Newbie here with a lot of questions....

[Rick Adkins]

...but I'll start with just a couple. First let me say that finding this forum has been a Godsend for a lot of the info I was looking for. My questions: I purchased one of the Wolverine "regular" (720p - not Pro model) units to transfer about a dozen old 8mm movies my wife inherited from her grandfather. These are from the 50's/60's and are in pretty good condition except for one reel (more on that later). The Wolverine worked OK but the results are...well, meh, if you know what I mean -- not the greatest. Now, I've ordered a used Magnasonic FS81 off of eBay, but in the meantime I sent one of the reels (that one reel mentioned above) off to one of the transfer outfits. They sent it back, saying they could not digitize it due to the film being warped. That same film ran through the Wolverine just fine, I was just looking for better quality. So now I'm gonna try it through the Magnasonic when it gets here.

My questions are: Where do you folks get spare parts for these two machines? I'm talking gears, drive belts, etc. -- is it only from the manufacturer, or is there another source? And, what would be the best "mods" for either of these machines, to get the best, sharpest output? I've got Topaz Video Enhance AI and it did a good job of cleaning up the films on the first batch but it also "softened" everything, which was like fixing one problem but creating another.

Anyway, any info appreciated...thanks.

[Stan Jelavic]

Hi Rick, welcome to the forum. I don't think Magnasonic FS81 will give you any better results since it is essentially the same machine dressed in a different attire.
For Wolverine parts I go directly to https://www.wolverinedata.com/ and ask for a quote for any special parts.
In the past I got some very special parts like a spring inside the transport mechanism etc.
I also have some spare parts here but not very many.
For do supply Hawkeye mod for the units.
You can read about it here.
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/vbb/f...ye-for-newbies

I am currently getting that manufactured in China but have some issues getting the right size switches which I will resolve shortly. So if you want to go that way I can supply the kit for you.

Alternatively, check the forum on projector mods. You can get the projector for a reasonable price and attach the DSLR camera to it and add the led light. It has to be variable speed. The advantage of the projector is that it is generally gentler on the film (unless it is badly worn out).

Hope this helps.

Stan