Would the cost be lower if instead of having old film negatives developed by a pro developer you set-up your own developing room instead?

Better yet, get a scanner that will electronically develop the negatives. I got one for less than $200, There are some out there that are even cheaper than that. That’s my next project, scanning hundreds and hundreds of negatives going back to the late 70s.

That strongly depends on the amount of negatives you have (to develop).
For one film it would be a little expensive, but for hundreds….
Here in the Netherlands I pay 20 cents for a 4 by 6 (gets cheaper if you order bigger amounts of prints), and about 5 euro for developing a film (or for free if you buy their brand films).
I bought myself a cheapo scanner (approx. 30 euro/dollar); works like a charm.

Whew. There is hope! Thanks jellies! I don’t have much neg film rolls but I still have a Nikon FM 10 which I intend to have fun using.

In my (uneducated) opinion, a scanner is nothing more than a lightbox with a lens.
I would look for a cheap one first, to see if you like the process, and results.

I researched and asked a lot of questions. I’ve been wanting this for over a year.

I used a scanner to download and print out black and white negatives and it worked great!
It does not work for color negatives though.
In the U.S> there was a company that developed old film rolls for real cheap, but its not there anymore, so look online for another one or better yet see if there is a great demand for this service and start one yourself.
History buffs and genealogy sites of old images may need that kind of service.
Good luck, you may have a niche to fill and thus a new company.

Oh, you can still get them developed cheaply.

As with most digital accessories, it isn’t quite so much the scanner that makes the difference as it is the software. There are some very affordable scanners (under $150) that are set up with negative holders to help you scan. And there are a few programs that will convert a scanned negative to a positive that can be printed.

There are some scanners that have a slide holder for scanning old slides.

@rebbel…to develop the negatives requires light from top and bottom and regular scanners don’t have that.
So, anyway, as soon as I get Auggie’s curtians set and the rest of the room put back together send ur stuff to me.

Black and white copies aren’t so difficult. You just need a small darkroom, three different chemicals, trays for chemicals, photo paper of different sizes and a enlarger.
Color film is a bit more difficult and would take some additional, more technological equipment. So maybe your darkroom wouldn’t be all that small.
Do you have hundreds or thousands of copies to make? If not, you might be better off to take your negatives to someone else.

@kritiper If Kodak or Fuji are still selling films I do intend to restart the hobby of using my film camera to shoot images.

Always wanted to have my own dark room.

@mazingerz88 Film is making a comeback since there are things one can do with film that cannot be done without. Thumbs up!