Greetings from a Brand-New Member!

[Harry Abramson]

I actually joined last week, but I've been reading through various message threads (including the archives) to try and get somewhat up-to-speed and avoid asking questions that have been answered a thousand times before. So far, I've learned that my journey to finding this forum is hardly unique...

While helping to clean out my late aunt & uncle’s house recently, I discovered a cache of 8mm movies, including a few commercial short films (Disney, Charlie Chaplin, etc.), plus what appeared to be several home movies, along with a 1951-vintage DeJUR Model 1000 projector (with good bulb), a Radiant screen, and a Baia Mark II viewer/editor. Thankfully, all of these have spent the past 70 years in an interior closet instead of the attic or garage, so they haven’t been subjected to temperature or humidity extremes. I ran one of the Disney cartoons to verify proper operation of the projector and just enough of one home movie to confirm that it indeed contains irreplaceable family memories. I immediately packed everything up and began scouring YouTube and web forums for guidance on preserving and digitizing these films.

Although I have no experience the 8mm hobby, I suppose it was inevitable that I’d get sucked into it eventually. As the unofficial family archivist, I’ve been digitizing relatives’ reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, vinyl record albums, and photos/slides for years, so I’m familiar with the importance of careful handling, cleaning, and preservation of the original media. Since one of the films is a Super 8, I picked up a Vernon Dual-8 viewer/editor on eBay, along with a Kodak Presstape Universal Splicer. I ordered some extra plastic reels and fresh Presstapes in both sizes from MomentCatcher Productions. I’m also an amateur astronomer and keep an ample supply of Pec Pads on hand for cleaning eyepieces and other optics, so that’s covered. Now, I'm just waiting for a response to the email I sent to Steve Osborne regarding purchase of a 16 oz. bottle of Filmguard.

My plan is not to touch anything until I'm able to clean & lube all the films with FG, then let them rest for a few weeks while I decide whether to buy a Wolverine or try a different approach. As such, I expect to do quite a bit of posting in the "Film to Digital Conversion" forum. I'll likely be spending a fair amount of time here, as well, especially if my cousins (the rightful heirs of all this stuff) decide they don't want it and let me keep all of it. If that should happen, I definitely see at least one new(er) projector in my future, to go along with my three turntables & multiple tape decks!

[Dominique De Bast]

Welcome to the forum, Harry ! Let us know how you're progressing 😀

[Douglas Meltzer]

Harry,

Thanks so much for telling us how you got involved with 8mm. Welcome to the Forum, and I know our members will gladly offer help and advice as you start the archiving process.

[Osi Osgood]

Film guard is a wonderful thing! Welcome and just remember, when you have digitized those home movies, do not sell them or, like a lot of fools do not put them up on eBay! A digital file may begin being corrupted and useless within a few years ... Those home movies, those lovely Kodachrome films have been being shot since the late 1930's .... are just as colorful and useful today, over 80 years later!

[Janice Glesser]

Harry Abramson Welcome to the forums and glad you are here!

[Shane C. Collins]

Yes by all means you should watch the originals, and enjoy them in all their glory. A digital copy will never look like the films themselves. In fact I really have no desire to digitize the Super 8 home movies I've shot over the last 15 years. Call me a purist I guess hahaha! Projecting film is a unique experience that no other media comes close to. Now I could see the need to digitize if the originals were in bad condition or if you didn't have a projector. Just my two senses really.

[Harry Abramson]

Thanks to all for your kind words of welcome, and I'm looking forward to discovering what's on the 1400+ feet of film I've collected so far.

...just remember, when you have digitized those home movies, do not sell them or, like a lot of fools do not put them up on eBay!

I can't even imagine parting with something as personal and priceless as family home movies shot years before my birth, let alone selling them to strangers! In just the few minutes of film I've already reviewed, I saw my late mother and several aunts as they appeared in the early 1950s, along with some of my still-living cousins as infants and toddlers. Most of those still surviving have likely either forgotten or never even knew that these films existed. I certainly didn't, and I spent lots of time at that house growing up.

Besides, these films and equipment technically belong to my first cousins in whose childhood home I found them, although there is a high likelihood that I'll be the permanent caretaker. The cousins, who now live in NYC and Cincinnati, have been encouraging family to take whatever they want from the house before it is sold, and thus far they've been in no hurry to collect the four banker's boxes of photo albums & slides that I brought to my house for safekeeping.

So, everything I'm doing is completely on my own initiative and at my own expense, but I'm going to preserve these films because I think they are important. Once digitized, I plan to post all of the video on YouTube and/or my SmugMug page so they can be seen by extended family in New York, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, Texas, and California. I also plan to mail DVDs to a few relatives who lack computer access.

Then, I'll be able to sit back and see where this hobby takes me. The allure certainly struck me the moment I cued up the first film, dimmed the lights, and watched those amazing (yes, Kodachrome) images appear on the screen, accompanied by the gentle "tick-tick-tick" of the projector. The tactile, sensual nature of this process was immediately familiar to me, as it evoked the same response that I experience with my vinyl record collection.

There is a certain comfort in taking time out from our fast-paced, hi-def, digital world to slide a record out of its sleeve, set it on the turntable, carefully clean the disc and stylus, gently lower the tonearm, and enjoy the warm analog sound of the LP, even with its accompanying pops and crackles. Popping in a CD and hitting "play" on the remote simply cannot impart that same sense of involvement, even if the sound quality is technically superior. Cocktails even taste better while listening to Dave Brubeck on vinyl!

Another reason I wouldn't want to part with the original films is because the state-of-the-art for DIY digital transfer (at least in my price range) still leaves much to be desired. For expediency, I'll most likely buy the Wolverine Moviemaker Pro, then add Hawkeye and a few other modifications the minute it's out of warranty. However, if consumer interest in 8mm takes off the way it has for vinyl in recent years, Wolverine may decide to further improve its camera & codec, or another company might introduce a machine geared more toward the "pro-sumer" market. If so, I won't hesitate to digitize them all over again. Kodak's failure to bring their long-promised new Super 8 camera to market is a bit discouraging, but it wasn't that long ago that I couldn't buy a new stereo receiver that included phono inputs and a turntable ground lug, so who knows what next year will bring?

Anyhow, I'm happy to be here and I do have a couple of film-related questions that I'll post after I finish my mandatory lawn & garden chores tomorrow.

[Osi Osgood]

Good to hear! Watching my own home movies, most of which I shot in cinema scope, is a revelation, as, while the actual memories and sensations are forgotten, I can actually witness what was actually happening those 30 or so years ago, in glorious Kodachrome!