OLD CINE FILMS - HOW TO SCAN/SAVE?

[martincymru]

I have perhaps 30-40 cine films, super 8, from the 1950's (belongs to late father). Fascinating stuff!

Do you know anybody local (an enthusiast type person not a business) willing to (a) project/video or (b) scan copy for me. The max fee I want to pay is 400 pounds (800 dollars).

Films are in the UK, easy to send to Sg if need be.

Alternatively, anybody have an old projector (in UK or Sg) they can loan me?

[x9200]

I doubt you will find one locally.
Probably your best option is to buy one on Ebay UK. They should be cheap. Here, an example:

http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/HANIMEX-808D ... 4d32385f5e

[JR8]

I got my 15-20 old 'Hi-8' tapes transferred to DVD about 10 years ago. That was because the format was dying out, my camera (and means of playing them) had died, and I knew the tapes had a limited lifespan, esp out here in this climate.

I used https://www.video2dvdtransfers.co.uk/ They do/did just about any kind of media transfer. Cine, vid, VHS, Betamax.... etc. I also liked the fact that they were a small business and had good user ratings. Kind of 'does what they say on the tin', and no nonsense.

I had the original bulky tapes sent by my parents (i.e. UK > UK). They got the original tapes and DVDs back. They then repacked and reposted just the DVDs to me out here. Yes it all cost a bit, but I know the media is good for at least 20+ more years.

I looked into options here (and the US), it would have been far simpler in every way, but in fact it was more expensive, and here would have meant entrusting the media to 'random kids' [not businesses] running part-time ops from their bedrooms.

[JR8]

You can DIY it. But then you need a 'player' on the front end, as input. Then you might be looking at £200-300-500 for a piece of hardware that you're going to use for a weekend.

[PNGMK]

I have seen a media conversion shop on
Tangerine Associate
118 Jalan Besar Singpaore 208838
(opp Veerasamy Road).

[x9200]

You can DIY it. But then you need a 'player' on the front end, as input. Then you might be looking at £200-300-500 for a piece of hardware that you're going to use for a weekend.

He needs a projector ($80-100), piece of clean, even wall (or anything else suitable), a tripod and a (video) camera. I converted all my 8/super8s this way with a very reasonable outcome.

[JR8]

You projected the films onto a (clean and even) wall, and sat there videoing it?
Not sure if you're taking the P

[x9200]

You projected the films onto a (clean and even) wall, and sat there videoing it?
Not sure if you're taking the P

Yes, exactly like this. Have you ever seen super 8 / 8 cine? The quality is rather bad so for most cases having a basic projector and a basic screen is more than sufficient.
What alternative method would you recommend? If earlier, by "input" you meant a scanner, this would probably cost thousands of dollars, not for the equipment (much more expensive), but just to have the 40 reels processed. Anybody offering a reasonable price, even a professional, would just do the projection approach with perhaps a better quality screen and with the recording from behind of the screen.

[ecureilx]

I have seen a media conversion shop on
Tangerine Associate
118 Jalan Besar Singpaore 208838
(opp Veerasamy Road).

I was thinking of the same fellow along Jalan Besar

[martincymru]

Yes, 2 ways only. Either project to screen or for better quality, the direct scan method. First option far cheaper.

Anyone care to hire me (for a fee) a projector, screen, tripod and video camera?

I have tried/tested 5 projectors to date, all had problems so buying blind from Ebay may not be advisable.

[x9200]

Martin, you will probably be better off asking this question here:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/

But don't have too much hope.

[Sporkin]

I got my 15-20 old 'Hi-8' tapes transferred to DVD about 10 years ago. That was because the format was dying out, my camera (and means of playing them) had died, and I knew the tapes had a limited lifespan, esp out here in this climate.

I used https://www.video2dvdtransfers.co.uk/ They do/did just about any kind of media transfer. Cine, vid, VHS, Betamax.... etc. I also liked the fact that they were a small business and had good user ratings. Kind of 'does what they say on the tin', and no nonsense.

I had the original bulky tapes sent by my parents (i.e. UK > UK). They got the original tapes and DVDs back. They then repacked and reposted just the DVDs to me out here. Yes it all cost a bit, but I know the media is good for at least 20+ more years.

I looked into options here (and the US), it would have been far simpler in every way, but in fact it was more expensive, and here would have meant entrusting the media to 'random kids' [not businesses] running part-time ops from their bedrooms.

You might want to make additional backups of the DVDs if they are important to you. Ironically newer digital mediums are actually less resilient than older analog mediums, typically due to increased data density and usage of data compression.

[x9200]

You might want to make additional backups of the DVDs if they are important to you. Ironically newer digital mediums are actually less resilient than older analog mediums, typically due to increased data density and usage of data compression.

Actually I don't think this is correct, especially regarding magnetic tapes.
The difference between analogue and digital is, that for the analogue recordings not all information has to be preserved in order to "read" the tape, while for digital media, it is often sufficient to have a small part of the information missing to have a record unreadable without the use of specialized equipment/software.

For a better chance of the records' survival I use this:
http://www.mdisc.com/

[bgd]

You might want to make additional backups of the DVDs if they are important to you. Ironically newer digital mediums are actually less resilient than older analog mediums, typically due to increased data density and usage of data compression.

I agree with this. From personal experience recordable DVDs deteriorate over a relatively short period of time. Make sure you have multiple copies. Having been bitten once I don't use DVD for anything.

[Sporkin]

That's what I'm getting at regarding resilience, you can lose a lot of information on the analog format and have the undamaged parts 'play' relatively well. With digital, damage in the wrong area can make the whole disc unreadable without special software and hardware. Incidentally what would be the best way to archive important stuff these days short of carving it in stone? Cloud storage?

You might want to make additional backups of the DVDs if they are important to you. Ironically newer digital mediums are actually less resilient than older analog mediums, typically due to increased data density and usage of data compression.

Actually I don't think this is correct, especially regarding magnetic tapes.
The difference between analogue and digital is, that for the analogue recordings not all information has to be preserved in order to "read" the tape, while for digital media, it is often sufficient to have a small part of the information missing to have a record unreadable without the use of specialized equipment/software.

For a better chance of the records' survival I use this:
http://www.mdisc.com/