VHS digitization service recommendation

[P-Rock]

Does anybody have any recommendations on a VHS digitization service? I have about 30 old VHS tapes that were digitized about 5 years ago, but the guy who did it didn't really do a great job--there are a bunch of video quality and audio sync issues that I'm hoping could be fixed by someone with better equipment and know how.

I live in the Washington DC area, but the tapes are at my mom's house in Iowa. I'm not really super keen on shipping these tapes somewhere, but I doubt there are a ton of good options near the tapes themselves, so it may be unavoidable.

It seems that services like Legacybox aren't too highly regarded here, so I doubt I'll go route. I reach out to digitalfaq, which I know does conversion work, but they've been backlogged and not responding to my emails. Is there a nationally available service that doesn't suck? Or, barring that, a local conversion shop that someone would recommend?

[lingyi]

Hopefully lordsmurf doesn't mind, but PM him as he's one of those at digitalfaq that does the work. IIRC, he recently said he was able to do some transfers. I think he's in Texas, so the tapes would need to be mailed to him. If nothing else, he may be able to recommend some services he trusts.

If you haven't already, read the and thoroughly digest the following by lordsmurf:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/editorials/digital-video/professional-analog-workflow.htm

digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/1567-vcr-buying-guide.html

Armed with that knowledge, as you're shopping around, look for and ask about the following and more. It's like shopping for a good mechanic. The more you know, the easier it is to know if that mechanic knows what he/she's doing and will do a quality job at a fair price.

What equipment do they use, VCR, TBC, capture device, OS, etc.

What formats do they capture to, e.g. lossless uncompressed, MPEG 2, H264, etc.

Will you get the original capture files as well as the end format, e.g. DVD, thumb drive, download.

Do they offer editing, clean-up, enhancement?

Being able and willing to provide answers to these type of questions is where most services, including Legacybox fail. I just did a quick rescan of the site and it's like a mechanic telling you "Don't worry, we know what we're doing." without any real answers about what and how they're doing it.

Edit: If you do use lordsmurf or any other quality service, be patient. Quality work takes time. Better done right than quick.

Edit 2: Budget $25-$50+ per tape depending on that you want/need. The low end is just for capture, the high end is for capture and editing/restoration.

Understand and accept that your tapes may have only one last play/capture in them, so make the right choice of service.

[P-Rock]

Thanks for the detailed response. I may PM lordsmurf--not sure if he was who I was talking to or it was somebody else