The Darkroom

The Darkroom - Dip & Dunk Film Developing. C-41 Color, E-6 Slide, True B&W. Extensive scan and print services. Visit us at thedarkroom.com
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The Darkroom specializes in Toy Camera Processing and scanning as well as Sprocket Hole, Cross Processing and Push/Pull processing. We work closely with the folks that make Holga, Lomo and Diana cameras. We test new prototype cameras and formats and figure out the best ways to process, scan and print these images. So… we can handle your various films and formats…from Holga 3-D stereo, Lomo Horizon, Sprocket Rocket, Lomo Spinner and yes, even your old Mamiya 645 or Hasselblad…

06/15/2026

Has this ever happened to you?

You accidentally opened the back of your camera mid-roll…don’t panic. If this happens, quickly close the back and rewind the film. As long as it wasn’t exposed to light for too long, you’ll usually only lose a few frames. You may see some light leaks on the exposed images (which can sometimes look pretty cool!), but the rest of the roll will often be just fine.

In situations like this, completely blank rolls are actually pretty rare. But if your roll does end up producing zero images for any reason, we’ve got you covered with a blank roll voucher that can be used toward a future processing order.

Want to learn more? Check out The Darkroom Film School, where we cover this topic and many more. It’s completely free and linked in our bio.

06/02/2026

Your camera’s light meter wants to turn whatever it sees into middle gray 👉 Point it at a dark shadow, and it will brighten that shadow toward gray, making the rest of the image brighter. Point it at something bright or reflective, and it will darken it toward gray, often underexposing the rest of the scene.

With color negative and black and white film, it’s usually best to err on the side of overexposure. Try to meter from something close to middle gray, or meter for the shadows if you want to play it safe.

The better your exposure, the better your results: finer grain, better shadow detail, richer color, and it makes it easy to scan.

Want to learn more? Check out our Metering for Film guide in The Darkroom Film School, linked in our bio 🙌

06/01/2026

It’s amazing what a simple color filter can do with black and white film👇👇👇

As you’ll see in this video, red, orange, yellow, and green filters can completely transform a scene. Depending on the filter and lighting conditions, they can cut through haze and fog, increase contrast, create greater separation between colors, and even turn a bright daytime sky dramatically dark.

If you want to learn more about color filters and how they affect your images, be sure to check out The Darkroom Film School. We’ve organized our best educational content into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced courses to help you grow your film photography skills.

And if there’s a topic we’ve missed, let us know in the comments. We’re always adding new resources and lessons to the Film School, which you can find through the link in our bio 🙌

05/21/2026

Introducing the Darkroom Film School 🙌 We’ve taken a decade of our best film photography blogs, videos, and educational content and organized it into three easy-to-follow courses 👉 Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.

Whether you’re learning what camera or film to buy, how to meter, push or pull film, shoot double exposures, print your photos, or more, the Film School was built to make learning film photography easier and more approachable.

It also includes our Film Index, glossary, and more resources, with plenty more still to come.

Check the link in our bio and let us know what topics we should add next 👇

05/19/2026

This $350 lens is impressive 👉 The 7-element 35mm f/2, designed to replicate the legendary Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 Version IV, aka the “King of Bokeh,” has quickly become one of our favorite lenses to pair with the Leica M5.

Not only is it incredibly compact and well built, but it’s also surprisingly sharp even wide open at f/2 while still giving that beautiful, softer bokeh rendering the original v4 Summicron became known for.

Swipe through to see results from many different film stocks, along with 100% crops from The Darkroom Super Scan option.

At The Darkroom, we offer three scan sizes:

🎞️Standard Scans are ideal for social media sharing and prints up to 5x7.
🎞️ Enhanced Scans are what we typically recommend and offer the best balance between resolution and cost. They’re great for editing, cropping, and prints up to 11x14.
🎞️ Super Scans, as you’ll see in these crops, deliver extremely high resolution and are ideal for commercial work, heavy cropping, and very large prints.

