Do any businesses in the Bozeman area still develop photo film?
Finding local film processing services in rural states like Montana is becoming increasingly challenging. Digital cameras have dominated family photography for the past two decades, with the original iPhone hitting the market in 2007, making it old enough to drive. The volume of photo film used and processed has dwindled significantly compared to its peak. For local businesses, maintaining legacy equipment and acquiring chemicals to support a declining market no longer adds up.
The last Bozeman business that offered in-house film development closed in 2019.
Does Village Green Preservation develop film?
We make professional quality scans of already-developed film and slides, including medium and large format images. For the same reasons those old photo labs aren’t around anymore, we don’t process or handle undeveloped film.
Village Green transforms your cherished family memories into digital formats. We produce top-quality digital files that can be easily viewed and shared on all your devices. Let us breathe new life into your video tapes, photo albums, film reels and audio cassettes so you can enjoy them on demand, as easily as you stream media on your phone or TV.
So...how do I get my film developed?
A few big box stores in the area offer film processing. It’s not an experience that we recommend to our customers. Your film is sent away to a central processing lab in another state, which can take weeks. The workers at the local store are only trained to take orders and ship them out. They won’t be able to answer questions about your photos, and won’t be the ones handling them.
We recommend contacting The Dark Room in Missoula. They are an established, knowledgable company based in Montana. Your film will take less time in transit, and will be handled by people who understand photography. And you’ll supporting a local business keeping film developing alive in Montana.