PhotoLounge — Local services in Philadelphia

Love photo lounge, and there's a few things that really stand out to me.

(1) their turn around times are AMAZING. Next day film development, even if you're dropping of a lot of rolls, isn't really something that's available anymore. This alone is a precious resource for the city.

(2) their printing is likewise, AMAZING. Before I discovered photolounge, I got prints through Google or at pharmacies. Those prices are waaaay cheaper than photolounge, so I was a little nervous the first time I shelled out for a $25 8x10 print from photolounge. I was worried I was being grossly overcharged. But when I saw the results I was absolutely amazed. Without a doubt, you can clearly see where that extra money is going. The quality is night and day, and when you're printing a memory, the extra expense is totally worth it.

(3) the vibes are good. Photography can be an obnoxiously gatekeepy hobby, where shops will palpably look down on you for not knowing as much as them. Not the case with photolounge. The staff has always been super chill and helpful when I have questions. I was really into photography about 10 years ago, and I'm getting back into it. It's not like riding a bike, you really do need to rebuild your skill and knowledge, and the photolounge staff has always been eager to help.

(4) kinda related to number 3, the staff cares about what you want to do as a photographer. I came in with some specific film in mind to purchase, and the staff asked what I planned on using it for. They told me what I planned to buy was overkill for the use (in a very nice but not condescending way), and suggested some different films to try that I hadn't used before. I was really happy with the results, and pleased with the recommendations. I think when stores are willing to downsell you on a product is a great indicator of trust. It indicated to me that the staff cares about my shooting experience, and didn't want me to overspend when it wasn't necessary. Really a marker of good trustworthy business practices.

(5) They seem to be pretty involved in the photo community in Philly. I love seeing the weekly contests, and picture from studio events. It's cool to see that they're not just a business, but a social hub for the photography community. I'm an anxious zillenial so I haven't gone to an event yet, but sure like to soon!

Tl;Dr, great photo shop, and I'm happy...

Make sure you pick up your negatives in time - or they trash them without warning!

Had 1 color roll developed and scanned by Photo Lounge with somewhat sentimental photos on them. After dropping off my film they were very quick at processing it and sent me through a DropBox link with the large scans. Each of these were roughly 3-5MB JPEGs. At other places I have developed film a large scan can be 30-50MB TIFF files. Ah well - not too much of a problem.

However the issue was that they chucked out my negatives! When ordering I chose to pick up them up for the store, but due to some travel and personal circumstances I had to collect them about 3.5 weeks later. When I did this a staff member explained that they didn't have the negatives and that they were most likely in the longer term storage setup they had - explaining that they move them there around 30 days, and eventually dispose of them if unclaimed for too long. She said she would find them and give me a phone call to let me know when to come to pick them up.

I received no callback for 1 week, and when I rang the store they told me that they had not been able to find the negatives and that they had been destroyed. I understand that I was late to pick them up and they can't store things forever - however nowhere (I can find) on the website or in my order did they tell me that I only had roughly 30 days?! And similarly, I received no email or helpful heads-up warning that they were going to destroy the film. Looking back at the website I can find no mention of this supposed policy. They were relatively curt with me on the phone and it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

I was disappointed by this experience from a local film shop that I was keen to support as a new Philly resident :(

UPDATE: After posting this review the owner replied below. I will still say that I found nowhere on the website or in my order where it stated they only hold onto the negatives for 1 month, so I hope they make that more clear.

Somehow they found my negatives! And they did ship them to me which I appreciate. This does mean however that the store employee who definitively told me they had been trashed was lying or hadn’t looked into my...

UPDATE: The owner clearly doesn’t read updates.

My impression of this place has taken a u-turn after my visit last month. My previous two visits went well. The helpful person I dealt with gave me no issues. During my last visit, I practically had my arm twisted (by a different employee) into customer servicing myself. After explaining at least three times that I had no interest in doing that, the employee said to me "I'll give you a pass this time." I think this person was laboring under the mistaken belief that you are entitled to my business under any terms of your choosing. I can assure you that that is not the case. On top of this, the print was not produced correctly. I asked for a border of about an inch all around. (It states that clearly on the receipt.) The borders on two sides are under 3/4 of an inch. The borders on the other two sides are a half inch. Neither of those are about an inch. I will be giving this place a pass, as in passing it by since it seems no one is interested in providing me what I am looking for. (I also don't order food from any place that has a touch screen in place of a human.) BTW... From your website: "Drop off your order at the store,...." You should change that to something like "Come to our store so we can brow beat you into using one of our computers to place your order."

Recently ordered a large print (image size 18"x12") of a digital photo taken with an older (2009) P&S camera. I was pleasantly surprised at how great the finished product was and at the cost. I will be back to order more in the...