If you're getting into film photography, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of film labs offering to develop your film. You may find yourself asking something to the tune of "how is Indisposable any different than (blank) film lab?"
I'm here to help answer that question for you and give you a better sense for what we bring to the table.
The first misconception I find many people having about Indisposable is that we are just a couple of dudes developing film in our bathroom. Odds are, you've found us on social media, where it is common for this to be the case. However-- it's the furthest thing from!
Indisposable is actually partnered with a professional lab in New York City, appropriately named NYC Film Lab. This means that we have trained and experienced professionals handling your film every step of the way. It also means that the equipment they use is the industry standard! This all comes together to allow us the ability to offer you a high-quality experience, as well as high quality results.
That being said, the quality of Indisposable is not what makes us different. That's just the standard that we hold ourselves to. What makes us different is the process involved. Often times, you're required to go to the lab, drop off your film, wait X amount of days, and pick them up again. Sometimes labs will give you an SD card, others will offer CDs, and some will offer options like WeTransfer or Dropbox. We find this ridiculous!
Our goal at Indisposable it to take as many unnecessary steps out of the way between you and your photos. This is why all photos are uploaded to our app for you to access 24/7, as well as allowing you to save straight to your camera roll. No "download" screens, no importing, no outdated tech. Just high quality film scans, straight to your phone.
Earlier, I mentioned us using industry standard equipment-- what does that mean exactly? Let me show you.
After developing your film, your film negatives are scanned and then converted into positives-- the final, normal looking image. There are many different scanners and software that can be used. Here at Indisposable, we use a Noritsu, one of the top scanners on the market to deliver color-accurate and sharp images. Many times, if you send your film off to someone developing in their home or even some older local labs, they will use a flatbed scanner. These are not much different than those you would find in your school's teacher's lounge. While they do the same job, it's common for their colors to be different and for them to not scan at the same level of quality.
Before joining Indisposable, I would scan my own film at home. It was a cool process, but I was never fully satisfied by my results. Here are some examples:
Left: My home scan. Right: A scan from first roll with Indisposable. Notice the difference in color accuracy, brightness, and sharpness.
Not only does pairing with a professional lab help with quality, it also allows greater consistency. You can always anticipate the same level of quality every time you send us your film.