8mm Forum: Damaged film transfer

This is topic Damaged film transfer in forum 16mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Robert E Sutton (Member # 6691) on July 12, 2019, 06:50 AM:

Hi

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.

Thanks

Posted by Iman Yahya (Member # 5842) on 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.

Posted by Robert E Sutton (Member # 6691) on July 12, 2019, 08:07 AM:

Thanks so much, weirdly I'm going to Boston in 2 weeks for a week, might be worth a visit to see them.

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on 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.

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