Film Development & Scanning at Nice: A Complete Guide
A step-by-step breakdown of what happens inside our NYC film lab.
Our process was built to modernize the experience of film and provide photographers with a level of quality reflective of the digital age. This is how we handle your film from beginning to end.
Tracking
Every user, regardless of if you are a member or not, is given a number identifier. This number lets us track your order details, down to the roll, throughout our entire process. These numbers make it possible for us to keep a user-specific archiving system in place, differentiate between orders, and ensure that we have a full proof drop off/mail system for customers.
Receiving
A majority of our orders arrive by mail. Several times a day we’ll gather any mail that has been dropped off and mark it received using the order number that’s included in every package. Once a package is marked received, a text is sent to you indicating that the film has arrived and we’re beginning the film development process. When receiving, a Nice lab tech will always count to make sure the number of rolls on the order sheet corresponds to the number of rolls received. For example, if the order says 7 rolls and only 6 arrive we want to catch this discrepancy at the first stage and let you know that we have not received every roll you marked down. During the sorting, we also check for any rolls that we cannot process (such as 110 or C-22). Additionally, anything we process out of house like ECN-2 film (shipped and processed at Kodak Motion Picture Lab Atlanta) is sorted out and separated. Any roll that you rush in an order is also set aside and put in front of the film development queue. The rest of the rolls are unpackaged and put into separate folders with corresponding order sheets and our custom twin checks. The order sheet, paired with each order, lets us know the number of rolls in the order along with the process specifications of each roll. On every sheet, we can see whether you ordered additional 4x6 printing for your images, any archiving services, any shipping required and more. The lab tech responsible for film development and/or editing your roll will sign their name on the sheet, becoming the go-to for specific questions regarding that order. Other useful information the sheet tells us is where the order was generated. There are only three options for this: you the customer, us at the Nice’s NYC film lab, or Brooklyn Film Camera (one of our drop off points). If there’s any inaccurate information in the order’s genesis we’ll easily identify it at the source.
Development
Once the film is sorted, it is brought to the film development area of the film lab for processing. All 35mm rolls must have the leaders pulled out of the canister using film pickers. This allows us to cut the tip off your film and attach it to a specialized card without exposing any of the frames. All 120 film is put inside a light sealed dark-box where the backing paper is removed from the roll along with the tape that tethers the film to the paper and is placed into a light sealed canister. The film in the canister is attached via industrial splicing tape first to one side of the leader card, then the other. All the air bubbles are pressed out to ensure the rolls do not come detached once they begin to roll through the processor.
Color rolls are placed in the order they were received on leader cards, then in a color designated area for processing. Any rolls with push or pull instructions are separated into their own lanes accordingly. Pushing and pulling requires us to manually speed up or slow down the machine’s film development time. For this reason, pushing and pulling is done at one or two specific points during the day so that we can group films running at the same speed and maximize output times.
Black and white rolls are separated by film stock into time specific subsections. Each of these subsections represents a different film development speed calculated by factoring film type, the temperature of the machine (remains a constant), and the T-Max developer we use for processing. For example, HP5 and Tri-X are developed at 4:45 while CineStill BWXX is developed for a minute longer at 5:45. Where color can be developed at a fixed speed, black and white stocks are highly sensitive to these minute changes. Separating rolls by stock makes it so every detail in your negative is brought out and significantly increases the quality of our film development. Only one section is run at a time to ensure that nothing is processed at the wrong speed.
Once the film is carded it is sent through the machine two at a time into our two custom re-purposed Noritsu V50 roller transfer processors - one for black and white and one for color (C-41). A roller transfer machine is a machine that works to automate the process of hand development by moving the film through the developer, fixer, bleach (or stop), and stabilizer at a rate set by us via an external panel. These foam roller processors eliminate the possibility of markings or scratches on the film, which remains a risk in alternative modes of film development. We adjust the film development times based on your requests and the time that achieves the best results for each film stock. Using a roller transport machine allows our results to be the most consistent and trackable they can be. We can eliminate the bulk of human error and inconsistency that is bound to happen in any darkroom setting. Although this might shatter the illusive and appealing mental image of hours of labor inside a darkroom (an aestheticized anomaly that’s quickly disappearing from the digitized world), our system favors quality and allows us to provide a precisely executed product and faster turnaround times.
After this film is dried via the machine, it is taken out and hung up with its corresponding order sheet. The order sheet gives us time markers of when we received the order. All film is developed and hung in order of its drop off date/time to ensure your photos are uploaded within the expected turnaround time.
Scanning
1 of 6 Noritsu HS1800 scanners employed at Nice’s NYC Film Lab
We scan all our film on 6 identical HS-1800s scanners. Before any scanning is done, the machines are cleaned, calibrated and air blown for dust. The film gets inserted into the scanner starting on frame 1 and ending on frame 36. Everything at Nice’s NYC film lab is scanned at the highest TIFF resolution for your ability to unlock the maximum file size of your images. Sizes and resolution are as follows:
35mm: 4492 x 6775 px
6x4.5: 4700 x 3450 px
6x6: 4700 x 4700 px
6x7: 4700 x 5500 px
A preview window pops up allowing the tech to see your images in a grid layout and make any color or level adjustments necessary. Our policy on film correction is this: we never want to make aesthetic judgments or radical changes to anyone’s images without specific direction from the photographers themselves. Specific instructions can be included in the “roll notes,” section of the order and often resemble something like, “please scan flat”, “overscan my negatives,” “scan half frames as full frames” etc. The color adjustments we implement are to make sure that the images reflect the film stock and the conditions where the photos were taken accurately. We pay specific attention to skin tone and color shifts that can happen when the scanners try to compensate for bold colors that appear in an image. If an image is under or overexposed we adjust the density to the best of our ability to maximize detail regardless of any in-camera issues. These scans are outputted into specific folders that correspond to each scanner, then labeled with our custom moniker. Our techs will open the folders and click through a selection of images to make sure there are no unusual markings, then move the roll to a separate folder(s) located on our editing computers.
