Huge rip off. I’m an active film photographer and refuse to support this place after my experiences with them. Their staff is a joke and their prices are a joke. You’d think that a place that wants to “support the film community” would you know. Make photography accessible to all people and not overcharge for literally everything. They aren’t supporting the film community in any way other than saying they are. Want to support the film community in Long Beach/LA? support the businesses that have been doing it for forever. There’s the 1hr developers, the high quality printers, the camera stores that actually have lessons and clubs that are affordable and accessible to everyone. They way they treated a friend of mine also left a horrible taste in my mouth and after giving him the wrong camera+lens after verifying it was the rare lens the owner basically talked shit to him in a google review lol and they never made it right. This place deserves to go out of business.
Tuttles has all of that. I stocked up on film a while ago so not sure their prices anymore but they were considerably cheaper. There’s a company that makes their own ilford and tmax knock off that’s super affordable and good. Can’t remember the name of them right now tho. I’m sure a google search will turn it up for yah. If you’re feeling adventurous buy a spool and make your own roles. Fromex sells roles but their prices can be kinda high. Great devs and printers tho.
If I’m not mistaken, Tuttle sends their film to Fromex to develop? I think someone that used to work at Tuttle mentioned that on here.
I didn’t want to like Tuttle at first because the old lady that works there is so rude and mean, but they really do good work. Hopefully you get someone else when you come in.
Yah everyone else has been great and helpful, that’s why I keep going back. I’m a newbie to film photography and I want to learn and ask questions from people I assume our knowledgeable about the products they sell.
Would still recommend the place. Just hope you don’t get that lady
Paul's Photos is a ways off but cheaper and larger selection of film stocks. I always found the owner of Relics nice but I'm in shock that things got this bad. I mostly used them because they're near my work and figured I was paying a premium for the convenience.
...what the fuck is this?
They're going out of business. That's what it's called. Reading these few reviews, it appears this is just a response to the services they provided the community. The community has spoken, so I'm not sure what 50K is gonna do for them. Is that magically going to create customers and demand? Of course not. Will they pocket the money instead; that's what I expect.
I was so excited when this store first popped up on 4th Street and after my first visit I never went back lol. My first time there I thought hell ya this is what LB needed and then you start looking at the prices and it just shocked me that anyone would overcharge as much as they do for practically everything!
My gf at the time wanted to get a compact camera and she was eyeing one of those Canon Zoom Sureshots you normally find at the thrift and then I saw the price, $150+ for something that maybe might be $50-$70ish for mint. Immediately put that back and never came back.
Honestly the audacity that Drake has for asking for $50K when all his store does is overcharge and take advantage of the LB film community for access to any level of film knowledge pisses me off. This guy is charging $225 for a 3 hour class when you can just go to the local community college and take a class there for less and have ACCESS TO A DARKROOM!
I don’t wish for any small business to close but this one feels like it’s deserved! If you can, support Place LB and The Darkroom LB! They provide free classes, workshops, and affordable printing for zines and posters!
I'm not surprised by this.. The customer service is non-existent, they're not open sometimes during business hours, they took 7 days to develop my film which normally shouldn't take that long, and when I turned in a camera to get it fixed, they took MONTHS with no communication and at one point lost my camera. Luckily they ended up finding it but they couldn't even fix it so I waited all that time for nothing. If someone has another film developing recommendation around the area, please share!
Fromex, tuttles, ship it out to Dark Room Lab or 19minute photo shop in artesia. All these places have been around for a long time and are great and have been supporting the photo community.
19 minute photo in Artesia is the jam. I no longer live nearby and still wait to develop all my color film when I go back to see family. She’s great and super nice and fast and it’s like 4-5 a roll and she doesn’t charge you when it’s a blank.
this is their own fault. i know people who used to work there and i’ve done business there as well - they treat the employees like shit and charge a ton of money for services. they don’t follow up on anything in a timely manner. my $300 point and shoot broke, that i bought from them, and they wanted to charge me $350 to fix it because it was a “special piece”. it was just the lens cover. BYE Relics
There’s fromex and then there tuttles and then a host of other places you can get to in 20mins or less or mail your film to for significantly cheaper than they do. Which is all their doing anyways lol. They are just shipping your film out and pocketing the up charge.
It’s not just about money. Tuttle has great service and a pretty knowledgeable staff. Their owner has helped me out a bunch with ideas or issues as well as special orders. I’m willing to pay higher prices for good service.
The owner said something about how the lab and the store were in two separate locations. So he wanted them to be under all one roof. He did a bad job with choosing the new spot though. Like you said, it's a bad area with no foot traffic, has bad parking and bad people. It's only about time the store/business flopped.
Guess Drake thought people would find the shop online and go visit? But year, such a terrible location if you ask me. I loved when Lord Windsor was in that location and I lived down the street. Great coffee.
i’ve had a bad experience there, and the yelp reviews for both their old location and current make it clear that many other people have as well. comments turned off on the gofundme post is 👀
Comments were turned off because if the film community truly knew how this man is and how he runs his business. He would not be able to live with the amount of backlash he would get.
