Dwayne’s Photo Service

They were unable to process my film — through no fault of their own. It was old. What I did have a problem with is they charged me the full amount of $ 34.00. So beware, pictures or not they will keep your money.

I decided to take a chance on Dwayne’s and send in a mix of 35 mm film; some (untested) expired B&W and (tested) expired/​fresh color negative film. I figured any lab that could survive in this digital age didn’t do so by mistake, so I chalked up the negative reviews to perfectionists, and sent my film off in their containers with zip lock bags to keep out any moister.
Shortly after Dwayne’s received my film, I received an email from Paypal saying my order had been partially refunded. Turns out my expired B&W film came out blank, which sucked considering I had some really good shots in there, but that was on me since I hadn’t tested the film prior. Oh well. It was nice of them to refund me for this, though.
As for the time for development, I had sent a good amount of film, so I wasn’t expecting a quick turn around, though Dwayne’s exceeded this by having my film mailed out to me within a few days. When it was delivered, I was notified via email with tracking information. Needless to say, I was excited to see what came out.
Opening up that package, however, my heart immediately sank. All the film I had sent in, minus the 100 speed film that’d been expired for five years, seemed grossly under-​developed. Inside, there was a note saying the quality was due to the film being expired, however as I said earlier in this review, this was a mix of film I had sent in. Two of the rolls weren’t set to expire until 2017 and were cold stored until shipped. The only images that were somewhat presentable were those I’d purposefully over-​exposed, leaving me wondering what happened in development, and questioning if the issue with my B&W film was really due to an error on my part.
I did not want to post this review until I double-​checked if my camera was the real issue (despite having already been film tested), but after sending these same batches of film to another lab, I know now that the issue was not my film or camera.
I was really hoping my search for a proper film lab would end with Dwayne’s, and did consider giving them another chance due to their prices for ¹²⁰⁄₂₂₀ film, but after some thought I decided I’d rather not risk losing any more film.

Do not send your color 120 film here! They lost or damaged a roll and then claimed they never received it!-No apology, no compensation, absolutely nothing! The rolls that I did get back had light leaks that cut into the side and beginning of two rolls, fixer residue and creases in the center of many of the images. Don’t be fooled, it’s cheap, dirty processing.
Regarding the light leaks, I process a roll of black and white every week at home and I never have had any problems with my cameras or processing equipment that would result in leaks like this.

I’ve used these guys many times, but the last couple of rolls (110) that they’ve processed have had issues. A large scratch through one frame, and the photo CD I just received has this white junk all over the images. I know the camera works properly. It might have been the film, but it would be nice if they would have included a note or something. I won’t be using them again.

I generally prefer to use local services, but my trusted camera store — Robert’s Camera — sadly, no longer processes B&W film. I even asked at the store if they knew of anyone locally who does, but apparently, no one develops B&W film in the Indianapolis/​Carmel area anymore. After a quick search, I found Dwayne’s online. Their reviews and prices seemed reasonable, so I decided to give them a shot.
I would highly recommend using Dawyne’s to anyone who still uses B&W film and does not have a way to develop their own film. I sent them my roll of film on a Wednesday, and in a week, I had my prints back. They even sent an email with the tracking info, which was a nice touch. I was also very happy with the quality of their prints — and for $ 14 for a 36 exposure film, including shipping, it was quite the bargain.
I will definitely be using Dwayne’s from my B&W film developing needs in the future.

Anyone still shooting film knows their local photo labs have drastically increased rates for processing, and probably everything else. I live in Los Angeles, and despite this being one of the few places that still has local photo labs, I choose to use Dwayne’s Photo for my processing. The main reasons are the low cost and the no-​hassle experience I get from the lab. I never thought I would be mailing out my film, but it’s come to that time, and Dwayne’s is the best. I also think there chemistry is spot on.

I’ve used Dwayne’s a number of times in the past, and was very satisfied. However, I mailed a roll of film to be developed and scanned about 10 days ago. I was just informed (July 29) that there was no film in the package. I remember distinctly that I enclosed a roll, and I just doublechecked to see if the roll is in my apartment – it isn’t. The package was opened by Dwayne’s owner on July 26. He didn’t see a roll inside, and threw out the package without contacting me first. I was not told this until today. This is the email exchange I had this AM with Pam in customer service:
We received a box with packing enclosed, but there wasn’t any Film. We
are just contacting you to let you know that we didn’t receive any film.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Pam,
It has to be there. I hope you haven’t thrown the package out. Please look again carefully.
Thanks,
Stuart
It came in on Saturday and our Owner opened the order and he said that
there wasn’t anything enclosed. The trash has already left our facility.
Have a great day!

Came recommended by a friend, and I’m glad I used them. Didn’t take very long for my film to get there, get processed, and get back to me, and the price was cheaper (including postage) than the place I used to bring my film.

Dwayne’s is the best! I originally started using their services for Kodachrome developing and the slides were always excellent. Alas, Kodachrome is gone but I still send my E6 reversal and C41 color negative film to them for development. Their service is super-​fast, and I have always had great results. The prices are affordable too! If you’re like me and refuse to give up on film photography, and if you need a good place to get your film developed, don’t hesitate to send your rolls to Dwayne’s. You won’t be disappointed!