Editing
Our stance on editing is the same as that for scanning. We have no desire to make extensive changes to the images, only to make sure they meet the standards of quality we represent. A tech focused on editing images will spot heal any dust on the film and ensure all the images are in their proper orientation. Editing serves as a final round of quality control where the editor can see every image and catch any oddities or artifacts on the film that the techs responsible for film development and editing may have missed. If there is something on the film, the editor will locate the negative itself and inspect whether or not said mark is imprinted on the negative. If this is the case we know the damage happened amidst the shooting process and isn’t from an object extraneous to the film. Where we have errors on our end is during the appearance of uniform lines across the image which can happen when the scanner collects dust on its rollers or the light sensitivity is off and requires recalibration. Fortunately these minimal in house errors are easily fixed with a rescan. Unfortunately, a majority of errors we encounter are from previously listed factors such as camera scratching, hair or artifacts in the film gate, expired film, heat and/or water damage, x-ray lines via airport checks, and broken lenses or camera bodies, to name a few (We’ll be making another post detailing these in the future). Although these errors are difficult to narrow down and can’t be remedied on our end, we make sure to provide feedback on these things in the “lab notes” section under your roll, so that you are aware of the issue’s most likely culprit.
Archival
Once the scans are completed they are placed into individual size-specific boxes, paired with the order sheet, and put into drawers labeled:
Cut
Orders marked for cut are done so in frames of 6 and slid into hole-punched, plastic archival sleeves. They are then folded and archived to be stored for 60 days.
Uncut
Uncut rolls are covered in sized plastic long sleeves, placed back into boxes, and placed into our “uncut rolls” bins where they are stored for 60 days.
Ship
Ship rolls are put into shipping bins that are cycled biweekly to insure your negatives are expediently sent out.
4x6 Prints
Rolls with prints are placed in our 4x6 printer area where the prints are made and paired with the order, then you are emailed to either pick up or have your prints shipped back to you.
Vendor
Rolls dropped off with our partners, such as Brooklyn Film Camera are sorted into vendor bins. The negatives are returned to them 3 times a week for pickup.
Day bins
If a roll has no action to it we place it inside a date-specific bin that is stored in order, on shelving inside the Nice NYC film lab. When you come to pick up your negatives we can see the date your order was uploaded and find the same dated bin where your negatives are held. This system helps keep track of how many days negatives have been stored with us. After 7 business days have gone by from the scans being uploaded all your negatives from the order that have not been picked up are tossed and marked as such. If you for any reason are not able to make it into the Nice’s NYC film lab in the seven-day window we have several options. We can ship, cut & sleeve, or uncut sleeve your rolls. This means instead of being tossed on day 7, your negatives will be placed into a respective bin and you will be charged accordingly. These automated options are available in a return negatives form you receive and are encouraged to fill out every time you place an order.
Establishing archival and return options on both the front and back end of processing is there to provide you with several options and opportunities to keep your negatives safe. This helps us not get bogged down storing infinite orders with limited space and resources.
One last check
What happens if one of these checkpoints is missed? Someone’s film doesn’t move from the scanning computer to the editing one, or is never uploaded to the website? With a tactile process that is very much human-centric, some of these errors are bound to happen and it’s our job to minimize them. Every morning an automated list of rolls that have not been uploaded within the expected turnaround time is sent to every team member’s email. We then track down any roll that this is the case for and make sure that it is uploaded that same day. This ensures that no roll is forgotten about or lost in a sea of orders.
Upload
Once your film is uploaded you will receive a text letting you know your photos are ready for viewing. Logging into your account and clicking on the “rolls'' section where your photos are hosted allows for several content options. Clicking “view,” you can see each photo in either list or grid format depending on your preference. Clicking into the photos themselves gives you the option to submit your work to be used in any of our newsletters and socials (we offer dev + scan credits if your work is selected) or order large prints of an image. The download button automatically downloads your roll as individual hi res 2K (2000px shortest side) files. You can also click the “unlock Hi-Res scans” button that lets you bulk or individually unlock 4K 16-Bit versions of your images (~100MB each). Additionally, we’ve created a downloadable digital contact sheet to emulate that of a darkroom contact sheet. This allows you to view your entire roll in a grid format with adjustable options including resolution, number of frames per roll, and reverse the order of the image set. You can tag your roll with information like location, camera, and lens or create custom tags to organize your photos. You’re then able to search by tag to quickly find a specified roll.
Built into the beauty of film is a manual process that requires a certain level of particularity at every stage. It’s important for us to detail our workflow and features so we continue to be the ones trusted with your film. We seek to modernize the film experience and raise the standard of an industry meant to serve the artist. For us, this means individualizing each experience where you focus on shooting film and we handle the rest.
