I have an old reel of 16mm film from 1944 that was sent to my wife's grandfather in Japan showing my mother in law as a new born baby. Unfortunately the film has been stored in a garage in Florida for a number of years and has become wrinkly and brittle. I took it into a transfer house and they told me they couldn't do it as the sprockets had distorted. They suggested there would be someone out there that could do it. Does anyone know of a company that might do this? I am in UK but travelling to US in a couple of weeks so either country would work.
posted July 12, 2019 07:44 AM
A modern sprocketless scanner should be able to handle shrunken film depending on how far gone it is. Transfer houses with these sorts of scanners don't tend to be "cheap" though. If you have the budget, I'd highly recommend Gamma Ray Digital in Boston, USA or Images4Life in Crewe.
Posts: 264
From: Fairfield, OH, USA
Registered: Feb 2004
posted July 14, 2019 01:27 PM
I would recommend that the film itself first be treated to make it as pliable as possible. Use of camphor in a sealed can and then immersed in Filmrenew should help. This process should be allowed to take its course over a few months. The film might not be able to be projected in a projector, but this process will help to preserve the film for transfer. I would do it for you, but I am in the USA and there should be someone near you that can help. Good luck.