Covert Professionally or Not...is there that big a differe..

External Since: Dec 24, 2006 Posts: 1

Hi,

I have 11-8" reels of 8mm and Super 8 to covert. My friend used a
commercial "box" to project the film while he filmed it using a DV
video camera. He is satisfied with the end result, although he never
sent a reel out for professional processing.

My question is: Is there a significant differecne between doing it
yourself using a projector and a DV camera versus having it done
profesionally? There is a BIG difference in price. Zero vs 100's of
dollars. Anybody out there tried it both ways with the same reel to
compare the difference?

Happy Holidays to all.....

External Since: Apr 02, 2007 Posts: 12

Goofy wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have 11-8" reels of 8mm and Super 8 to covert. My friend used a
> commercial "box" to project the film while he filmed it using a DV
> video camera. He is satisfied with the end result, although he never
> sent a reel out for professional processing.
>
> My question is: Is there a significant differecne between doing it
> yourself using a projector and a DV camera versus having it done
> profesionally? There is a BIG difference in price. Zero vs 100's of
> dollars. Anybody out there tried it both ways with the same reel to
> compare the difference?
>
> Happy Holidays to all.....

Heck yes there's a big difference! The professional is not necessarily
just using a only a projector and a DV camera. There may be more
specialized equipment involved. Some places will do the transfer on a
Rank or Spirit telecine if you're willing to pay for their expertise.
You are sometimes paying for film preparation as well. Splices need to
be checked and the film needs to be cleaned.

It constantly baffles me why people think they can do this themselves,
and then later complain about flicker, poor colors, uneven lighting,
keystoning, wrong speed, etc.

If the job is worth doing, it's worth doing right.

Derek

PS - I don't do film transfers for a living, so I have no services to
sell you.