Negative Scanning Service — 35mm, Half-Frame & 120 Film
So you already got your film developed elsewhere. Maybe at the corner shop. Maybe at that lab that promised high quality but delivered something that looks like it was scanned on a potato. We've all been there, and we feel your pain. Good news: your negatives deserve a second chance. We scan developed 35mm, half-frame and 120 medium format film, whether it's C-41 colour, black & white or slides. Post it from anywhere in the UK and we'll give it the obsessive care we give our own work, from £4 a roll.
Negative Scanning Prices
| Format | Price per roll | Works out at |
|---|---|---|
| 35mm (up to 36 frames) | £4.00 | about 11p a frame |
| 35mm half frame (up to 72 frames) | £6.00 | about 8p a frame |
| 120 medium format (up to 12 frames) | £4.00 | about 33p a frame |
Most UK scanning services charge 39p to 50p per frame. We charge per roll, so the maths works out heavily in your favour. Cheap isn't a warning sign here. It's how we keep you shooting. We'll also scan individual frames or cut strips; just tell us which ones in your order notes.
What You Get With Every Scan
- Every frame is scanned on a 61-megapixel camera setup, in-house, by people who shoot film themselves.
- Scans arrive in your own private gallery at loupe.chemicaldependency.co.uk, rather than a WeTransfer link that expires while you're on holiday.
- You choose your files at download time: social-sized JPEG, print-quality JPEG or full-size uncompressed 16-bit TIFF, per frame.
- Your gallery stays live for a year, with unlimited downloads.
- If a frame earns it, you can order a dye-sublimation print of it straight from the gallery: 4x6 inch or 6x8 inch, four finishes, entirely optional. More on prints here.
- Your negatives come back in the post, sleeved and safe.
How Film Scanning Works (Redemption Arc for Your Negatives)
1. Select Your Service Choose the format that matches your already-developed negatives: 35mm, half frame or 120. Got a mix? Add multiple services to your cart. We know you've been stockpiling those I'll get them properly scanned one day rolls.
2. Post Your Negatives Package your developed film carefully and send it to us. Important: include your order number and name in the package. We need to know whose masterpieces we're rescuing.
Chemical Dependency Lab
PO Box 13648
Manningtree
CO11 9BL
3. We Scan Every frame gets the attention it should have had the first time around. We aim to have your scans in your Loupe gallery within 3 working days of your film arriving, and we'll email you the moment they're ready.
4. Get Your Negs Back All negatives are returned in the post, safe and sound. Now you can finally see what those shots were supposed to look like.
Formats We Scan
35mm negatives. Cut strips, uncut rolls, or a handful of single frames. Colour negative, black & white and developed slide film are all welcome.
Half-frame film. Shooting a Pentax 17, a Kodak Ektar H35 or a charity-shop Olympus Pen? We scan all 72 frames for a flat £6. Almost nobody else in the UK prices half frame by the roll rather than by the frame. We checked, and we're as surprised as you are.
120 medium format. From 6x4.5 to 6x9, colour or black & white.
Developed film only, please. If your film hasn't been processed yet, you want our film developing and scanning service instead, and we'll do the whole job in one go.
Got a Drawer Full of Old Negatives?
Strips from the 90s, your parents' holiday rolls, the mystery envelope from the loft: send them. Old negatives get the same per-roll pricing and the same care. If you're sitting on a truly enormous shoebox archive of hundreds of rolls, a bulk per-frame digitising service may suit you better, and we'd rather tell you that now than disappoint you later. A few rolls of family history, though? That's exactly the sort of rescue we enjoy.
A Real Lab in Essex, Serving the Whole UK
We're a small analogue minilab in Manningtree, Essex, about an hour from London Liverpool Street and reachable from everywhere else by the magic of the postal service. No call centre and no outsourcing: the people scanning your negatives are the same people answering your emails, and they shoot film too. Whether you're searching for negative film scanning in London, Colchester or the Outer Hebrides, the postbox is the same distance from your house.
Negative Scanning FAQs
How much does it cost to scan negatives?
£4 per roll of 35mm (up to 36 frames), £6 per half-frame roll (up to 72 frames), £4 per roll of 120. That's roughly 8p to 33p a frame, against a UK going rate of 39p to 50p per frame.
How long does scanning take?
We aim to have your scans in your gallery within 3 working days of your film arriving. You'll get an email the moment they're ready.
How big are the scans?
We camera-scan on a 61-megapixel setup. 35mm JPEGs come out around 8600x5700 pixels (7–10MB each); 35mm 16-bit TIFFs are around 270MB per frame. 120 6x6 JPEGs are around 6240x6240 (6–9MB); TIFFs around 195MB. Yes, they print beautifully.
What file formats do I get?
You choose at download time in your Loupe gallery: social-media-sized JPEG, print-quality JPEG or full-size uncompressed 16-bit TIFF. All from the same scan, with no rescanning fees.
Do you scan black and white as well as colour?
Yes, C-41 colour and black & white negatives both, at the same price.
Do you scan slides?
Yes, we scan developed slide film in 35mm and 120. We don't develop E6 (C-41 and black & white only), but if another lab developed your slides, we'll happily scan them.
Can you scan cut strips or single frames?
Yes. Send what you have and tell us which frames you want in your order notes.
Do I get my negatives back?
Always. Sleeved, protected and returned in the post; the postage fee covers the return.
Can you scan film that hasn't been developed yet?
Not on this service, but our developing and scanning service handles the whole job from £10 a roll.
Do you scan half-frame film?
Enthusiastically. All 72 frames for £6, and you never have to do per-frame maths.
How long do you keep my scans?
A year in Loupe, then they're permanently deleted. Download them and back them up before the clock runs out.
Do you make prints?
Yes. Order dye-sublimation prints straight from your Loupe gallery: 4x6 inch or 6x8 inch, four finishes. Here's how prints work.
Ready to see your negatives reach their full potential? Select your format above and let's fix this. Those neglected rolls have been waiting long enough, and some of them are going to look rather good on paper.