Optik Oldschool Lab

We are photographers, creatives, inventors and now ... lab operators!

Born in the pre-digital era, we grew up with analogue photography and are now enjoying its ongoing resurgence.

We created the lab we dreamed of to offer high quality services. This is just the beginning though – The Optik Oldschool Lab is one big open space, designed to become a meeting point for the community, empowering photographers to share their work, knowledge and also work hands-on with professional lab tools / machines.

Film developing of C-41 colour negative and black & white film, next to scanning, are all done in-house. Our main work-horses for scanning are Fuji Frontiers, known for their legendary quality. The Noritsu HS1800 completes the range of pro film scanners. Both options can be used for 35mm and 120 film.

While scanning we perform density corrections to adjust the contrast of your photos, preserving as many details as possible, and perform basic colour corrections. We scan in the highest resolution only.

Black & white film is developed with rotary processors in JOBO tanks. Our main developing agents are Kodak XTOL and Ilford ID-11 (both diluted 1+1).

photo by @analognorbi

Fujifilm C-41 Control Strips

Quality first

We closely monitor the chemicals in our Noritsu C-41 film processor to achieve the best possible results.

To ensure everything is good for processing, we use Fujifilm Control Strips and a transmission densitometer. Rumour has it that these strips don't exist anymore or would be expired. Bullshit!

We have them, fresh, not expired, directly from the source – and we bought the full batch!

Black and white chemicals are freshly mixed for development. Every single time!

Our Development Services

Scanners

Fuji Frontier

The legendary machines, which get us awesome results right off the bat. These are our main work-horses.

The Fuji Frontier SP3000 and SP500 are high quality film scanners and can handle a variety of film formats, including 35mm and 120 medium format.

These scanners feature advanced image processing technology, delivering sharp, detailed scans with awesome colours.

Noritsu HS1800

The Noritsu HS1800 is a top-tier film scanner renowned for its high-resolution and great image quality.

The HS1800 delivers vibrant, detailed photos with an excellent tonal range. Photos scanned with the Noritsu are said to be less "analogue looking" compared to the Frontiers.

We can process both 35mm and 120 film with this scanner.

Inside the Lab

Fujifilm DryLab DE100-XD

Prints

The Fujifilm DE100-XD is a state-of-the-art DryLab Photo Printer designed to deliver high quality prints with exceptional speed and precision.

This versatile printer supports a wide range of formats, auto cutting and edge-to-edge printing. Fujifilm's advanced inkjet technology produces vibrant colours and sharp details, brining your photos to life!

We print on original Fujifilm Lustre paper.