Trusted service for Betamax tape transfer to digital or DVD
The Betamax era was the era of the video game, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Star Wars, women in space and the war between the VHS and the Beta tape. VHS technology ultimately won the race against Betamax and Betacam tapes and dominated the analog recording landscape for years.
If you’re looking to convert Betamax tape to DVD, you’ve come to the right place. Our expertise in standard and uncommon analog video transfers sets us apart. We transfer your Betamax to digital format tapes directly to the computer, clip out any blank or blue screens, and capture your labels to digital format and to your computer providing you a digital file collection in addition to your requested DVDs or USBs.
If you’re curious about the analog video format war, ultimately it came down to three things: recording time, quality and availability. The first Sony Betamax tape could only record 60 minutes of footage, compared to the 120 minutes a JVC VHS tape could record. Sony and JVC began a race to see which video industry giant could push out the longer recording time, but who really needed a VHS tape that recorded for 10 hours? Betamax tapes were originally marketed as superior quality, but the ultimate difference between the two was too slight for the average consumer to even notice. Instead it was cost that drove Betamax tapes out of the game. Consumers wanted something affordable and that wasn’t part of Sony’s business model until too late.
If your tape says BetaCAM, not Betamax – you want to be on this page.
If you think you don’t have Beta tapes – you want to be on this page.
Everything you need to know
to convert Beta tapes to DVD
Common Beta to digital questions
Is my tape a Betacam or Betamax tape?
The easiest way to figure this out is to view the labeling on your tape. Your tape will tell you whether or not it’s a Betacam tape or a Betamax tape. If you have a Betacam tape, you may even see more indication of what kind of tape it is. You can reference the logos above for what you should be looking for and click here if you have a BetaCAM tape!
How long is my Beta tape?
The answer to this depends on the tape. You remember that recording length war we mentioned? That means that some Betamax tapes can go up to 5 hours, and some Betacam tapes can go up to 3 hours, but there are a number of variables around how they were originally recorded that affected how much a Beta tape could record. If you’re wondering how many DVDs you’ll get back when you transfer your Betamax to DVD, we can tell you that our dual layer DVDs hold all but your longest tapes on one DVD.
Should I transfer Beta to DVD or USB?
It’s always a good idea to have digital back up, and if DVDs continue to go the way of the Beta tape they will phase themselves out eventually. Digital is the future, but it’s also nice to sit in front of your living room TV and put in a DVD of your favorite family memories. Consider getting one of each when you convert your Beta tape.
Beta Tapes to DVD – From Our Blog
Is my Beta tape PAL?
Beta tapes were also popular in Europe. If you have family there or traveled there with your camera, you may have a PAL Beta tape.
Read more about spotting PAL tapes…
5 Common Tape Issues
There are a lot of components to a video tape of any kind and they have their share of problems after so many years.
Read more common video transfer problems…
How to store your tapes
These are the best practices for how to store all of your home movies and Beta tapes to keep them safe before and after digitizing.
Read more Beta tape storage…
“We’d accumulated a large number of family movies and videos over the years – all in different formats and mostly not labeled or mislabeled. We were about to throw them out, but EverPresent ‘saved the day’. Their staff was friendly and knowledgeable, and clearly were about preserving memories, not just ‘copying stuff’. We’ve had a great time looking at our boys early years, and some unexpected footage of my wife’s father teaching a class. Be prepared to cry (with happiness)!”
– Mark L.
Jamaica Plain, MA
Visit one of our Northeast locations:
MassachusettsHEADQUARTERS - Newton
Ashburnham
Back Bay & South End
Braintree
Burlington
Cambridge/Somerville
Dartmouth
Falmouth
Great Barrington
Manchester
Natick
North Attleborough (MA/RI)
Northborough
Northampton
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or work with us from the comfort of your own home.
You can also ship directly to us!
- Consultations from the privacy of your own home
- Perfect for large or complex projects with multiple formats
- Our certified professionals travel across the Northeast
- Free, no obligations estimate of your Betamax to digital transfer
- Speak with our certified consultants over the phone
- Ship to our headquarters in Newton, MA
Standard Beta pricing options
We’ll digitally capture your labeling when we convert your Betacam and Betamax tapes to USB or DVD
- Delivered via private website
- High quality transfer to computer
- 3 level human eye quality control
- Experienced and trained local technicians
- USB drive or CD/DVDs
- Label transcription
- Experienced and trained local technicians
- Private website included
- DVD & USB combos
- Ask about archival DVDs for added security
- 80yr, scratch-resistant, silver/gold alloy
- Medical-grade USBs
- Betamax, PAL, SECAM formats: $35.99
- Umatic/Betacam SP/DVC Pro: $55.99/tape
$35.99/tape for more than 10 - Tapes over 2.5 hours: add $10
- Extra DVD or CD: $5 Standard, $10 Archival
- Extra USB: ask your consultant
- Add label transcription to Digital Only: $2/tape
- Private website free for 6 months
WE ORGANIZE AND DIGITIZE ALL YOUR MEMORIES
Get an estimate to convert beta tape to DVD today!
Fill out our form or call to speak to a consultant about our BETA TO DVD TRANSFER SERVICE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why do Beta transfers cost more than other formats, like VHS tapes?
The primary issue is the equipment. You can find decent VCRs online for a few hundred dollars, and many families still own one. That’s not the case with Beta. Betamax decks will run you nearly $1,000 for a solid unit. Further, there are many other beta tapes. For example, we see plenty of Betacam, Betacam SP and Digital Beta tapes. These players cost $2,000+ and are difficult to maintain. At the end of the day, these less popular video tape formats lead to dramatically higher equipment costs to play and convert them, higher repair and parts costs, and therefore the prices for Betamax and other Beta video transfers to digital will always cost more.
If I have the same content on a Beta format and a VHS format, which should I digitize?
If the original content was just an OK recording, VHS to digital is a better bet because it’s cheaper to transfer this file type. However, if the recording was pristine, particularly on the audio front, the Beta transfer on a HiFi deck is probably worth the upgrade.
How do I pick the right service for Betamax to digital services?
Selecting a good service to convert Betamax to digital is really all about availability. In our experience, many websites list that they offer digitizing for the four main Beta tape formats. But often, one of two things happens. First, many providers only have one precious Betamax to DVD converter for each format, especially if it’s a non-US tape. Before sending tapes, you should email or contact a service to confirm their machine is in working order. Second, many clients say they have a Betamax, which is the most common Beta tape, but actually have a Betacam. For every 10 digitizing providers with a working Betamax deck there is probably one with a working DigiBeta deck. So we highly recommend being clear on what you have, and being super precise in your language when seeking quotes. At EverPresent, we have dealt with hundreds of situations where clients sent a Beta tape to a small local shop or a big national discounter only to have it returned not digitized.