland but well worth it. read more

Very disappointing and disorganized. I got my film photos emailed, then seven months later they called me to see if I wanted my negatives. I gave them my card info to pay for the shipping costs, and once it ships I see that they charged me twice! I called to ask about this extra charge and they were not understanding whatsoever and made me feel like a liar. I was very satisfied with my order, 7 months ago, but after this I definitely won't be returning. I did not like the way I was treated when I called. Don't recommend. read more

I've been in this business for more than 40 years. I even worked at Bennett's Photo Service in Hayward. I have to say that the most important aspect of a lab of this sort, would be the customer service. Without its communication link, all is lost. Everyone will determine how their personal experience was based on how well the counter person understood and completed the intake of a particular job. Running a lab has become so much more complicated than it has ever been. There are many more moving parts. Not just keeping the chemistry fresh for film but now maintaining the extravagantly expensive and quickly obsolete digital printers. With that being said, the backbone to every small business is how you treat your customer. I had a terrible experience in that realm. I have been using the Lab for about a year. I think the techs are enormously skilled and are go-to knowledgeable. I have been told that the owner is very connected, locally to the Photographic Art community in the Bay Area. Looking Glass, a fine and wonderful camera mart ships its drop off film developing work to Photolab. In a couple of instances, there was miscommunication with a large print order. I mean a large fine art print. The outcome was good. Getting to that outcome was labor intensive. There seems to be a high and mighty attitude with some of the counter people. I don't blame them, I think it comes from on up higher in the food chain. I think each customer should be treated with care and respect. I did not experience that. I was working with a Customer Service person, when another person came into the shop. They stopped what they were doing with me and without a word began helping this other person. I had enough time to think about what was happening. (like being at the deli counter and while they were slicing your cheese, they stopped and started doing something for this other customer). I thought well, maybe they were here earlier and forgot something. However, all that was needed was a word from either the customer or the counter person and it would have been fine. I became invisible while their transaction proceeded. Then as that customer was leaving I made a snarky comment. Nothing rude, just clever, the way I am... ( "have fun at your Yoga class") That person returned and started calling me an a-hole and f*ck-tard. Then stormed out. When I called to make an order over the phone. The owner told me that she advised the tech not to respond to my order. That is within her right to withhold service to anyone. In this shrinking field, I thought it was a bad choice on her part. read more

LOL, I just got told by the front desk person here that optical resolution doesn't exist in the context of film scanning. She could quote pixel dimensions (which is fine, and also a perfectly reasonable way to talk about the resulting resolution of a scan), but not DPI, and was *adamant* that no such concept existed. My question was simple: what's the highest resolution you can grab from a 35mm slide and what's the cost? Getting a coherent answer was like pulling teeth. The Dunning-Kruger was *strong* with the front desk person I spoke with, so I'd be worried about their communication to whoever is running the machines (and having to engage in really stupid arguments like the above if the order wasn't handled properly). They're also scanning on a Noritsu, which IIRC has terrible, terrible DMAX (dynamic range). Meh. read more

I needed five photographs blown up and ten others reproduced for a Celebration of Life ten days from the day I went to Photo Lab. Some of the pictures were from the 1930's, one was a Polaroid from the '70's, and others were more recent. The staff worked with me to determine which pictures would work best in which sizes, and used good artistic judgment in cropping the reproductions according to how they would be displayed. I especially appreciated Melissa patiently helping me wade through about 30 pictures and listening to how they would be used to help me come up with a great collection. My pictures were ready in a week, giving me plenty of time to mount them on foam board. (Photo Lab would have mounted them for me if I had given them enough time.) They also gave me a disk of all the photos they reproduced. I know I could've gone with a do-it-yourself online service, but I wanted in-person guidance from an expert, and that's exactly what I got with Photo Lab. I will definitely use Photo Lab again for any future photo needs. read more

I got some film developed here and the staff was friendly and helpful and the photos came out great. A friend recommended this place as it is their favorite out of several they have gone to in the Bay Area. read more