8mm Film transfer to digital - any recommendations?

[Handruin]

Has anyone used any of the internet-based services that offer 8mm film to digital transfer services? I'm looking to have some old film reels converted and I would like to archive these in a decent resolution and in a digital format so that I can edit them later.

I see that there are several methods of doing the transfer with the more expensive option being something called Motion Picture Film Scanner. The cost for this in an HD resolution is rather expensive on a per-foot cost. I was leaning towards the Frame by Frame option in HD, but I don't know if it's worth springing for the better conversion process or if it's not really all it claims to be.

The two options I was looking at are http://www.videoconversionexperts.com/index.html and www.filmtransfer.com. Has anyone used either of these and or have an opinion based on a service you may have used?

 

[Mercutio]

I had a student who found instructions and built a projection box with a stable mount for a modern-ish camcorder so he could transfer everything to a digital format. It was basically a large cardboard box and some towels, but with everything measured out so the camcorder was always in the right place to record the projection.

 

[LunarMist]

I have not used one in many years. Back in the 90s days you would take the film reels to a camera store for that. The home projection/recording method suffers from synch issues; super 8 film is 18FPS for example. The home copy units are cheap if you can find a used one on eBay for example.

However, I would go with a professional place that does the transfers onsite in the US. Some of the companies may send your originals overseas and are very slow, not to mention lose or damage them.

 

[Stereodude]

Well, I think a key component is what's on the 8mm films and how much it's worth to Handy. Recommending a professional grade transfer is great if it's super important and money isn't an object...

 

[Handruin]

I had a student who found instructions and built a projection box with a stable mount for a modern-ish camcorder so he could transfer everything to a digital format. It was basically a large cardboard box and some towels, but with everything measured out so the camcorder was always in the right place to record the projection.

I don't think this is the method I want. From what I've read, the projection method captured on a video recorder offers the lowest quality transfer. It may be the most economical from a DIY perspective, but I'm willing to pay for a moderatly quality transfer.

 

[Handruin]

I have not used one in many years. Back in the 90s days you would take the film reels to a camera store for that. The home projection/recording method suffers from synch issues; super 8 film is 18FPS for example. The home copy units are cheap if you can find a used one on eBay for example.

However, I would go with a professional place that does the transfers onsite in the US. Some of the companies may send your originals overseas and are very slow, not to mention lose or damage them.

That's what I did for the first reel. Ritz camera store was used and they sent out the film to a place to have it transferred. The end result was a DVD and the transfers quality was only standard def quality and pretty poorly transferred at best. There looked to be a lot of blockiness in the video which reminded me of what a crappy low bitrate codec might product.

 

[Handruin]

Well, I think a key component is what's on the 8mm films and how much it's worth to Handy. Recommending a professional grade transfer is great if it's super important and money isn't an object...

The films are of very old family stuff which is why we would like to transfer and preserve it in digital format. I'm trying to find that right mix of cost vs quality with some real world feedback from anyone who may have done this.

 

[Striker]

I've never used it personally but you might look into http://www.costcodvd.com/