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Transferring your 8mm and 16mm films to DVD or digital video is a great way to preserve these memories in digital form.
Our 8mm and 16mm Film Transfer To DVD Process
Our high quality film conversion process will bring your 8mm (sound or silent) or 16mm (sound or silent) to life in fantastic ways.
We can convert a variety of film types, including:
- 8mm (silent and magnetic sound)
- Super8 (silent or magnetic sound)
- 16mm (silent or optical sound)
If you don't know what type of film you have, there are pictures below to help you identify it, or contact us with any questions.
We start by inspecting your film for damage, repairing any breaks and adding leader, if necessary. We then clean and lubricate the film using a fast drying film cleaner. The result is film in better viewing condition than it has been in years.
Each frame of film is captured individually (frame-by-frame) using professional digital cameras. The light source used during this capture process is an low temperature light that can in no way damage your film. The film is evenly illuminated, assuring that there won't be any "hot spots" visible in the captured images. After capture, software is used to stitch the images together to produce a digital video file. This frame-by-frame process has fantastic results: vibrant, flicker free images with excellent detail, contrast and color. As part of the processing, we will remove some color casts and adjust for under- or over-exposed film.
We provide your digital video in a number of different forms.
- Standard video DVD. These DVDs are playable on any standard DVD player. We include a standard basic menu on each DVD. Chapter breaks between film reels can be added for a small fee. A single DVD can store about 2 hours of video. This is about 1500 feet of 8mm film or 3000 feet of 16mm film. If you have more film than this, we will create multiple video DVDs to hold all the resulting video. We can provide custom editing services; please ask.
If you plan to edit your video, you should consider receiving it in uncompressed form either as a miniDV archive tape or on external hard drive. Please see below.
- miniDV Tape Archive. These tapes hold the uncompressed raw video generated from your films. This video is used to create the standard video DVDs. The video on these tapes can be extracted onto a PC or Mac using a standard miniDV video camera attached to the computer (generally) through a 1394 (Firewire) cable.
- Hard Drive. If you plan to edit your digital video, getting the data back on a hard drive can save considerable time and effort. We can use USB or Firewire drives formatted for Mac or PC. We can purchase these drives on your behalf or you are welcome to send a drive to us.
We return your film and digital video using a reliable, trackable carrier. Your film is treated with utmost care while in our hands.
8mm and 16mm Film Conversion Prices
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Price |
| 8mm film / foot |
$0.17 / foot |
| 16mm film / foot |
$0.17 / foot |
| Sound - additional cost per foot |
Free! |
| Minimum order |
400 feet |
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DVD costs:
DVDs play in standard DVD players. A basic menu is included. |
| First Copy of DVD movie |
Free! |
| Additional Copies of DVD movie |
$5.99 per DVD |
Chapter Breaks in DVD movie (at reel boundaries) |
$4.00 each |
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Uncompressed video in .avi format on miniDV tape or external hard drive |
| First Copy of miniDV Tape Archive |
Free! |
| Additional Copy of miniDV Tape Archive |
$14.99 per tape |
Digital video on external hard drive (per hour, plus drive cost) |
$14.99 |
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Return Shipping (via UPS with insurance and signature required) |
| Ground |
$11 + $1/lb over 3 lbs |
| 3 Day |
$18 + $2/lb over 3 lbs |
| Overnight |
$44 + $3.50/lb over 1 lb |
You can pay for your orders using your Visa, MasterCard or American Express by calling us toll-free at 877-547-9534 or securely online using PayPal.
16mm and 8mm Film Formats
These diagrams should give you the ability to identify the types of film that you have. If you are having trouble, please contact us and we will help.
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8mm
Film Width: 8mm
Frame Size: 4.37 mm x 3.28 mm
Sprocket hole separation: 3.81mm
This is what most people recognize as home movie film.
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Super8
Film Width: 8mm
Frame Size: 5.36 mm x 4 mm
Sprocket hole separation: 4.23mm
Super8 film, a successor to standard 8mm film, came in an easy to load housing. The slightly larger frame area of the Super 8 format provides better image quality as well.
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16mm
Film Width: 16mm
Frame Size: 10.4mm x 7.5mm
Sprocket spacing: 7.5mm
16mm film was introduced in 1923 by Kodak. It was used extensively prior to the introduction of 8mm films for home use.
Image is from the Wikimedia Commons. |

16mm with sound
Film Width: 16mm
Frame Size: 10.4mm x 7.5mm
Sprocket spacing: 7.5mm
The film width is the same as standard 16mm, but sprocket holes are only on one side. A portion of the non-sprocketed side carries an optical soundtrack.
Variants of this format have larger frame areas without sound.
Image is pulic domain from the US Federal Government.
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