05/12/2026

You’re heading to the beach - it’s sunny, tropical, and colorful… Which of these five film stocks are you choosing?

These beautiful photos were all taken by on a variety of Kodak film including Ektar 100, Ektacolor Pro 160, Ektacolor Pro 400, Gold 200, and Ultramax 400, all of which bring their own distinct look and strengths to a scene.

🎞️ Ektar 100 is known for its high saturation and vibrant color.
🎞️ Ektacolor Pro 160 is loved for its warm, subtle tones and softer contrast.
🎞️ Ektacolor Pro 400 brings warm tones with excellent versatility.
🎞️ Gold 200 has that classic muted warmth and nostalgic feel.
🎞️ Ultramax 400 combines the flexibility of 400 ISO with more punch and saturation than Pro 400.

If you want to learn more about these films, compare sample images, read reviews, or leave your own thoughts, be sure to check out Film Index. It’s a great resource for the entire film community, and the more real-world feedback and sample images people contribute, the better it becomes 👉 link in bio!!

05/07/2026

just announced Ilford PANF Plus 50 in large format, which many people probably won’t ever shoot but it’s exciting because PANF 50 is a film more people should try regardless of format.

Not only is it incredibly sharp with extremely fine grain, but being a 50 ISO film also lets you shoot at wider apertures in bright light much more easily. Since it’s three stops slower than a 400 ISO film, you can shoot at f/2 or even f/1.2 in daylight without needing crazy fast shutter speeds or heavy ND filters.

A lot of these photos by were shot wide open on PANF 50, which would’ve been much harder to do with a faster film stock.

If you want to learn more about all currently made film, check out our Film Index linked in our bio 🙌

05/04/2026

Gold 200 vs. Kodacolor 200 🙌 which do you prefer?

Kodacolor 200 is ’s oldest color emulsion still in production, built on an older VR technology. It leans into higher saturation, medium grain, and lower exposure latitude, which gives it more contrast and less shadow detail. Its signature look really shows up in the blues 👉 skies pop with a bold, punchy feel that’s hard to miss.

Kodak Gold 200 is a newer emulsion with higher exposure latitude, resulting in lower contrast, smoother tonal transitions, and better shadow detail. It carries subtle, warmer tones and a more modern, balanced look that works across a wide range of scenes.

Both can typically be found for $10 or less, making them two of the most affordable color film options available today.

Gold remains one of the best value color films out there. Its versatility and forgiving nature make it a great option for portraits and everyday shooting.
Kodacolor 200 shines in bright daylight, especially if you’re chasing vibrant colors and a more contrasty look.

This comparison was shot side by side using the same exposures with two Canon Elan 7’s and two Canon 40mm f/2.8 lenses.

Also worth noting - this is part of the new Eastman Kodak branding. The packaging now looks much more similar across stocks, so take an extra second when loading your camera. The cartridges can look nearly identical at a glance and are easy to mix up if you’re not paying close attention.

If you want to learn more, check out our Film Index 👉 link in bio

05/01/2026

What are your favorite 200 ISO color films?

We didn’t expect ’s top 5… he picked Phoenix II as his number one. And hey, we love it too but with its bold, experimental look, it’s usually one we save for the right moment. Caleb runs it as his go-to, which just shows how much this all comes down to personal taste.

You might be surprised how many 200 ISO color films are out there. We break them all down and share our rankings in our latest blog, linked in bio 🙌

04/29/2026

Macro photography made easy 🙌 want me get closer to your subject with your SLR lens? An extension tube are a great option and for around $15, an adjustable set lets you shrink the distance between your camera and your subject without buying a dedicated macro lens.

In this video, I used a macro F-mount extension tube on a Nikon FM2N with the Skopar 90mm and Ultron 40mm lenses.

A few macro tips:
• Use a steady tripod
• Give yourself plenty of light
• Shoot manual
• Stop down your aperture (f/8 or smaller) to avoid razor-thin focus

I shot a roll of Ultramax 400 and will share the results once developed & scanned 🙌 For the watch crowd, the watch is an Oceanguard GMT

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