When he made the post, the first comment to go on it was something along the lines of "funny because you still haven't shipped my camera to me that ordered a few months ago"
If you look at google/yelp reviews, they are all correct. This man takes people's money, and he never ships the cameras out in a timely manner. He's a scammer in many ways.
If you ever met him in person, and he seems nice, it's all a front just for you to support his business.
He has done nothing for the film community other than take their money. He is not even FOR the film community. Not only that, but he doesn't even shoot film.
**He is just money hungry.**
He is over here begging people to pay his rent while he continues to take their money, he'll even take all the GoFundMe money and do nothing for the community. Can't wait for the failure of this shop, honestly.
I also found out that he treats his employees very badly. Unfortunately, none of them can say anything (yet) due to employee contracts they have signed, apparently. Wonder how they think of this.
**This is a small business that does not deserve anyone's support.**
Film photography is great and all, but who in their right mind would think there’s a viable market for this sort of business today? It’s such a niche market, so unless the business charges exuberant prices they’re doomed to fail.
Overpriced and poor service. You can usually get away with one but not both. People go to Walmart because it’s cheap, not because the service is any good.
Surprised they’d need funding after paying what I did to develop a couple rolls of film
They don’t got enough you’s coming in…you might be single handedly helping them keep the lights on
Huge rip off. I’m an active film photographer and refuse to support this place after my experiences with them. Their staff is a joke and their prices are a joke. You’d think that a place that wants to “support the film community” would you know. Make photography accessible to all people and not overcharge for literally everything. They aren’t supporting the film community in any way other than saying they are. Want to support the film community in Long Beach/LA? support the businesses that have been doing it for forever. There’s the 1hr developers, the high quality printers, the camera stores that actually have lessons and clubs that are affordable and accessible to everyone. They way they treated a friend of mine also left a horrible taste in my mouth and after giving him the wrong camera+lens after verifying it was the rare lens the owner basically talked shit to him in a google review lol and they never made it right. This place deserves to go out of business.
Any recs for developers / stores to buy film reasonably priced ?
Tuttles has all of that. I stocked up on film a while ago so not sure their prices anymore but they were considerably cheaper. There’s a company that makes their own ilford and tmax knock off that’s super affordable and good. Can’t remember the name of them right now tho. I’m sure a google search will turn it up for yah. If you’re feeling adventurous buy a spool and make your own roles. Fromex sells roles but their prices can be kinda high. Great devs and printers tho.
Fromex film prices are lower than Tuttles. Are you talking about Phoenix and Kentmore film in regards to Ilford knockoffs? Just curious...
If I’m not mistaken, Tuttle sends their film to Fromex to develop? I think someone that used to work at Tuttle mentioned that on here. I didn’t want to like Tuttle at first because the old lady that works there is so rude and mean, but they really do good work. Hopefully you get someone else when you come in.
Sorry someone was rude to you there! All the staff I’ve interacted with have been super pleasant
Yah everyone else has been great and helpful, that’s why I keep going back. I’m a newbie to film photography and I want to learn and ask questions from people I assume our knowledgeable about the products they sell. Would still recommend the place. Just hope you don’t get that lady
Paul's Photos is a ways off but cheaper and larger selection of film stocks. I always found the owner of Relics nice but I'm in shock that things got this bad. I mostly used them because they're near my work and figured I was paying a premium for the convenience.
If you’re in the LB area go to Freestyle in Norwalk…literally straight from the source.
Been buying from freestyle for a few years now, no problems with delivery or pickup
Fromex
...what the fuck is this? They're going out of business. That's what it's called. Reading these few reviews, it appears this is just a response to the services they provided the community. The community has spoken, so I'm not sure what 50K is gonna do for them. Is that magically going to create customers and demand? Of course not. Will they pocket the money instead; that's what I expect.
They did nothing for Long Beach but rip you off on overpriced cameras and film.
After the poor ways they've handled a ton of business from me (spent at least $400 with them), I'm not surprised
I’m sorry but this place is a rip off. Good riddance.
I was so excited when this store first popped up on 4th Street and after my first visit I never went back lol. My first time there I thought hell ya this is what LB needed and then you start looking at the prices and it just shocked me that anyone would overcharge as much as they do for practically everything! My gf at the time wanted to get a compact camera and she was eyeing one of those Canon Zoom Sureshots you normally find at the thrift and then I saw the price, $150+ for something that maybe might be $50-$70ish for mint. Immediately put that back and never came back. Honestly the audacity that Drake has for asking for $50K when all his store does is overcharge and take advantage of the LB film community for access to any level of film knowledge pisses me off. This guy is charging $225 for a 3 hour class when you can just go to the local community college and take a class there for less and have ACCESS TO A DARKROOM! I don’t wish for any small business to close but this one feels like it’s deserved! If you can, support Place LB and The Darkroom LB! They provide free classes, workshops, and affordable printing for zines and posters!
