35 Years of Memories Because of You.
This isn’t about us, it’s about you, the people who handed us your photos, trusted us with slides, slideshows, reels, and memories. You made 35 years happen, and in today’s world, that’s rare. It’s your milestone to own.
A Nostalgic Look Back—What Was Photography Like in 1990?
When we began this journey to help preserve photographs, it was 1990, and we owned a retail photo lab in Irvine, CA called 30 Minute Photos Etc. No digital files yet. But, over time, many of you mailed prints, slides, and negatives on paper envelopes.
The first truly consumer digital camera, the Logitech FotoMan, launched in 1990—it stored black-and-white images and cost nearly $1,000 . Photoshop was brand new—released for Macintosh on February 19, 1990. Editing a photo meant expensive film, lab fees, or mailing prints around. Digital editing? Science fiction. Kodak’s first DSLR prototype debuted in Arles in 1990, but didn’t ship until 1991. It used a Nikon F3 body strapped to a 200 MB hard drive and cost the equivalent of tens of thousands today .
Back then, preserving memories was physical, analog, slow, and required trust. You trusted us with that. That was a big deal. It was about chemistry and film developing. Running a photo lab with Noritsu equipment in the early ’90s was part science lab, part art studio. You’d load 35mm film canisters into the processor, where they were developed using a series of precise chemical baths. One of them is C-41, the standard color film process that involved developer, bleach, fixer, and stabilizer. Every print was then exposed onto photo paper using optical enlargers or digital scanners, then run through heated rollers and chemical tanks to bring the image to life. The smell of chemistry filled the air, timers buzzed constantly, and operators had to monitor temperatures, pH levels, and cleanliness with almost obsessive care—because even one misstep could ruin an entire roll of someone’s once-in-a-lifetime memories.
This Journey Is Yours. Every photo media format you mailed, every print you had us scan— you made our 35 years real. When you found your beloved grandma’s wedding photo or old family travel slides, you reminded us why we exist. You’ve chosen us, time after time. That loyalty is the heart of this milestone. Very few businesses make it to 35 years. That’s a rare level of shared trust.
Why It Feels So Huge — And So Human
Think about it: in 1990, most snapshots lived in photo albums or desk drawers. Now we live in a world where cameras are in every pocket. Billions of digital photos are taken daily thanks to sensors invented in the early 1990s—CCDs and CMOS chips developed by pioneers like George Smith and Willard Boyle . They laid the groundwork for the selfie boom, but real stories still needed human hands — and your trust to preserve them.
From Your Scans to Our Stories
Here’s how you’ve helped build this story:
Trust handed in rolls of film, then boxes of pictures to repurpose and digitize. Now, your photos are returned scanned with digital JPEG files. Memories re-lived. Grandparents saw their youth again. Kids learned about their parents. Travel adventures got a second life.
A Simple, Deep Thank You
This year’s 35th is yours. Every fading photograph you mailed, every color slide and 8 mm frame, and every memory recaptured — it’s all because of you. If we’ve lasted this long, it’s because you chose us.
Looking Ahead
Though tech has changed dramatically, one thing hasn’t: our focus on you. As devices evolve — quantum sensors, AI tagging — the heart of what we do stays the same: preserving your legacy. Thank you. Here’s to 35 years of stories saved, and to whatever memories you’ll trust us with next.
1990: When Noritsu Ruled the Darkroom
Back before ScanMyPhotos, we launched with banks of photo processing equipment. The one machine that reigned supreme in the world of photo labs: Noritsu. If you owned a minilab in the early ’90s, Noritsu was your holy grail. Noritsu systems were the heartbeat of 1-hour photo labs. Giant, humming machines lined with rollers, tanks, and processors, capable of turning a 35mm roll of film into beautiful 4×6 prints in less than an hour. At a time when waiting days or weeks for prints was normal, this was revolutionary. Speed & Quality: Noritsu minilabs could develop, process, and print in under 60 minutes. Customers could drop off a roll at lunch and pick up prints by dinner.
- Precision: With integrated color correction, density adjustments, and automatic dodging/burning, Noritsu machines delivered crisp, vibrant photos that still hold up today.
- Scalability: Labs could process hundreds of rolls a day. For small businesses and photo labs (like us), that meant surviving — and thriving — in a fast-changing market.
- Innovation: Noritsu even allowed reprints from negatives without needing the original film roll, a huge leap for families wanting copies of vacation or school photos.
We were one of the early adopters, and let’s say: Noritsu was our first love. Customers lined up to get their prints, trusting our lab for their most personal moments — baby’s first steps, graduations, vacations, and holidays. It wasn’t just a machine. It was magic.
