8 mm Movie Film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide.
It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8mm or double 8mm, and Super 8.
There are also two other varieties of Super 8 which require different cameras but which produce a final film with the same dimensions.

 Standard 8mm Movie Film

The standard 8 mm film format was developed by the Eastman Kodak company during the Great Depression and released on the market in 1932 to create a home movie format that was less expensive than 16 mm. The film spools actually contain a 16 mm film with twice as many perforations along each edge than normal 16 mm film, which is only exposed along half of its width. When the film reaches its end in the takeup spool, the camera is opened and the spools in the camera are flipped and swapped (the design of the spool hole ensures that this happens properly) and the same film is exposed along the side of the film left unexposed on the first loading. During processing, the film is split down the middle, resulting in two lengths of 8 mm film, each with a single row of perforations along one edge, thereby fitting four times as many frames in the same amount of 16 mm film. Because the spool was reversed after filming on one side to allow filming on the other side the format was sometimes called Double 8. The frame size of regular 8 mm is 4.8 mm x 3.5 mm and 1m film contains 264 pictures. Normally Double8 is filmed at 16 frames per second. Common length film spools allowed filming of about 3 minutes to 4.5 minutes at 12, 15, 16 and 18 frames per second. Kodak ceased selling standard 8 mm film in the early 1990s, but continued to produce the film, which was sold via independent film stores. Black-and-white 8 mm film is still manufactured in the Czech Republic, and several companies buy bulk quantities of 16 mm film to make regular 8 mm by re-perforating the stock, cutting it into 25 foot (7.6 m) lengths, and collecting it into special standard 8 mm spools which they then sell. Re-perforation requires special equipment. Some specialists also produce super 8 mm film from existing 16 mm, or even 35 mm film stock.

 Super 8 Movie Film

Super 8 mm film, also simply called Super 8, is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older 8 mm home movie format, and the Cine 8 format. The film is 8 mm wide, exactly the same as the older standard 8 mm film, and also has perforations on only one side. However, the dimensions of the perforations are smaller than those on older 8 mm film, which allowed the exposed area to be made larger. The Super-8 standard also specifically allocates the rebate opposite the perforations for an oxide stripe upon which sound can be magnetically recorded. There are several different varieties of the film system used for shooting, but the final film in each case has the same dimensions. By far the most popular system was the Kodak system.

 How do I know how many feet of film I have?

Can I edit the video files on the playable DVD created from my movie film transfer?

 A DVD Video can be edited with the correct tools . DVD Video is in MPEG2 format; a file format which is a very lossy compression format. If you want a good master file to edit from, you should order MJPEG, MPEG4, or AVI on a hard drive to produce the highest quality video. You may want to consider getting a copy on a playable DVD in addition to the file format you choose to edit from. This way you can archive the film and have a format you can edit. By ordering a playable DVD up front, you can have instant gratification and enjoy watching your old movies the day your order arrives.

How many reels of film will fit onto a DVD Disc for watching on my TV?

 It varies by film size (8mm vs. Super-8) but on average a DVD will hold about 1000 feet of film.

How much hard drive space is required for the video files?

How do I prepare my movie reels?

If you already know what content is on each reel you should write the order of each (1, 2, 3, etc) and then include a note in the special instructions section letting us know the order you want. We will make sure that we transfer you film in the order you requested. Please note that you can not mix 8mm & super 8 film because they need to transferred separately; so you will want to have all your 8mm at first & super 8 at the end (or vice versa). Once the film has been converted to video, it is possible for us to move things around (intermix super 8 with 8mm segments but that would fall under custom work.

 Call 239-348-8700 for more information about custom editing.

What are the steps from beginning to end?

1. You will need to call or email us and we will prepare a quote/work order and email it to you.
2. Print out the order form & mail it along with your movie reels.
3. Send us an e-mail to let us know that your order is on its way into us.
4. Once your order arrived at our facility we will send you an e-mail letting you know of its arrival & our expected completion time for your movie film order.
5. Once we have your completed your movie film transfer we will then bill your credit card & send you the tracking information for the return shipment. Your film will be returned to you with your discs and/or hard drive.

Accepted Payment Methods:

We accept MasterCard, VISA, and Discover. We also accept PayPal payments, money orders, personal, corporate and cashier checks. We collect payment upon shipment of your DVD(s). If you are a corporate, university, or government customer, we can send you an invoice at shipment but we will retain possession of your original materials until we receive payment.

Project Turn Around Time:

You can expect your project to be completed within 2-3 weeks of our receipt of your materials. We process projects in the order in which they are received, with some exceptions. Also projects with 1500' or under will typically be processed more quickly. Many times these projects will be completed within one week of our receipt.