I decided I was going to be cute and use my childhood camera to take the photos of my honeymoon. The problem was that camera is a kodak instamatic that uses 126 film. After taking all the pictures I went on a hunt of some place that would actually develop this film that was over 20 years old. I eventually came to Dwayne’s Photo. I sent my film off to Kansas from Cincinnati and just a little over a week later my prints were returned. Not all the pictures came out great, but that has nothing to do with Dwayne’s. I found their prices to be reasonable and appreciate the service they offer.

I sent three rolls of Provia 100 120mm to get developed, and received the developed rolls today, less than a week after I sent them out (woohoo, quick turnaround!). I was initially disappointed to open the package and see a letter informing me that two of the enclosed rolls had been damaged due to a mechanical error, but highly relieved to see that the only damage that the rolls had incurred was that they’re a touch blue (which I can easily fix when I scan them). To make up for their mistake, Dwayne’s refunded me for the processing of the damaged rolls, and sent me two new rolls of Provia for free. I can’t think of too many companies that take as good care of their customers as Dwayne’s does. Plus, the roll of film that wasn’t damaged was processed PERFECTLY. Needless to say, I’m a die-​hard Dwayne’s fan now.

I am so impressed! After my grandmother’s death I was going through her things when I found some old negatives from the 1960’s. I live in Virginia and could not find a place that would make prints from my negatives.
I took a chance mailing my precious negatives to Dwayne’s photo. I did find the order forms confusing so I called and they were very helpful. I liked how they sent me an email once they were mailed back to me, with tracking information so I knew the exact day I would get my photos.
I was amazed when I saw my prints! They were perfect (which was a surprise since the negatives were not properly stored for years).
I would highly recommend them and look forward to using them again!

Very, very disappointed/​Absolutely no customer service at all. Took a chance and sent 2 rolls of very old 126 film in. One roll came out with blank negatives. The other couldn’t even be opened. Rather than send me an email and tell me nothing came out and the other roll was impossible to develp, they charged me the additional $ 5.00 and sent me the equivalent of garbage. Not even a note inside. Given the courtesy of an email, I’d have obviously told them not to bother sending me anything, as anyone else would have done, and saved myself the $ 5.00.
There are other vendors for old film. Regardless of the outcome, I wish I had tried someone else instead. Their customer service has to be better than Dwayne’s Photo.

After hearing some rave reviews of Dwayne’s Photo by a fellow photographer friend of mine, I have to say that my experience was disappointing. I sent it two rolls of 35 mm film and one roll of 120 mm film to develop. The service took around two and a half weeks, including shipping time. Even though I had included my contact information on the order form, I was not informed when my order was received, nor when it was processed and shipped back out. I spent those two and a half weeks wondering whether my package had gotten lost in the mail.
The digital scans were of decent quality and I have no complaints there. However, my roll of 120 mm film, rather than being scanned as squares, were scanned as rectangles. I was irritated by this because (to me, at least) part of the charm and challenge of doing medium format photography is thinking about composition in a different way than if I were shooting with rectangular 35 mm film.
One of my rolls came out entirely blank. I found later (after two more blank rolls shot by the same camera) that this was of my own fault, but there was no explanation at all from Dwayne’s Photo, not even a note stating, «We apologize that this roll came out blank.» I had no idea until I held up my negatives to the light and saw that there was nothing there. This, in addition to my 120 mm film not being scanned correctly, gave me the feeling that they didn’t even really care about my photography as an art form or that I had entrusted their company with handling my work. The whole process felt very impersonal and cold. I will not be using this service in the future.

I sent my Ektar 120 and 35 mm film for processing. It came back covered with dried-​on dust. I process my own black and white film at home and never have issues like that with dust. The film was also slightly warped, as if it was either put in the sleeve before completely dry, or subjected to sudden changes in temperature. Basically, you’re getting drug-​store quality processing at Dwayne’s.

As the last and only place on the planet that did process Kodachrome film, I sent my last roll in the last week of Dec. 2010. But that was before I read that an Arkansas railway worker spent $ 15,798.00 to process his 1580 rolls of Kodachrome film of trains! And he had just gotten his film from Dwaynes… well, for those that don’t know, Kodachrome film when processed is when the color dyes are added to give the slide those bright colors. The dyes are no longer made by Kodak and Dwaynes has only limited quantities on hand and when they are gone, they are done processing Kodachrome film forever. I was hoping they had enough to get my last roll finished but not knowing how many rolls of Kodacrhome they received the last week in Dec. 2010 and how much chemicals they have on hand, i could only pray and wait.
Well, Dwayne’s Photo did not disappoint — my last roll was received in mid-​February and made a milestone in my photographic journey.
Thank you Dwayne’s Photo for your exceptional work in processing all my Kodachrome film and finishing the last one this month!

Dwayne’s Photo is the last of the labs developing Kodachrome.
I’ve sent them a few orders and their quality is top notch — hands down. I did have a customer service snafu which falls into the, «photographer’s worst nightmare» category, that is, they sent my photos to the wrong person. I was pleased with their response once they realized the slipup — full refund and overnight shipping of the photos once retrieved. It demonstrates their commitment to the customer even when things go wrong. I will continue to send them my slides long after I’m out of Kodachrome.