Using the 8mm and Super 8mm converters: Yes...I looked through the archives, but nothing has been posted recently so wonder if anyone has used the Wolverine products or the other one...

Pine Warbler

Yes...I looked through the archives, but nothing has been posted recently so wonder if anyone has used the Wolverine products or the other one listed on Amazon...Pro Film Digitizer Machine by Rybozen. Not really any reviews other than the ones on Amazon. I don't have working projectors nor a camcorder. I am starting on my parents 8mm films that start in the early 40's and continue so the cost of commercially transferring seems impractical.
Any help would be appreciated.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Pine Warbler wrote:

Yes...I looked through the archives, but nothing has been posted recently so wonder if anyone has used the Wolverine products or the other one listed on Amazon...Pro Film Digitizer Machine by Rybozen. Not really any reviews other than the ones on Amazon. I don't have working projectors nor a camcorder. I am starting on my parents 8mm films that start in the early 40's and continue so the cost of commercially transferring seems impractical.
Any help would be appreciated.

Just stay away from that cheap shit like the Woverine products, etc. they are nothing more than a bad joke!

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Pine Warbler wrote:

Yes...I looked through the archives, but nothing has been posted recently so wonder if anyone has used the Wolverine products or the other one listed on Amazon...Pro Film Digitizer Machine by Rybozen. Not really any reviews other than the ones on Amazon. I don't have working projectors nor a camcorder. I am starting on my parents 8mm films that start in the early 40's and continue so the cost of commercially transferring seems impractical.
Any help would be appreciated.

I used the Wolverine and it worked quite well on both 8mm and super 8mm films. None of my films included sound. The results were quite clear and played as good as they originally did with a projector.

One thing I had to solve was that the resultant videos played too fast. I did some googling to come up with a way to convert them to play slower. And I found a way to do this.

PM me if you are interested in a Wolverine that I no longer have a need for.

I also tried the method where you buy a projector with variable speed so you can project and record with a movie camera changing the speed to match the cameras frame rate. This method was a disaster. Still have that projector too for which I have no use along with the 2 speed projector I used for years. No use for that either.

Base_fiddle

Pine Warbler wrote:

Yes...I looked through the archives, but nothing has been posted recently so wonder if anyone has used the Wolverine products or the other one listed on Amazon...Pro Film Digitizer Machine by Rybozen. Not really any reviews other than the ones on Amazon. I don't have working projectors nor a camcorder. I am starting on my parents 8mm films that start in the early 40's and continue so the cost of commercially transferring seems impractical.
Any help would be appreciated.

I tackled this task a couple of years ago. I tried to run the 8mm & Super 8mm through a projector and video them with a digital carerma, but that was a compete failure. I researched several companies that converted the films to digital. Those stories are all over the map - including what they charge for the service. After a lot of research and talking with companies, I finally settled on JUST8mm.com in Texas. I sent them 20 rolls as a test, waited a couple of weeks, and got back DVDs in an MP4 format. I was very pleased with the results and intend to send them more rolls for conversion.

Richard Engelmann Loc: Boulder, Colorado

Base_fiddle wrote:

I tackled this task a couple of years ago. I trie... (show quote)

Thanks for this referral. I might still fiddle about with at-home transfer, but only for skill self-development.

1963mca

speters wrote:

Just stay away from that cheap shit like the Woverine products, etc. they are nothing more than a bad joke!

I used a Wolverine to convert some of my 8mm/super 8mm from the 50's, 60's and 70's. While not 4k video quality, the results were quite good, video on the 60" TV looks as good (to me) as the movie projected on a screen. I'm sure pixel peepers would disagree. The wolverine cost about 25% of the cost to have one roll of 8mm converted professionally and I've converted over 30 rolls so far. I'm quite satisfied with the result and saved several thousands of dollars over professional conversion in the process.

GreenReaper

Just something to think about. 16mm film is 40 frames per foot, I assume that 8mm/super8 would be about twice that (more or less). To use you DSLR to copy each frame would be prohibitive mainly in the amount of time it would take. My experience with a projector and camera has been disastrous. Keep experimenting and if you come up with something I would be interested in hearing about it.
Good luck,
Mike

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

I have looked into this as I have a huge, and I mean huge, collection of 8mm home movies from many yers ago. Many of the movies were taken by my father who pased away in 1966 plus the ones I took rom then until the movie camera stopped working. In all I probably have a couple miles (at least) of 8mm movie film.

My problem is the cost. With the amount of film I have it would take almost a years income to convert it all. I do have my father's movie projector, which still functions, but putting the reels on, rewinding, removing the reel and repeating is rather time consuming. Add that to the negative comments from others trying to DIY and the process seems nearly impossible to get good results.

This thread has given me a little renewed hope. Thank you.

Pine Warbler

Thanks for all the responses. I still am torn which way to go. I will do some more reading...which I am sure will not help resolve the issues. Will talk with my parents and see what they think. The special sentimental films might be worth getting professionally done...the first film my grandmother took was when my dad was in 7th grade. My mom was walking past their house, and my Dad threw a snowball at her. They have been married 69 years. That film is pretty special.

Stardust Loc: Central Illinois

GreenReaper wrote:

Just something to think about. 16mm film is 40 frames per foot, I assume that 8mm/super8 would be about twice that (more or less)...

Actually was about 1-1/2x per foot, or 18 frames per second, 3240 on a 3 minute 50' reel, although later higher end cameras could shoot 24 fps when they went to sound.

Stardust Loc: Central Illinois

Pine Warbler wrote:

Any help would be appreciated.

There is a similar thread going I have posted to what I did but would require a projector.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-619042-1.html

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Suggest contacting Gary Gibbons Productions at www.gibbonsvideo.com or phone at 1-913-764-4020.
If you are doing straight conversions, I think you will find him quite reasonable. He did some work for me a couple of years ago. Converted about 20 rolls of super 8 to a DVD. He offers a choice of DVD, Blu-Ray or flash drive. Very reasonable turnaround time, but that may vary with the seasons. If I remember correctly ours was 2 weeks or less door to door. If it is important to the customer, he asks that they number the rolls if they want them copied in any particular order.

sabfish

I used Scan Cafe to convert my Father's old 8mm film--his dated back to the 30's! I was pleased with the results and thought the cost was reasonable.

Vijay Maker

Hammacher schlemmer sell a 1300 $ device for super 8 conversions. I have been thinking of buying it pending advice from rest of you.

Tomkat101

Look at Kodak digitizing, they are running a special on digitizing two reels for less than 70 dollars. I have ordered 7'' reels form Ebay and will be able to put 400 feet on each reel. I have my Super 8 film stored on 5" 200 foot reels, only need to splice two reels together. I have already ordered my kit from Kodak. I also have a Wolverine unit and will use to pre-record every thing, it is a safety net in case the shipment gets lost. The down side of the Wolverine is no sound and it records at 30 frames a second which is a little fast for a 24 frame per second movie film. the result is 16 - 50 foot tapes transferred for under 100 dollars. I will let UHH how they turn out.