Convert 8 mm. film to MP4: How to do it yourself: How and with what ?

[MacPCConsultants]

I have many rolls of 8 mm. family movies handed down from my parents. They are as old as 1938 and well-preserved. What to purchase to safely convert these 50-200 foot home 8 mm movies into good quality MP4 files at home ?

Prefer to not let them out of my sight, hence don't want to give them to a professional conversion service.

[impmon2]

Unfortunately there's no easy way to do it. 8mm projectors are obsolete (as well as the film) so it's not like you can find a new working system. Also 8mm films were typically 12fps (15, 16, and 18fps are supported) so it would be hard to get average consumer video camera to sync with the film without getting lots of black frames.

You will have to ship it to a professional service that should have high quality video equipment that can handle various fps to make clean capture. Do not do wet emulsion transfer as those may end up destroying the film, and you have no backup if anything went wrong.

PS get those conversion done ASAP. Many films are at or past its life expectancy and a few of my old 8mm have broken apart just by looking at it.

[MacPCConsultants]

Darn. Was hoping for better news. What do the professionals use to successfully capture 8 mm. film ?

[smrpix]

This is being demoed at NAB this week:
http://www.lasergraphics.com/scanstation-personal-features.html

[MacPCConsultants]

This is being demoed at NAB this week:
http://www.lasergraphics.com/scanstation-personal-features.html

Very nice ! How much to purchase ?

[newpball]

Unfortunately there's no easy way to do it. 8mm projectors are obsolete (as well as the film) so it's not like you can find a new working system. Also 8mm films were typically 12fps (15, 16, and 18fps are supported) so it would be hard to get average consumer video camera to sync with the film without getting lots of black frames.

Video recording a projected 8mm film is just about the worst thing you can do.

There are various film scanners in the market with varying price ranges.

[jagabo]

There's a thread about a new film scanner that's not too expensive but it has some problems:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/366069-The-Reflecta-Super8-film-scanner-to-avi-conversion-thread

[MacPCConsultants]

There's a thread about a new film scanner that's not too expensive but it has some problems:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/366069-The-Reflecta-Super8-film-scanner-to-avi-conversion-thread

Great, but most of my these old films are plain 8 mm., not Super 8.

[impmon2]

Super 8 has larger view and smaller sprocket (the holes) but it is same width and same sprocket spacing to regular 8mm that quite often projectors can do both regular and Super with just a flip of a lever.

[MacPCConsultants]

Super 8 has larger view and smaller sprocket (the holes) but it is same width and same sprocket spacing to regular 8mm that quite often projectors can do both regular and Super with just a flip of a lever.

Okay, but will this model accept standard (non-super) 8 mm. ?

[jagabo]

Super 8 has larger view and smaller sprocket (the holes) but it is same width and same sprocket spacing to regular 8mm that quite often projectors can do both regular and Super with just a flip of a lever.

Okay, but will this model accept standard (non-super) 8 mm. ?

I wouldn't count on it since it says Super 8 only (sorry I missed that earlier). You should contact them to find out for sure. Given all the design and manufacturing defects discussed in the thread I linked to I'm not sure I'd trust the device anyway.