Don't Let Your Memories Fade Away Preserve Them Digitally Forever! Get Started Today.
Many decades before 8mm film gained popularity, 16mm was the only available film format for shooting home movies. But 16mm technology was expensive, making it unaffordable for the average family. During the height of the Great Depression, Eastman Kodak decided to introduce Cine Kodak Eight. This new film format was less expensive and used smaller, lighter, and user-friendly cameras. By the end of WWII, the affordability of this format made it possible for many Americans to create good quality home movies. Kodak introduced Super 8 film in 1965 and it was a bigger success than 8mm. In fact, it became so ubiquitous, it may be the format of all the old home movies you discovered in your basement or attic. Now it’s time to dig out those old movies and get them scanned for posterity.
Regardless of whether you own regular 8mm or Super 8 movies, you’ve come to the right place to convert 8mm to USB! When you choose ScanCafe for 8mm to digital conversion, our experienced technicians go above and beyond to deliver great results, including:
At ScanCafe, we’ve made it easy to preserve, view, and share your memories. Our simple process starts by filling out an online form with an estimate of your order quantity. After completing this form, you'll receive an unique order ID and tracking number once your order has been shipped. In a nutshell, this simple process involves ordering, shipping to us, we digitize, you download, we ship back to you, and you enjoy and share.
All you have to do is ship your film to us and we will take care of the rest for you.
We will splice together your small reels of film onto a larger 7 inch spool. Your film will be returned to you on the larger spool. Your original empty spools will be returned to you as well. Your movies will be transferred at our Indianapolis lab with a 3-4 week turnaround time.
At the end, you will have all your film memories safely transferred from your tapes to a digital download or USB drive.
Rest assured, we don't digitize 8mm movie film by threading your reels onto a machine and coming back when they’re finished. Instead, every reel in your order is cleaned, viewed, scanned, and edited by a dedicated technician. This service includes spot cleaning and simple repairs such as fixing bad splices at no additional charge. And with our USA Express Service, we scan and digitize all 8mm movies at our state-of-the-art processing facility in Indiana, so you never have to worry about precious celluloid memories being outsourced or lost. In fact, we guarantee the safety of your movies.
In addition to offering the highest quality scans, flexible delivery options are another reason people love our services. We make it easy to download scanned movies to your computer or any device connected to the internet and you can choose from a variety of delivery options:
With our pain-free process, it’s easy to bring celluloid memories to life and share them with family and friends. Digitizing family movies is a wonderful way to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane!
The pricing of 8mm conversion is calculated by the foot, so knowing how many feet are in each of your reels will help you determine what services fit your budget. Keep in mind that standard diameter reel sizes for 8mm are 3 inches/50 feet (most common), 5 inches/200 feet, and 7 inches/400 feet.
We do clean your movie film, both physically and electronically. This is an important quality step, because old movie film can often be amazingly dirty. Each speck of dirt will show up on your final image, and it can make watching your old home movies less enjoyable. Your film will be spot cleaned and simple repairs like bad splices will be handled for you at no additional charge.
The length of the film can be estimated using the following chart:
| Reel Diameter | Estimated film length |
|---|---|
| 3 in | 50 ft |
| 4 in | 100 ft |
| 5 in | 200 ft |
| 6 in | 300 ft |
| 7 in | 400 ft |
| 8 in | 600 ft |
| 10 in | 800 ft |
Please leave film in the original packaging. If you group and label your originals inside your box, we will scan your order accordingly and your USB if opted will be organized as such. If you choose to label film, we ask that you keep the copy relatively short (20 characters or so). You can also fill out a titles worksheet we have available online when you place your order. Make sure this worksheet corresponds to how you label the reels, because we’ll use your information to make chapter titles on your USB.
For example, if you send in five 8mm reels, you could label them 1,2,3,4 and 5. Then on the titles worksheet, where it indicates reel #1, you could write "Christmas 1954", and so on. Or you could simply write "Christmas 1954" on both the reel and the titles worksheet. For additional packing tips, click here.
The best answer is, it doesn't matter! For nearly any conceivable movie film format that you have, chances are it's either 8mm, 35mm, Super 8mm, or 16mm. And our price for all of those is exactly the same.
A quick way to check: if your movie film is on a reel, and it has sprocket holes, then chances are excellent we can scan it.
The cost to convert 8mm film to digital with ScanCafe is determined by the footage of film that you are sending.
