8mm & 16mm Film
Before the advent of camcorders, there was the 8 millimetre camera, known and loved by fathers everywhere. The silent, some times jumpy images catalogued birthdays, weddings and vacations for over 50 years until VCR's and video cameras made the 8mm film cameras obsolete. More and more people are dusting off these treasured films, from the past and having them converted onto a video so they can be enjoyed without the hassle of setting up a cumbersome movie projector.
How do we do it?
We use state of the art equipment to give you the best possible results. The images on your movies are digitized through a process called "aerial image transfer". This means that the frames are transferred from lens to lens and never projected onto a screen for filming.
Our equipment also allows us to sync the shutter speeds between our equipment so that the final digitized product is "flicker-free." If you have seen other transferred movies, which appear to have a dominating light that constantly pulses on and off, then you know the value of a flicker-free transfer.
Cleaning & Splicing
Once the films arrive at the transfer lab, our technicians clean them and carefully splice them together. If film arrives broken or with a number of home 'fix-its' such as scotch tape and staples, there may be an extra charge for splicing it together. Our technicians clean the films but cannot correct water, or mould damage that the films may have experienced from being improperly stored over many years.
Finally, your 50-foot reels are consolidated on to 400-foot reels in order to more efficiently and effectively complete the conversion process. Your footage will be returned to you on their original reels and packaging..
Our editors then edit out all the film leaders, as well as any frames of the film that are all black, all white or really poorly lit. They will not edit out any frames with people in them, so you do not need to worry about your Aunt Bessie being edited out.
8mm & Super 8mm Films
An 8 millimeter film reel that's 3 inches in diameter holds approximately 50 feet of film and will run for approximately 3 minutes. A reel 5 inches in diameter holds around 200 feet of film and runs for about 12 minutes while a 7 inch reel holds approximately 400 feet of film and runs for approximately 24 minutes (see Table 1).
The most common mistake made on estimating the total length of the 3 inch diameter reel of the 8 millimeter film was the labeling of the box which indicates "25 feet DOUBLE" which means that the reel is actually 50 ft. in total length. NOT 25 ft.
Regular 8 millimeter film has larger sprocket holes then super 8 mm.
Super 8 millimeter film is similar to 8 millimeter except that it has audio capabilities and the sprocket hole size is smaller.
When transferring home movies to video, a 30 minute video tape will hold approximately 450 feet of film, a 60 minute tape holds 900 feet of film and a 120 minute tape will hold approximately 1800 feet of film or 36 reels (see Table 2).
16mm Films
A 16 millimetre film reel that's 7 inches in diameter holds 400 feet of film and is 15 minutes long. A 12 inch reel holds 1200 feet and lasts 30 minutes while a 14 inch reel holding 1600 feet will last 38 minutes. To convert 16 millimetre film to video, a 30 minute tape will hold 100 feet of film, a 60 minute tape holds 2000 feet and a 120 minute tape will hold approximately 4000 feet (see Table 3 & 4).
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