I'm living in LA right now (probably moving to San Diego later this year) and I'm looking to get into shooting film. I do not have enough space for a darkroom and I also lack the knowledge, so I'm looking for a good lab to get film developed.
I would prefer a walk-in place, which is why I'm asking for specific places in either LA or San Diego. I wouldn't mind sending my stuff off to other labs, but it would make me much less anxious if I could drop it off in person.
Good luck finding one.
Have you given developing yourself ago? Doesn't help, but just out of interest.
Honestly, your best bet is to develop the film yourself and scan it. You can fit all the supplies in a shoe box. I actually use my glass beaker to store my cooking utensils when I'm not using it.
I would consider developing at home, but I lack the knowledge and I'm going to be shooting color. While at-home black and white processing doesn't appear to be too intensive, the very specific temperatures required for color processing would be difficult to manage, especially for someone who has very little idea what they're doing in the first place.
There are several in LA, its always good develop your own B+W film, but for color there are several places in LA: ICON LA on 5450 Wilshire they are a terrific Pro LAB, Richards Photo Lab in Valencia, Rose Photo on the westside, most of the CostCo's in LA still develop Color Film for a steal of a price and scan it too. there are plenty of film processing places in LA. ask the guys at FreeStylePhoto on Sunset in Hollywood they also take film for processing. the Chems and gear for B+W can be picked up at Freestyle, and there is are classes for B+W film at SMC in Santa Monica or may other schools and a couple of parks.
I live in North County San Diego... I use North Coast Photo for my slide film or anything important or color medium/large format processing.
If you end up closer to downtown, then I would suggest Chrome
What type of film are you planning on shooting? Pricey, but Richard is the best choice IMHO in LA.
Try thedarkroom.com (San Clemente, CA). Nice people, passionate about their work. Can do almost any emulsion (no ECN-2) and any format.
If you are in LA, check out CAM Photo in Burbank. (Glen Oaks / Magnolia) They got you covered.