Top service for 8mm film reel transfer to digital or DVD
Here’s a fun fact: 8mm film reels are a movie film format named because the film strip is literally 8mm wide. There are two main kinds of 8mm technology, regular 8mm film and Super8 film. Kodak originally marketed the 8mm film as a cheaper alternative to 16mm film. Spools actually contained 16mm film with twice as many sprockets so the film was recorded on one side, flipped to record on the other, and then split down the middle when processed. When you bring your materials in for an 8mm film reel to DVD transfer, this is why your yellow Kodak boxes of 8mm film say 25 ft on them, but actually contain 50 ft of footage.
8mm film did officially stop being made until 1992, but your old home movies could be as much as 85 years old. If your oldest film reels have survived this long, you’ve been very lucky, but the time to convert your 8mm film to digital and get it transferred to DVD or USB (we’re flexible) is right now. The dyes in your color 8mm film are already faded and will continue to do so. The rate of deterioration is multiplied when you store your film reels in the attic, basement or any conditions with unstable temperatures and exposure to sunlight. Our technicians can convert 8mm film to DVD, scanning your film frame-by-frame using our cutting-edge equipment and do everything available to provide you a beautiful and optimized DVD or digital file of your priceless family movies that you will be able to enjoy forever.
Good news: if your film reels have sound, we do digitize it!
If you would like to convert your 8mm TAPES to DVD, visit this page.
If you have a different film reel format, you can find more formats here.
Everything you need to know
about regular 8mm home movies to DVD
Common questions about regular 8mm film to DVD, USB & Digital
How do I measure my 8mm film reels?
This is even easier than you might imagine and is not hard at all. The footage of a film reel can be measured by the diameter. For example, one of the most popular 8mm reels we see comes in the yellow Kodak boxes. These fit in the palm of your hand and are 3 inches in diameter. That 3 inches means there is 50 feet of film. You can see a full chart and learn in detail how to measure your reels from our blog post here.
How do I tell if there is audio on my old film reels?
If you can’t remember whether or not your old film reels have sound, we have an easy way to uncover these details. When you unroll one of your 8mm film reels, check for a thin copper strip on the edge of the reel. This is an indicator of audio! Be sure to check both sides, as it only appears on one.
Can you transfer moldy film reels?
We can usually transfer moldy 8mm film to DVD, but occasionally no. We have the ability to do a level of surface cleaning to your film reels, but significant mold on a reel can affect the quality of your film to digital transfer and sometimes a reel is damaged beyond saving. It’s important to properly store and care for any film reels you haven’t converted to DVD or USB yet.
8mm film reels to DVD – From Our Blog
Understanding 8mm film reels
If we didn’t give you info about the boxes of regular 8mm film in your house, we have even more information on this format.
Read more about 8mm film reels…
Glossary of 8mm film terms
You don’t have to be a computer genius to understand how your 8mm film reel to DVD process works. Check out our glossary!
Read more about video conversion…
What to do after digitizing?
If you’re doing your regular 8mm film reel to DVD, we also provide digital files. What can you do from there? Our professionals have ideas for you!
Read more about what comes next…
“After dinner, I showed old 8mm home movies from the ‘50s and ‘60s (plus some videos from the ‘80s) that I recently had Everpresent convert to a flash drive. My family LOVED watching them! It was bittersweet seeing loved ones who are no longer with us (including my mom), but at the same time, it was comforting, too. And my kids and my nephews liked seeing older family members in their younger years (not to mention the old cars, radios, phones, etc. that appeared in the background of the old movies).”
– Raymond A.
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You can also ship directly to us!
- Consultations about 8mm film to DVD transfer from the privacy of your own home
- Perfect for large or complex projects with multiple formats
- Our certified consultants travel across the Northeast
- Free, no obligations estimate
- Speak with our certified consultants over the phone about shipping and other details
- Ship to our headquarters in Newton, MA
Standard & custom 8mm film reel pricing options
- Our team will walk you through the technical options in advance before you commit to anything. It’s free to get your materials to us for an estimate and there’s no upfront payment.
