Transfer 8mm to DVD

[Rod Hagen]

A place in the valley quoted me $1200 to transfer 40 rolls of 8mm to 3 DVDs. Does that sound right?

[Rod Hagen]

There are actually 48 reels and each is 3 inch reels/50ft.

 

 

http://www.RodHagen.com

310.360.9890

-Hagen

[+ deej]

That would be $25.00/pop. Sounds reasonable to me. If there's any digital cleanup in the process, it's probably a great price.

 

One thing: consider yourself lucky to HAVE a place relatively local that does the work. When I was looking around a few years ago, shipping (and potential loss) was involved. :-(

[JT Brooklyn]

Definitely. That is not a bad quote at all. Especially if it is a "Straight" Transfer,no edits etc..:+

[guyinsf]

I don't know the market, but the price seems excessive to me based on a quick Google search. The reels you are speaking of contain only about 3 1/2 minutes of film each, which means you have a total of just under 3 hours of film to be transferred. $400 per hour of film transfer seems awfully expensive to me.

 

Not that I know anything about this vendor (I just clicked on their link in response to my Google search), but their quote for this job is about $250 (to put the three hours on a single dvd, it seems) or $300 (to spread out the material over 3 dvds):

 

http://www.homemoviedepot.com

 

It appears that they will even transfer one roll for you for free so you can check out the quality before committing to a large project.

 

Another site I glanced at provided a free tutorial for how to do this yourself (assuming, of course, that you have the necessary equipment to do so).

 

Then, for kicks, I added "Los Angeles" to my search and clicked on the first link. The following place (in Chatsworth) will transfer 8mm to dvd-r for $60/hour (that's an hour of their time, not $60 per hour of film to be transferred). I assume it would take them far fewer than 20 hours to do your job, but given the number of reel changes I would certainly get a good estimate from them before committing to doing the job with them:

 

http://www.shokus.com/rates.html

 

So unless this shop that is proposing to charge you $1,200 can convince you that their work will be far superior (and you are willing to spend the extra money for whatever that additional quality might be), it seems like you can do a lot better.

[Rod Hagen]

Thank you Guy and Deej and all.

 

I looked at homemoviedepot.com and they seem excessively low ball. Don't know how or what the hidden fee would be.

 

Most of the places I contacted around LA who won't do family 8mms because they're so fragile recommended Yale, the place I visited in the valley. Those that were willing seemed to have similar rates to Yale, but wouldn't give me a definite quote until I dropped the reels off.

 

Shokus quoted about $500, which seems really low. But I'll probably go with them. THANKS!

 

http://www.RodHagen.com

310.360.9890

-Hagen

[+ deej]

Yeah, old family stuff can be difficult unless they're set up for special handling.

 

I once had some old color slides of my parents' wedding (that my sister and I never even knew existed) enhanced/made negatives. The guy doing the scanning wouldn't even touch them. He made me load them in the scanner. (I appreciated his care.)

[MTLover]

I used homemoviedepot.com last year and they did a great job and included a second DVD copy for free. I submitted Super 8mm sound film and had it transferred to DVD. Sorry I can't recall what I paid but it was definitely a reasonable price. Also, they will put the transferred footage in a file and post it online so you can do some editing before they burn the dvd. (I didn't take advantage of that feature but it's a good option if you're sending footage you want re-arranged or deleted.)

 

Hope that helps. Good luck with the transfer.

[Rick Munroe]

Rod, what kind of footage do you have? I ask because I just read the following on Donnie Russo's website:

 

Well Well Well I was told about this sometime ago by my grandfather, and I often thought he was pulling my leg.

 

taking me on a ride such as older people do. And finally I found the box in which was told to me about and for me to take out of where it was hidden from my grandma's. And in that box there was an old old film and what was on it would having me saying now I know where it all came from. Hmmmmm They say things are passed on to you by the ones before you. And i now truely believe it. In this box was that film in which we end up taking and transferring onto digital and now I decided that all should be able to see what we saw. So even though it is st8 it is a great history piece and a look that I would had never thought that my grandpa would have looked like when he was Younger-Hung-and his COCK and BALLS FILLED FULL WITH OUR DNA AND I DO MEAN DNA. AS I am a great Cummer and Man Oh Man so was he. So get ready to see what I am talking about.

 

I know MY FUCK n COCK got HUGH watching this piece of the history and I go to say well you think about it after seeing it and then you tell me what you think I was thinking about. WOOF Enjoy It I know HE did !!! HOT HOT HOT peace THE RUSSO 'S COMPOUND THE RUSSO CUM MASTERS OF THE 20 TH AND 21 ST CENTURY. -BFG-

 

For once, Rick Munroe is speechless. :o