FAQ
All the things you need to know
What happens if my film is blank?
If your colour film is blank, we can refund the scanning part of the the order! We will email you to let you know what happened, and will be happy to offer any support, tips or point you in the right direction of camera experts if you are worried your camera is at fault :)
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What happens if my film gets lost in the post?
This can unfortunately happen, although it is very rare! If you are worried that your package still isn’t with us as you haven't heard anything from us, please let us know and we will contact the postal service and check with our local posty. Many lost parcel worries do end up just being delayed, due to a number of factors such as not enough stamps, or posting as a letter rather than a small parcel. Or small parcels sometimes take a little longer to arrive (so pad out your film or use a big jiffy bag!). But after a couple of weeks, if your film STILL hasn't arrived we will of course refund you for your order and we will contact you again if it turns up later.
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When can I expect my film back?
We have a range of turnaround times based on our services!
We aim to get all colour-film developing images back to you and in your inbox in 2-3 days after your film arrives with us. And Black & White images we aim to return in 6-7 days. In our confirmation email that we send upon arrival of your film, we will let you know which days we will expect to see your images back!
As with physical orders, whether it is 'develop only' negatives, prints or film we aim to ship these out on the next available shipping day. We ship on Tuesdays and Thursdays so you should expect to see a confirmation email of these bits being shipped back to you on these days.
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As a small business, our workload does inevitably fluctuate, so there can be some variation on the above information, but we do work our hardest to stay on track with this timeline :)
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Do you have a drop-off option?
We are working on displaying this on our website but yes, we do! If you are passing by, you are welcome to drop off your film to us!
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Do you do disposables?
ABSOLUTELY! You can send them in as the entire camera or dismantle the camera yourself. We are happy to break your film out and then recycle the parts as best we can, including the batteries.
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Please put your camera through as '35mm' film on any of our options and services!
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Return Policy
We are happy to refund any cancelled orders if requested within 2 weeks of placing the order with us. If you have bought film and received it, the product must be returned in its original condition i.e not opened, foil not un-rapped. A refund will be processed once the film has been returned to us.
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How long are my files saved for?
We keep your raw images on our drive for a month however your Dropbox link will remain live and downloadable within your email for 3 months.
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Do you edit my images?
We try not to touch your images all that much, but we do want you to receive images you are happy with. We personally check every single image that goes through our service, removing any last bits of dust that might have been missed and making minor edits to colour and exposure if we feel it’s needed but if you would prefer us not to touch them at all, let us know!
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Do you do free shipping?
We offer free shipping on all orders over £25!
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Will I get my negatives back?
Absolutely! We have options for both negatives back, and no negatives back so the choice is all yours :) If you choose to receive your negatives back, we will pop them in the post on our next shipping day (Wednesdays). If you don’t want them back, then choose this option at the ordering stage and we will keep them here for a month - incase you change your mind.
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Can we develop souped Film?
We very kindly ask you not to send us any form of souped film. Souped film being film treated and exposed to any kind solution such as green tea, red bull, or literal soup before being dried and sent to us. We make this request as the integrity of these films is massively reduced, so when it goes through our developing machine it starts to fall apart, affecting the quality of our chemicals and leaving bits; micro pieces of film and soup floating around, negatively impacting the developing results for all the films that follow - if this isn’t noticed or changed quickly. It is very costly to fix this and change all our chems! We thank you and appreciate you for your understanding on this!
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Pushing & Pulling Film
Colour Film
Colour Film
We don’t push or pull colour film. Our pro colour film developer runs at a single speed, so we are not able to change the length of time your film spends developing. However, the good news is, that colour film is very flexible and can handle a couple of stops up and down! If you have shot your film a couple stops away from the box speed and your are worried about exposure, let us know and we can take extra care of your film in the scanning stage and make sure we nail the exposure for you :)
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BW Film
We will definitely push your BW film for you! This comes at no extra cost, just add these details to the note you put in your parcel, detailing the film you that needs pushing, and what ISO/ASA you shot this film at so we can make the right calculations. Most BW films have tick boxes on the canister to note what ISO/ASA you shot the film at, if you mark this in marker pen as well, we won’t miss it!
With pulling BW film, we can do this on request. However the general results seen with pulling film, rather than increasing the exposure of the film and bringing up the ‘brightness’ we tend to lose the contrast which creates a flatter, more washed out image!
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If you have any other questions that we haven't answered here, give us a message on live chat or email us: thefilmsafe@gmail.com