40s - 50s vintage 8 mm film

[foodiefan]

Not sure where this belongs, so thought I'm posting this here and in the Tech section. I recently found some "vintage" 8 mm film (early 40s thru mid 50s)several boxes of 50 ft reels and 5 cans of 300ft) that my Dad filmed while I was growing up. The boxes are subject matter marked, but the cans are not. Are there any people/places that have projection equipment that could run the film in the cans and tell me what it is so I will know whether I want to have it transferred to DVD?? Then. . .any recommendations for local people/companies that could do the transfer??

[MadMonk]

Not sure, but try calling Epperson photo.

[foodiefan]

Thanks. . . that was first place I called and they don't. Their recommendation was "just call someone in the phone book". Always a possibility, but would prefer a recommendation if I can get one since it's ancient family history we're dealing with!!

[mark]

i used a guy in canada (http://foreverondvd.com/) a few years ago who did an awesome job. expect to pay by the foot. do your research online as there are different ways for the transfer to be done. some will just run it through and record it to minidv/dvd/hard drive, some will take a picture of each frame and then use software to put it together to make the video, some will do color correction. you definitely get what you pay for. do it right the first time so you're happy with the results.

[foodiefan]

Mark. . . thanks!! I'll check it out.

[village idiot]

I found some of MY dad's old vintage 8mm films and got grounded for a month for showing them to my friends. Funny I didn't recognize any of the ladies in the films.

[Charlie40]

I used this company before to transfer some super 8 film to dvd, I was impressed and they are local to the OKC area.

Creative Photo Video, Inc.

[foodiefan]

Thanks all (even V. I. for the warning!!). Nice to have a couple places to check out.

[wayward1]

i went through the same thing....heres what you do....look around area flea markets and antique stores and you can find an 8mm projector...i see them all the time...i've bought 3....if you dont have a screen..no problem...just tape a piece of white typing paper to the wall.....then you can view them...but i went further....i set up my digital camera on a tri-pod and zoomed in to fill the whole screen....and then plugged the camera into my dvd player and recorded them straight to dvd....if your dvd doesnt record....plug your cam into you computer.......or as the last resort contact epperson.....hope this helps.......oh yeah...depending on the size of the projector you might spend anywhere from $10 to $50 (ballpark estimate) but make sure it comes with the extra metal reel..or it wont work....all my 8mm from the 1950's and 1970's came out nice and clear....and its alot cheaper than paying hundreds of dollars to have someone else do it.

[kevinpate]

> got grounded for a month for showing them to my friends.

hysterical!