Where to Buy and Develop 35mm Film in Shanghai

No doubt Shanghai is a sweet place to be shooting your street photography.

New gear or vintage. Digital or film. It’s all good.

But if you are part of the burgeoning analogue scene, you may be looking for somewhere you can buy and develop 35mm film in Shanghai.

So, to help you out, I’ll tell you where I go for mine.

This is not a run down of all the film labs in Shanghai, and nobody has paid or asked me to write this. It’s just me telling you about a place I use and recommend because I think it might be useful to you.

Buying and developing 35mm film in Shanghai

The place I go to is called Weima Professional Photo.

It’s got a few things going for it.

• central location
• decent prices
• good results
• English-speaking staff
• shelves and shelves of film for sale

Weima Professional Photo Location

Weima Professional Photo is about five-minute walk from the Jing’an Temple subway station.

The address is Room 1011, 10th Floor, 309 Yuyuan Road, near Wulumuqi Lu, and the phone number 6248-2187.

You have to find the building, which is just a small lobby with a single lift, and go up to the 10th floor. Despite how that might sound, it’s not difficult to find.

I’ll show you the most direct way to get there from the nearest subway station.

Here we go.

1. take exit 1 at Jing’an Temple subway station, turn right, and walk north up this street (Huashan Road) until you get to the next crossroads

2. once you get there and see the Paramount ballroom, cross Huashan Road and head west down Yuyuan Road

3. keep going west until you get to Zi’an Mansion and see this doorway, where you can ignore the 315 on the wall and go in anyway

4. take the lift up to the 10th floor

5. head out through the door to the left of the lift, turn right into the corridor, and Weima will be in front of you 

There’s a map for you too. Because you might be in China and Google might not work for you, it’s a screenshot.

If you can get on Google Maps, you can find those directions by clicking here.

Prices at Weima Professional Photo, Shanghai

Like anything, if you want the cheapest when buying 35mm film in Shanghai, go online.

Go on Taobao.

I went on Taobao to cross-reference the prices of 35mm film at Weima and found them to be as you’d expect – a little bit higher. Like 5 or 10 RMB higher per roll, depending on what you go for.

However, if you’re only visiting the city or are otherwise unable to use Taobao, Weima is one of the best places to buy film in Shanghai.

It’s nice to be able to physically browse and check out the film available, and it’s also a good thing to support a bricks ‘n’ mortar film photography shop, even if they are a touch more expensive than online sellers.

As for developing my film, I’ve paid 40 RMB per roll for colour and 50 RMB for Ilford monochrome.

Prices depend on how big you want your prints.

I get mine scanned onto a USB stick to publish here.

Film available at Weima Photo, Shanghai

Shelves and shelves.

And a fridge, of course.

Just like you would with the food while in Shanghai, you can try some of the local stuff too.

The Ilford PAN 400 I bought is available in Asia (and other markets) but not in the US or UK.

And while the Seagull 100 and 400 is made by a Japanese company, it does share the name of the old Shanghai-based camera manufacturer.

Quality of film processing at Weima

If you’re going to develop your 35mm film in Shanghai, you need a place you can trust with your rolls.

I’ve had good results at Weima, and they do seem to have a good reputation in other places I’ve seen them mentioned online.

They’re a lab. There’s no portrait studio on the side. There’s no cafe. They don’t also develop film. They just develop film.

I like places that specialise.

And not to judge or discriminate based on age but the guy doing the processing is pretty senior. Without asking, I’m presuming he’s been doing this a long time.

I like places that have experience.

And as mentioned earlier, while we’re on the subject of the staff, the girl who works the front desk speaks English.

There are so many variables, of course, that publishing results from a lab might not tell you much apart from well they didn’t destroy my rolls.

Film, camera, light, skills of photographer all differ.

But, regardless, here are some photographs I’ve had developed at Weima.

My photographs have always been ready in 4 days. Maybe there’s an express service. I’ve never asked because I’ve never needed them any quicker than 4 days.

I’ll say again that there are alternatives to Weima Professional Photo in Shanghai.

I’ve just never tried them.

Yes, you can buy and probably develop film cheaper elsewhere. You may find a place with a quicker turnaround. There might be a lab closer to where you’re staying.

I don’t know because Weima was the first place I tried and they’ve never given me a reason to try anywhere else.

So I still go there and, based on my own experience, can recommend you do too.

However, maybe you have a different place you buy and develop 35mm film in Shanghai.

If so, please shout up in the comments below!

p.s. if you’re looking to buy vintage lenses or any other camera gear in Shanghai, be sure to check out this post too 😀

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