Light Waves Imaging

I’m writing this review as a last resort to try to get a response from Light Waves. I run a gallery in the city and before that I was a commercial /​editorial photographer, and Light Waves used to be my go-​to for high quality printing. Last year we dropped an artist photographic print off for mounting in preparation for an exhibition. When my framer picked it up there was a big glob of mounting glue or something on the image which meant we had to order another print to be made and shipped from the artist studio in Chicago. At first, I was told that the lab was going to pay for damages– for the print, the shipping and comp the mounting (there were 3 photographs in total), but after we received the print we couldn’t get the owner to respond in a timely manner. There was some ping ponging back and forth and a couple months later, he said he would only be responsible for comping the remounting, not for the other costs incurred. Now I am out the cost of the custom frame (which I had to pay for regardless of the print being ready and usable), and I still don’t have the print re-​mounted. I’ve heard from other Light Waves frequenters that they have moved their business elsewhere due to some staffing changes, I wish this business would step back up. It used to be a good resource for me… I’m so disappointed.
This is a follow up to my review– I originally took the review down because the owner did a remount of the print i provided, and to his credit he turned it around really quickly– but I found his attitude to be so defensive and not owning up to his part of this, even if partly we had slow turnaround on communication back to him. I’m trying to be completely fair, but honestly, our interaction with Michael, the owner has been so unpleasant. It really a bummer when people choose to be unkind, instead of take responsibility for their part.

I feel bad that I haven’t written a review about this place yet. I had a photo exhibit in Oakland last fall and another one in LA and Lightwaves did a wonderful job with developing, scanning, and printing my work for these shows. I thought the customer service was rad. As these were my first photo exhibits, Tim helped me out through each step of the process to help get my show printed in time and under budget. I had a wonderful experience and would highly recommend them to anyone.

Knowledgable yet accessible. If I’m not familiar with something, they are very clear in their explanation. They are diligently on time and produce a consistent level of quality.
Just a delight to work with.

Awesome photolab. Have been going here for years as their quality and eye for color is flawless. Dirk has always been my go to there. He is really professional and reliable. It seems that he really sets out to make your photos the best that they can be, whereas a lot of other places just want to get jobs done and out the door. You may be able to get cheeper prints elsewhere but if you want the best this is really the place to go.

Lightwaves is my favorite lab in the city by far.
Services offered here are exceptional, if you shoot E-​6 (slide film) this is where you need to go. Hell, other labs in the city send out slide film to Lightwaves, shouldn’t that tell you something.
Affordable processing, neatly sleeved in a thicker archival sheet. I trust my film to Lightwaves because they earned my trust.
Printing services are also on-​point, staff is very attentive to a finicky photographers needs.

i have used light waves as my (mostly color) printing service for at least 20 years and have been pleased almost always — in the rare instances not, it has been possible to work out an adjustment with the friendly staff. they come up with new and better printing techniques, with magnificent digital output in a timely manner. i have an epson 2400 in my studio and while those prints are OK, for a major job or presentation i go to (or better yet, easily FTP to) light waves and highly recommend them!
i am no longer a film person and cannot reference comments on that.

I’ve been going to Lightwave for about a year having 120 and 4×5 processed in B&W, C41 and E6. So far the quality has been excellent and the turn around times about a day. They also have a nice selection of film in a fridge — which is convenient if you need some for your next project. There have been no mix-​ups — and with their color coded sheets it’s pretty hard to mess up. So I second Amanda’s review.
I haven’t tried their scanning services — because I do that at home. You really shouldn’t expect much at the price they charge — it’s not a drum scanner after all and pretty low resolution. So perhaps you might be disappointed by this service they offer — but why not just print optically at RayKo if you want a great image?

Fantastic lab that is still handling analog stuff. After the New Lab closed their business, this was the only lab that will handle my E-​6 processing on 8 X 10 sheet film locally. As long as they continue to process E-​6, I will continue to shoot film.

Lightwaves has a talented and friendly staff. They offer a wide range of services for photographers and for the price, you can’t beat it!
I get all my film done here and have never had a problem! Lightjet and machine prints have all been well done and the turn around is fast.
Bring your business to this locally own establishment!

I’ve tried several times to give this place the credit the employees must think it deserves… Unilocal says it best, «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
One roll of 35 mm film and high-​res (not that high) scans– $ 26.04… and she certainly wouldn’t let me skip the .04 cents that I had to break a $ 5 for.
The quality is average. Turn around time is okay, but there is better. I usually just use this place for there Just Film purchases. I hate to say it, but I gotta start buying film online because these places are simply too pricey, and if I am not getting the customer service I am looking for, and driving across town to do all this, it’s just not worth it.
On a side note for you black and white film lovers. Gamma Photo upstairs is AMAZING, but just B/​W, and on the higher end side. You get what you pay for in that situation… Not so much at Light Waves.