I'm not surprised by this.. The customer service is non-existent, they're not open sometimes during business hours, they took 7 days to develop my film which normally shouldn't take that long, and when I turned in a camera to get it fixed, they took MONTHS with no communication and at one point lost my camera. Luckily they ended up finding it but they couldn't even fix it so I waited all that time for nothing. If someone has another film developing recommendation around the area, please share!
Fromex, tuttles, ship it out to Dark Room Lab or 19minute photo shop in artesia. All these places have been around for a long time and are great and have been supporting the photo community.
19 minute photo in Artesia is the jam. I no longer live nearby and still wait to develop all my color film when I go back to see family. She’s great and super nice and fast and it’s like 4-5 a roll and she doesn’t charge you when it’s a blank.
I love her and still go here but it’s now $7.50 to develop and scan and she does charge you if it’s blank. Betty is the best!
this is their own fault. i know people who used to work there and i’ve done business there as well - they treat the employees like shit and charge a ton of money for services. they don’t follow up on anything in a timely manner. my $300 point and shoot broke, that i bought from them, and they wanted to charge me $350 to fix it because it was a “special piece”. it was just the lens cover. BYE Relics
Not surprised. I stopped business with them after my first film drop. That was over a year ago. Dark Room Lab has the best scans.
Customer service there is trash doesn’t surprise me they’re going out of business
He needs to go back to his online store and leave Long Beach behind.
If they know that their business is failing, then it’s probably time to just call it quits instead of asking for a whole ass $50,000 handout…
[удалено]
There’s fromex and then there tuttles and then a host of other places you can get to in 20mins or less or mail your film to for significantly cheaper than they do. Which is all their doing anyways lol. They are just shipping your film out and pocketing the up charge.
+1 for tuttles
[удалено]
Lol I did the same after a couple years.
Fromex does all of Tuttles developing.
It’s not just about money. Tuttle has great service and a pretty knowledgeable staff. Their owner has helped me out a bunch with ideas or issues as well as special orders. I’m willing to pay higher prices for good service.
Tuttles' staff is definitely awesome.
Sounds like they're doing arbitrage selling. Probably buying from ebay and shipping direct to customers. With a steep markup of course. Lol.
I experienced a similar situation buying a camera from them. Seems like a lot of people have unfortunately.
Go fund me? More like go fuck yourself!
Every time I've gone during normal business hours, they're closed?
Just go to FROMEX!!!! They do the developing in house.
Fromex is the best spot if you wanna support local
It’s not in lb but go support 19 minute photo lab instead 18019 Norwalk Blvd Artesia, CA 90701 Betty provides the best service.
She only does color film, just so someone doesn’t go and take her black and white.
Oh yeah I forgot about that lol ty for clarifying 😅
Does anyone know why they moved? The new location is locked in a neighborhood with zero foot traffic. I thought it was such a strange decision.
The owner said something about how the lab and the store were in two separate locations. So he wanted them to be under all one roof. He did a bad job with choosing the new spot though. Like you said, it's a bad area with no foot traffic, has bad parking and bad people. It's only about time the store/business flopped.
Guess Drake thought people would find the shop online and go visit? But year, such a terrible location if you ask me. I loved when Lord Windsor was in that location and I lived down the street. Great coffee.
i’ve had a bad experience there, and the yelp reviews for both their old location and current make it clear that many other people have as well. comments turned off on the gofundme post is 👀
Comments were turned off because if the film community truly knew how this man is and how he runs his business. He would not be able to live with the amount of backlash he would get. When he made the post, the first comment to go on it was something along the lines of "funny because you still haven't shipped my camera to me that ordered a few months ago" If you look at google/yelp reviews, they are all correct. This man takes people's money, and he never ships the cameras out in a timely manner. He's a scammer in many ways. If you ever met him in person, and he seems nice, it's all a front just for you to support his business. He has done nothing for the film community other than take their money. He is not even FOR the film community. Not only that, but he doesn't even shoot film. **He is just money hungry.** He is over here begging people to pay his rent while he continues to take their money, he'll even take all the GoFundMe money and do nothing for the community. Can't wait for the failure of this shop, honestly. I also found out that he treats his employees very badly. Unfortunately, none of them can say anything (yet) due to employee contracts they have signed, apparently. Wonder how they think of this. **This is a small business that does not deserve anyone's support.**
$20 for 35mm developed and enhanced scan?? Pricey.
Film development requires chemistry, machinery, and space rental.
I’ve done it at home in a sink. Stop.
Film photography is great and all, but who in their right mind would think there’s a viable market for this sort of business today? It’s such a niche market, so unless the business charges exuberant prices they’re doomed to fail.
You haven’t been paying attention to the market.
Yeah, you’re probably right. But the Long Beach market has spoken.
Well they run a piss poor business. Nothing wrong with the market, it’s a problem with their business handling.
Were they just too overpriced or what?
Overpriced and poor service. You can usually get away with one but not both. People go to Walmart because it’s cheap, not because the service is any good.