8mm Forum: New member questions

This is topic New member questions in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003897

Posted by Carolyn Kovach (Member # 1227) on July 30, 2008, 02:02 AM:

Thanks Steve, sorry for going off topic. Should I try to get the 8 mm to dvd? I have about 13 reels and about a total of 500 ft although there is some discrepancy on what the box said vs what the dealer said is on the reel. I have a 3 in reel the box says 25 ft and they have some kind of chart that says 3 in reels = 50 ft. The cost is $.13 a ft Does that sound reasonable?

Carolyn

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 30, 2008, 08:52 AM:

Well,

The math gets a little more involved with Standard 8mm. The film you shoot is 16mm wide by 25 feet long. You expose one side of it, flip it over and expose the other. Then after processing the lab slits it into two strips each 8mm by 25 feet. Then they splice them and you wind up with one film 8mm by 50 feet.

I still have my doubts about these films containing any images at all, but if you have a chance to do maybe one or a couple of rolls as a test you could try that without committing yourself too deeply.

Are you pretty certain that the person that owned these films exposed them at all? It seems unusual that someone would shoot such a large amount of film and never get it processed. There are a lot of unprocessed half rolls and single full rolls out there because somebody lost the film bug and never got around to going to the lab, but this is as much as I shoot in one or maybe two years.

13 cents per foot is not a lot. Shooting film is not cheap, that’s why not as many people do it as once did. However, if the images you get back are really special to you, the price will be tiny.

The video option depends a lot on what you want to do with the end result. I'm partial to projecting my films, but not everybody wants to do that.

By the way, what kind(s) of film (Brand, film name, ASA) is/are these?

Posted by Carolyn Kovach (Member # 1227) on July 30, 2008, 12:01 PM:

Ok I have 5 rolls of undeveloped film KodachromeII color movie film Double 8 MM. Most of it is from the late 60's. I have 13 reels of developed film and one 8 mm 300 ft reel. The time period on these reels is from the mid 50's to late 70's.

My father was the video bug. My mother said he also had some old movie films which I have yet to find and maybe still in storage.
Since my mother continues to hold onto this box (she is 92) I imagine these are family memories.

I tried to have one reel, which was a 300ft reel, put on a projector at the camera store and the lead tape almost broke. I don't think the guy knew how to thread the projector. It started smoking and we left the projector alone.

I think at this end, I would love to have it transferred to a more permanent source and although I do love movies, I can't take a chance with these films getting any more damage possibly lost forever.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 30, 2008, 12:13 PM:

Do my eyes deceive me? Do we now have a lady member? Congratulations and welcome to the forum!!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 30, 2008, 12:26 PM:

Actually, film itself is the more permanent medium than any video format. The reason is obsolescence just as much as the material itself.

I have this bizarre Aunt up in the Bronx who was a big Regular-8 shooter back in the day. A few years ago she presented me a whole shopping bag full of empty reels and cans. It seems she'd gotten all her films transferred to video and spooled every last inch of the film into the garbage. (!)

The problem is that she chose the state of the art at the time: VHS, which is now a dying format. In a decade it will be much harder to find a player for VHS than a working movie projector (just not built as well) and video tape has a much shorter shelf life than film. This goes double for Kodachrome, which can go a century if kept under kind storage conditions.

If she decides to retransfer she will lose a little more quality each time. If she’d kept the film, it would only be one generation of transfer each go round.

What I'm saying is video transfer is fine for convenience, but to play it safe keep the original film somewhere you'd be comfortable being (not too hot, not too damp, not too dirty...) and maybe you will be able to transfer again when the mega-ultra-super video format of the month goes under without winding up with a screenfull of blurriness.

The thing of film crumbling to dust is a favorite bring-in-the-bucks strategy of the video transfer folks. It's much like the Life Insurance people wanting us to think we're all 40 minutes from a Heart Attack! Sure, some of us are, but more commonly it's simply not true.

I have another much less bizarre aunt in Brooklyn who comes out to visit every so often with her family movies from the 1960s, and I project them for her. She really enjoys that!

Posted by Carolyn Kovach (Member # 1227) on July 30, 2008, 12:33 PM:

Osi

Yep ::looking down:: [Big Grin]

All woman here [Wink]

Thank you for the welcome
Carolyn

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on July 30, 2008, 02:33 PM:

And from me, Shorty [Smile]

Posted by Kevan Ellis (Member # 1232) on July 30, 2008, 03:31 PM:

Welcome Carolyn
I guess now that your the newest member, I'm an old one.
Kevan

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on July 30, 2008, 04:23 PM:

Actually Kevan, Carolyn registered a few days before you did. Sorry, you're still the new collector on the block.

Osi,

I hope you realize that you've just insulted our other female Forum members. [Razz]

Doug

Posted by Carolyn Kovach (Member # 1227) on July 30, 2008, 04:51 PM:

Joe Kevan,
Thanks for the Welcome! [Smile]

Steve,

Umm my mother was also born and raised in Brooklyn..something about those NY women. Um I shouldn't talk..I was born in Mineola. LOL

I will go with DVD. I just spoke with FilmRescue.com and they said they could "possibly" recover something. If they do not they still charge a processing fee. The tape to DVD transfer is a higher quality (yet higher price). So I am willing to pay a bit more for quality. They will also make "chapters" where as this other place sounded like it was going to go reel to reel to reel. They will also reorganize these Chapters into some chronological format after I get to view them for a small charge.

So this sounds like my best option at this point.

Thanks for all the great info.
Carolyn

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 30, 2008, 07:31 PM:

What other female forum member?

Now Doug, you have a nice smile, but I would never take you as feminine [Big Grin]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 30, 2008, 10:14 PM:

Ah!, Mineola!

Nassau Hospital? I was born at North Shore myself.

One of our members hails from Albertson.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on July 30, 2008, 11:20 PM:

Osi,

We've actually had a few. Collector & eBay seller Germaine Fodor (since 2006) comes to mind & Lynne Barton most recently. But thanks for the kind words about my smile.

Carolyn, forgive me. I never welcomed you to the Forum. Please let us know how it all turns out.

Doug

Posted by Carolyn Kovach (Member # 1227) on July 31, 2008, 04:22 AM:

Steve, Yep Nassau!

Doug Thanks for the Welcome. I am sure with all this great help I will get something done. Now that I am slowly recovering from "sticker shock" I have to figure out what I want to do first and prepare. It sounds like this Film Rescue company can do magic. If you or any other forum member heard about this place, please let me know.

Thanks,
Carolyn [Smile]

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2