I have been using LIght Waves for a few months now and have enjoyed excellent results from their film processing and printing services. I am not, by any means, a professional photographer. Nonetheless, the color slides and black & white negatives that I have processed at Light Waves have all turned out very well with excellent turnaround times. The staff are always friendly and knowledgable and I have absolutely nothing disparaging to say about my experience with them. On top of my satisfaction with Light Waves, it is really great that Just Film is in the same space. I can’t speak to any of their digital printing or manipulation services, but I will continue to get my film processed at Light Waves.

Like many other customers, I have had my film DESTROYED by Light Waves.
One roll of Kodak TMAX, which is only made in B&W, went into the color processing chemicals and my images were completely destroyed. I’m pretty sure these were from my recent trip to Big Sur and would have been amazing. I also received a «Sorry, there was an accident, here is a $ 25 credit, someone should have called you.»
I have worked in a couple of labs and know that this isn’t an easy mistake to make, especially when the slip says B&W in big bold letters. I will never go here again.

I had my first set of 4×5 film processed here and they did an excellent job. I have nothing but praise for Mark and Sean and, thanks to them, for Light Waves.

WHY does everyone hate it here? I’ve been going here for 4 years of the 5 years I’ve lived in San Francisco. And I have never had a problem. Ever.
Lucky streak? I doubt it. But maybe I’ll give everyone the benefit of the doubt. After New Lab closed in ’07 (or maybe ’08?) I was directed from a good friend of mine to try these guys out. SO much cheaper than going to Adolf Gassers’ (but I do frequent them for B&W chemical needs), and I had at least a 2 day turn around with contacts done and all. Even when they couldn’t read my hand writing, I get a personal phone call from whoever is at the front, asking me and double checking that my order is correct.
I recently gave them 10 rolls of 120 C41, 5 rolls of 35 mm slide film, and 4 rolls of black and white 120 film. Asked for contacts on everything. I had a 4 day turn around and only $ 145. Now, that’s an effing steal in my book. I haven’t found better prices or customer service in the city. If there is someone help a sista out because honestly, these guys are top in my book.

They processed my B&W film in color chemicals. This ruined it of course. They filled out the tickets for the film themselves so this kind of thing is really inexcusable. I’m a working photographer and this reflects badly on me to my clients. Calling them and letting them know the lab fried the film is not a good thing. At least the client was a local band that will be able to do the shoot over with ease, but if the band had been from out of town, or If I had shot the film on an out of town assignment I’d be royally screwed.
Take your film elsewhere.
I really hope Oscar’s recovers from their fire soon.

I’ve used many other labs in NYC and LA and Light Waves is definitely more professional than the rest. Ryan is super professional and answered all of my lame questions. I get film processed and scanned and the images quality is spot on. Depending on the film I use, the skin tones are exact.

Moved here from Los Angeles, and this was one of the first places I was recommended to go to for professional film processing.
I haven’t been disappointed yet, turn around time is average (2 – 3 business days). It’s a tad pricey for process and scans at $ 25 a roll for only 16mb tiffs…
But so far, so good!

I sent in a digital photo to be printed at a large size, but the resolution was way too low for the size I wanted. Instead of trying to work with me, I was ignored.
I’ll see how one of the other ten photo places in SF work out.

Excellent E-​6 processing, and — as I understand it – this is the LAST E-​6 lab in San Francisco!!! (Oy!)
It is $ 11 per 36 exposure roll to develop (push process) and mount
E-​6, which is, well, not exactly inexpensive.
As to digital prints from slides, I am still trying to fiigure-​out how to get the best possible prints from these guys. I am not yet certain that I have determined the magic formula.
So, for now, I’m gonna give ‘em four stars. When and if I ever get higher-​quality prints out of these guys, I will edit this review. I really want to give them five stars, but we are not yet there, YET.

I am taking a photography class and wanted to be all old school about it, so with my ancient film camera I go. Well, I tried Walgreens and the prints were ok, but the scans were dusty and at a low resolution. I’ve been to New Lab, but now they are further from my office and they are only open Monday through Friday, and about seven hours a day; I work eight hours a day. What to do?!?
I found Light Waves on Unilocal!They are about 2 blocks from my home and are opened from 8am until 7pm, just enough time to stop there before and/​or after work. They didn’t snicker at me for being a clueless student and sent me an email when my project was done. I picked up a high resolution CD with clean images and my negatives were nicely packaged. While I was checking out, the guy asked, «are you a student?» «Yes» I replied and he asked to see my I.D. so I can get 10% off my order. I was gracious for that because that saved me some dough.
They are very nice and will answer any dumb question you may have. They are helpful and professional and cheaper than New Lab. I highly recommend them!