alright, so, i am relatively new to this whole film photography business, and i have some anxieties about selecting/sending film by mail to get developed. i apologize if these might be basic questions, but i would rather get them off the table and stimulate a new forum (literally a new forum) of discussion instead of ruminating about them—or instead of doing something about the stuff in my fridge!
do i need a special package for it? do i need to protect it in some special way inside the package? i’m obviously going to be taking good precaution of packing, but i know the stuff is sensitive to heat and radiation, so it’d just be good to know i’m not missing a critical step in sending it in an airplane across the US or something lol.
what film lab have you had good experience with? or is there any place you would recommend? my current selection is reformed film lab, but i’m still open to any input.
thank you for your time.
Any padded envelope should be fine.
I send mine to The Darkroom, and they give you a pre-paid mailer when they send your negatives back, so I just use that. It's basically just a plastic bag with an adhesive strip, no padding at all. Works fine, I haven't had an issue.
Film isn't so sensitive to heat that it just dies, that's mostly a concern over the span of months to years. And even the radiation from being on a plane won't hurt it. It won't get x-rayed through regular mail either, so you're good there.