Convert Super8 Film to Digital

If you’ve ever seen a car race on a figure-8 track, it’s a whole lot of chaos. Vehicles crossing paths at high speed means there could be an accident at any moment. Delicious to watch, but possibly terrifying to be behind the wheel.  

The same can go for stumbling across those 8mm film reels in your attic. With all those precious memories trapped and fading on an expired format, what should you do? Are these old films still good? How do you watch or show your old home movies? How does one transfer an 8mm movie film to a digital format and can other variations of this film be converted to digital video formats as well?

Take a deep breath and count to eight. With the help of Legacybox, you can safely bring back all that classic footage with our digital conversion service, allowing you to share it with future generations. 

A Brief History of 8mm Films & Formats

Motion pictures in the first half of the 20th century were shot on large rolls of film that were 35 millimeters wide (35mm). Amateur and semi-professional filmmakers used film less than half as wide, called 16mm.

As film and movie cameras trickled off of movie lots and became more accessible, everybody wanted the ability to capture their own family memories on film. 16mm just wasn’t viable for widespread home use.

To create an affordable alternative for the masses, the Eastman Kodak company was the first to take the 16mm film and cut its frame size in half. Once processed, they spliced the long roll of film in half down the middle to create two film strips. 8 millimeters is about as wide as a pencil. As these Kodak reels provided twice as much footage at half the size, shooting movies became much more accessible for everybody.

Standard 8 (Regular 8 / Double 8)

The Standard 8 film format (also known as Regular 8 and Double 8) was released to the market in 1932. Standard 8 film spools contained a 16mm wide film with twice as many perforations along each edge as normal 16mm film. On the first pass through the camera, one side of the film was exposed. When the first pass was complete, the operator would open the camera and swap spools. Then, the same film ran through the camera again, this time exposing the other edge.

Develop, splice, and you were left with two spools of 8mm film with a single row of perforations along one edge. Each frame was half the width and half the height of a 16mm frame so you could shoot four times as much on the same amount of film. This is what made it affordable for anyone who didn’t have the  MGM organization’s budget.

Because of the film’s two passes, the format was sometimes called “Double 8.” The spools allowed for about 3 minutes of filming, leaving no time for small talk. These days, we’ve taken the next step: converting 8mm film to digital downloads.

Super 8 (Super8mm)

In 1965, the Super 8 film format was released to the public and it was even easier to use than the Standard 8, as it:

• Introduced a new cartridge system, eliminating the need to thread film manually on the spool.

• Did not require reloading or re-threading halfway through

• Allowed the camera to be loaded in under 2 seconds

• Eliminated the need for splicing (since the film was already in its final width of 8mm)

• Metal pressure plates were replaced by plastic ones, which improved the ability to keep the film flat and the image in focusContained smaller, more widely spaced perforations (used by the camera and projector to pull the film along), which allowed for a larger image area and translated into higher image quality

The new spools of film would not mount on a Standard 8 projector, so people adapted to the improved Super 8 format. In fact, it worked so well that they're still shooting on Super 8! But now, they enjoy better film stock to work with and almost always transfer to video or digital for smoother editing and showing. Hint: We’re the best company to transfer 8mm film to DVD, if we don’t mind saying so....

Single 8 

Another version of Super 8 film, Single 8 was produced by Fuji in Japan and introduced to compete with the Kodak Super 8 format. It had the same final film dimensions, but with a B-shaped cassette that paired one spool above the other rather than side by side. The cartridge was thinner, and it had a better system in place for rewinding tape. The Single 8 didn't see  much success outside of Japan, but it is comparable to Super 8 and compatible with Super 8 projection systems.

Straight8

Straight8 was a single-width, 8mm film offered in magazines and spools by several camera companies. Some manufacturers produced cameras with special magazines that could be pre-loaded with 8mm spools, however, under the pattern that market leader Kodak had established, film at the time was mostly only available in the double 8mm format.
The Straight8 format enjoyed the majority of its popularity in Europe. Kodak did eventually introduce a Straight8 magazine-loading system, but it was never hugely popular and quickly discontinued.

UltraPan8

Introduced in 2011, the UltraPan8 film format uses Standard 8 film in a modified camera. The area of film exposed is as wide as a traditional 16mm frame, but only half as tall, creating a very widescreen-style look for the final product.

Video 8 / Digital 8 / Hi 8

8mm can refer to either projector film or video film.

• Projector Film - Whether on a spool (8mm, Standard 8, Regular 8, Double 8) or in a cartridge (Super 8, Single 8, UltraPan8), the end product will always require a projector.

• Video Film - 8mm video film (as used in VHS tapes, videotapes, and camcorders) that came in cartridge form and was part of the video revolution (Video 8, Digital 8, Hi 8) is different and does NOT always require a projector. It must be processed before it can be viewed, as it is never removed from its cartridge. It provides instant playback, whether on the camcorder itself, on a TV via video playback, or on a VCR.
  
  

Don’t w8 til it’s too l8!

Sorry, couldn’t resist. But it's true...if you have a collection of 8mm films, they likely have some years under their belts.

Unless you're an independent moviemaker or hobbyist who uses old cameras and feet of film for an intended look and feel, nobody is using this old equipment as a way of capturing family memories. Old formats are inefficient, unpredictable, and impractical. However, what you are sitting on is gold, if you can transfer it safely to the modern digital age using Legacybox’s digitizing process.

Film strips were not designed to last forever. Even Hollywood has found that out the hard way - film reels can be lost forever without ever leaving their original can. They need a film digitizer solution. 

That’s where our engineers at Legacybox step in and make that transition a whole lot easier for you and your family by providing high-quality film transfer services. We handle every kind of 8mm film by hand daily and we talk to you throughout the entire process to keep you updated and save your peace of mind. With quick turnaround times, your films come back to you alive and well, reformatted (either on a thumb drive that can easily be transferred to a hard drive via a USB port, DVD, or digital files through our state-of-the-art Legacybox Cloud™) so that you can show and share anytime, anywhere.

So pull those family memories out of deep storage and get your digital copy to save them from the damage of time. Legacybox is the best 8mm to digital service; see for yourself today!

Not sure if your film has sound on it? Find out here!