8mm to DVD

It's all about privacy!

We respect your privacy.

You retain the copyright of your treasured family memories!

Not all companies can say that. Please check their "fine-print" to make certain they will not sell or share your personal family footage to an unknown source.

Over the years, we discovered too many other companies retain copyright of your personal memories. If they retain copyright, they can use or sell your footage, as they wish. What you likely thought was a private transaction is not. We find it disturbing that unbeknownst to you, those dearest memories could end up anywhere.

It was astonishing for us to discover a company who was offering their transfers at a low price, and providing low quality work too, only because they were trying to hook customers -- then sell their footage to make a larger profit. We can just imagine their further motives.

If privacy is as important to you as it is us, please do your homework -- then, call us!

 

 

Will rusty reels harm my film?

Rusty reels have a detrimental effect on the film.



It accelerates the decay of the films as it reacts with the film's silver. Film archival houses won't even let rusty reels be stored at their facilities.

It is high-time to get these films first moved onto plastic reels, and then see what sort of needs they have. Conditioning the film will be a crucial second step, before a transfer is attempted.

We carefully clean your film.

After inspecting your films, we begin by asking ourselves, "What will benefit this film the most?"



In our 13 years of experience, we have noted that all films benefit from cleaning -- even films coming straight from the lab! Many films do not require extra special care -- a careful hand-cleaning will do. Other films, though rare, require a pricey film solution called "FilmRenew" (not shown here.)

To note: We never use "VitaFilm" to clean film that has been spliced using tape, because it dissolves the tape.



We have excellent cleaning practices: We start with clean hands (thus the gloves), clean surfaces, and cleaning cloths that are fresh. These things make an important difference.

Below, the film was quite dirty, but with a careful hand cleaning, we achieved very nice results. Sometimes dirt will get securely embedded into the film's emulsion. In certain cases, some of that dirt will remain. Still, plenty will be cleaned off.



Here, there was some mold with the addition of tar built up on the film. We speculate that the owner was a smoker and enjoyed their cigarettes, or perhaps cigars, while watching their treasured family memories.



 

Oops -- don't send like this!

Without padding, things can get quite disheveled and the box can more easily tear, during transit. Please remember to pad it a bit and tape the box -- both on the bottom and top.



When a package has some "play" inside, the box's structural integrity suffers. It's inevitable that boxes get tossed about a bit. Sometimes we receive them with small tear in the corner or side of box. If you fill out those corners and edges some, it both helps protect your materials and adds some fortitude to the box.  Rest assured -- in our history no box has been so damaged that any precious family memories have fallen out of the package or gotten notably damaged, in transit. FILMFIX seems to be a special name and the carriers really do take note!

Which of these doesn't belong?

The fourth reel from the left is quite an odd sight to see. That's because it's a leader of 16mm film - cut in half. This is something that was sometimes done with double perforated 16mm leader but never with regular perforated leader. The leader cannot be projected as it is, because every second perforation hole is missing.

Is it normal 8 or super-8 film?

Without looking at the reel's center hole, one can already determine what kind of film is wound onto each of these two reels, below. It's a sort of geeky puzzle to solve, but this is just my kind of thing. Try to figure it out which is Normal 8mm film and which reel is Super 8mm film.





Did you figure it out?

Hint: It has to do with how the light reflects off of the film's outermost edge revealing alternating bands of light reflection. Normal 8mm film has these bands, because the original film gets cut in half, at the lab, and when wound onto the reel it shows up in this fashion.

(Another way to determine Normal 8mm film from Super 8mm film is to look at the size of the reel's center hole. Normal 8mm film has a smaller center hole than does Super 8mm film.)

Curling 8mm film

When film gets old it can start to curl, because it is shrinking. The shrinkage amount will depend upon what type of base the film was made of and in what conditions the film was stored. Fluctuating temperatures and changes in humidity affect the outside edge of the film, and in time, will cause shrinkage of that outside edge of the film.



Don't wait until your film has curled and become moldy - transfer it now!This outer part can no longer be transferred and will break if a transfer is attempted. Using a special solution of "FilmRenew" helps some film regain elasticity, but the outer third of this film is beyond repair. The inner two-thirds could be helped by soaking the film in "FilmRenew." Still, there is no guarantee what image quality will be achieved.