HOW TO DO A 8MM FILM CONVERSION TO DVD?
There are several ways to convert 8mm Film to DVD. There are very inexpensive and DIY methods. There are also companies doing professional scanning if you are looking for good or the best quality you can get from the film. So, it really depends on what quality you are looking for. Our table below has the top 4 processes in the world for converting 8mm Film to DVD. There is also a process called real-time that we no longer use that would be at the bottom out of the 5 processes for converting 8mm film.
Most companies out there are using a real-time or frame by frame system to convert your 8mm film to DVD. There isn't anything necessarily wrong with it. But, these machines are just limited by the method and technology used. They get about 40% of the quality from the film. There are of course better methods and technology to get the best quality from the film.
If you are looking for the best restoration and 8mm film conversion, you've found it. We use the world's best and most expensive professional motion picture film scanners and Datacine machines for your Super 8 and 8mm film. As Carol put it in her BBB review, "The end result far exceeded my expectations. Even though the film had not always been stored in ideal conditions, they did a wonderful job with the transfer and restoration."
Can 8mm film be copied to DVD?
Most people are unaware that 8mm positive film was never intended for being converted to video. I know that might be unbelievable but positive film was really only intended for viewing on a projector. Negative film, on the other hand, was intended for 8mm film conversion to video or film conversion to positive 8mm film.
Most companies today do a 8mm film conversion by playing the film on a projector and bouncing the image off a mirror into a camcorder in an enclosed box. It's then up to the camcorder to be good enough to reproduce the 8mm film. Certainly camcorder technology has gotten better over time, but these $2500 budget film transfer machines used by companies like Costco, Walmart, Walgreens, and Sams Club produce poor results relative to the 8mm film. In fact, you can test your film conversion by running the DVD on your TV and compare it to your film running on the projector. This is a good way to test how good the 8mm film conversion really was.
Just like you would not digitize a photograph using a camcorder, you really should not try to convert your film using a camcorder. The best way to reproduce the film in a digital form is to scan the film just like you would scan a photograph. In years past, professional scanning film has been very costly. There now are 8mm film conversion companies that can convert your 8mm film to DVD and other digital formats at a reasonable cost. In fact, you can get a high definition (1080 line) scan of your film with restoration for about the same cost of the original film with Kodak processing. So, the next time you look into doing a 8mm film conversion, look for a company that can do a professional high definition scan of your film with restoration. As Carol by on her BBB review, "they (Video Conversion Experts) did a wonderful job with the transfer and restoration. The color portions are amazing!".