- We only charge for the work we do, not for a preset numbers of items. We don’t promote flashy discounts or expiring coupons. We offer volume discounts because it’s fair, and we apply them automatically.
- We offer the widest range of options and capabilities to assure your project gets what it needs, but out of respect for your budget, never more than it needs. In our business, one size rarely fits all (or fits in a box).
Ultimately, what we care about is helping families do this important project ONCE – and do it right the first time.
Film ReelsFirst 500ft: $15.99 per 50/ft$13.99 after your first 500 feetThis bulk discount is applied automatically! |
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We quote by 50/ft to make the math easy because 90% of our orders are the 3" 50ft reels. But we only charge you for the footage you have. For example, if you give us a reel that fits 50 feet, but only has 25 feet of film, we only charge you for half of the per 50ft transfer fee.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can you handle large 8mm film transfer projects?
We certainly can handle large 8mm film to DVD transfer projects. EverPresent digitizes over five million feet of film reels every year. While turnaround times can vary, we recently did a project with over 200,000 feet of film in under six weeks. Most of our larger projects come from institutions like libraries and universities or sports franchises. We can not only handle large volumes of 8mm film, but also can handle archival needs like labeling files, adding searchable metadata and more.
When would it make sense to do 8mm film transfer at home instead of using a digitizing service?
If budget is a huge issue and you have a large project, it can make sense. But given that putting together any decent at-home digitizing rig will cost many hundreds of dollars, you have to have a few thousand feet of film to justify the cost – presuming you have the time and inclination. In our experience digitizing millions of feet of film, less than 20% of our clients have a large enough 8mm film collection that it would be worth considering the investment in a DIY setup.
Does EverPresent offer editing or enhancements of 8mm film conversions?
Yes. Our baseline services include film cleaning, some light software enhancements that stabilize the footage and the grain, and we clip each individual reel into its own labeled scene. Beyond that, when it comes to editing, the .mp4 h264 files types we give you are an industry standard and have no protections on them, so you have the option to edit on your own with free software. Our team is also available for custom editing projects, for which we charge $95/hour. For the same rate we can also perform additional enhancements to your film. The most common film restoration people hire us for revolves around scene-by-scene exposure adjustments along with color correction. If you know you have significant exposure issues with your film, it’s best to let us know upfront. Exposure is best corrected if we can adjust the lighting element during the initial transfer to digital. Color optimization can happen after the initial digitizing.
What is the highest resolution available for EverPresent 8mm film conversion?
We are proud to offer 2KHD film digitizing at a very competitive price. That said, given the nature of most old 8mm films, you likely don’t need it. Most original home movie footage is not very sharp to begin with, so the added sharpness from 2K transfers can be a poor use of a limited budget. Further, most television show a maximum of 1080p HD, and some only 720p. 2K is one step above and provides peace of mind. If you see someone pushing 4K or 8K captures, remember that your TV cannot visually represent 4K and 8K. Unless you are in a professional video production situation or money is truly of no object, a 2K capture is more than sufficient, and likely more than you need for your film to digital transfer.
Why do you charge for 8mm film transfers by the foot? Wouldn’t flat rate pricing be simpler?
We charge flat rates for our video tape transfers because it’s a mostly inactive process, and the flat rate structure provides predictability. But when we transfer 8mm movies to DVD, the process is active for our technicians throughout the conversion, and a flat rate would overcharge our clients. Most reels are partially empty, and over 80% of the reels we see are only 50 feet long. When our competitors offer flat rates for film reels, even when they are heavily discounted, they are more expensive than EverPresent for these most common reel sizes. By the foot pricing is a fair way of only charging for the work we do, and not gouging clients on smaller reels. We rarely lose 8mm business to another provider because our pricing is better and we have capabilities with sound captures, mold cleaning and HD upgrades that our competitors lack.