That's Asda Price!

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This is all about my favourite UK photolab.

I am writing this after making a fairly recent discovery of an excellent cheap photolab in the UK. I now take all my colour 35mm films here to be developed. I used to always send my photos off to be developed through the mail but now that I am shooting more rolls and my lovely fella has jumped on board too, it was beginning to get very expensive.

I was in my favourite supermarket one day (24 hour Asda in Leeds, Pudsey – part of the Walmart group), and I happened to have a couple of rolls of film in my handbag. I knew that Asda did digital prints as I often went there to print photos as a uni student but I was unsure about their ability to develop films. I was initially disappointed to learn that they are unable to do B&W and 120mm so it is quite limited to what they can do, but for standard colour 35mm film there prices were unbelievable. They charge just £2 to develop a roll of film in 1 hour and as I do not have a scanner, they will put 4 rolls onto a CD for just 97p!!! Therefore, it cost me just under £10 to have 4 rolls of colour film 35mm developed and scanned.

What I also love about them is that they do not know a great deal about analogue photography (as they have essentially been given a machine and some basic training as far as I can tell). Although sometimes this could be seen as a disadvantage, for me it has worked really well so far as they are happy to take your advice about not cutting negatives, cross processing slide film etc etc. During my most recent trip there, the man behind the counter even told me afterwards he had found developing my films fun as he had seen some things totally new to him (a fisheye roll, pop 9 roll and redscale roll for my fiance). I was thrilled with my results and the amazing price. The man was really helpful (and even offered to rescan the redscale film as, to him, it looked "a bit reddy-orange). That really is Asda price!

written by kneehigh85 on 2011-01-21 #gear #tutorials #shopping #tipster #cheap #development #photolabs #price #superstore #asda #film-processing

18 Likes

davecmorrow, iblissss, hahajaney, rosie24, the_dude_abides, johnccc, tommysweetheart, shauni_sanderson, fash_on, adi_totp, kribbzor, nicolas_noir, kamiraze, copefan, craigramsden, squamy, pietrone & nylonviolence.

14 Comments

dazb · 2011-01-21 09:26
I used to love my local Asda because of the prices, and they were surprisingly good quality. But then all of a sudden they refused to do cross-processing. :(
craigramsden · 2011-01-21 10:14
I also use my local ASDA, cant beat £2 developing, It was also the only place that could develop 120 film locally.
copefan · 2011-01-21 10:54
cool..... I can understand about them getting wise to xpro as it can affect the chems on a mini lab!
veato · 2011-01-21 11:50
I might have to try Asda for my C41 processing. I use a mail order lab usually but that's mainly for Xpro and B&W stuff. If my local store can do the 'normal' stuff for £2 then it's a bargain!
nicolas_noir · 2011-01-21 12:29
Never used Asda, but my mum works there and I hate it! I'd say support your local film processors, but in Leeds they are expensive - I hate Snappy Snaps!

You need to voyage other to Shipley - PDQ will do 35mm and 120 C41 (standard or xpro) for £1.50 a roll! Love that place :-)
kneehigh85 · 2011-01-21 14:45
@nicholas_noir - that's an awesome price in Shipley so if I am up that way as I have family in saltaire I will give those guys a try. I know asda isn't exactly helping the little man but it is just such a great price if you dot have a scanner. Totally agree about Snappy Snaps!
panchoballard · 2011-01-21 17:18
Yep, ASDA is great for processing. I tend to scan them myself though as shooting across frames just confuses them, unless it's a certain employee whom I know.

I'm thinking of getting my next lot of 35mm scanned by Fuji Print in Burnley. More expensive but I've got some of their 120 scans and they're exquisite, far better than I can manage at home.

A new, posh scanner is also on my shopping list...
fash_on · 2011-01-22 01:48
wow! that redscale shot is fantastic :)
sharktopus · 2011-01-22 11:14
My asda is terrible they scan half way across frames and sometimes dont even scan certain shots but it is very cheap
licclevicky · 2011-01-23 09:42
@panchoballard: Hey where is the Fuji Print in Burnley?
johnccc · 2011-01-24 17:19
I've used Asda before , very cheap , the only problem is that the nearest one to me is 20 miles away
: (
easilydistracted · 2011-02-22 14:39
I didn't realise it was so cheap there, I might have to save some rolls up and hop the train to Pudsey!! Thanks for the tip!
iblissss · 2014-01-22 20:29
I was happy asda user for more than a year and often enjoyed receiving second set of prints for free because of their mistakes in the first set (size, frames, mirror image etc). In spite of their recent really bad hick up with konstruktor film (they cut the film, and cut it every 5th frame in half) will continue using them but would never trust them again with anything that requires attention and is not plain standard.
davecmorrow · 2014-01-23 14:07
I've been using the ASDA in Nuneaton.... You have to love their prices :)