• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

16mm Film to DVD

Share this page

Gliderman8

Gliderman8

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
Can anyone recommend a reputable service to covert old 16mm film onto a DVD?
I recently found some old family movies my dad had taken and want to be able to convert them to a more modern format.
Thanks for any help you can supply.
 
Y

YakkoWarner

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
Are they actually 16mm or 8mm that hasn't been split? I only ask because true 16mm is a somewhat unusual format for home filmed movies to be on, it was more of a professional format. If you really do have 16mm home movies, there should be enough resolution on that film to make going to a higher definition format like BluRay worthwhile. Original 8mm (not Super8) used 16mm film but only exposed 1/2 the frame at a time, you then flipped the film like a reel of tape and exposed the other side. The developer would split the film in half and splice it together during processing. Super8 has smaller sprocket holes which allowed for a slightly larger image frame and (in some cases) space for a thin mono magnetic sound recording.
 
PAUL161

PAUL161

Great Pumpkin
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I wonder if they can convert 8mm film, we have some of various things, mostly the kids and family, I'd love to have them on a DVD. We even have one roll that was never developed but no one, as I've been told can develop it due to a non existance of the proper chemicals. PJ
 
OP
Gliderman8

Gliderman8

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
YakkoWarner said:
Are they actually 16mm or 8mm that hasn't been split? I only ask because true 16mm is a somewhat unusual format for home filmed movies to be on, it was more of a professional format. If you really do have 16mm home movies, there should be enough resolution on that film to make going to a higher definition format like BluRay worthwhile. Original 8mm (not Super8) used 16mm film but only exposed 1/2 the frame at a time, you then flipped the film like a reel of tape and exposed the other side. The developer would split the film in half and splice it together during processing. Super8 has smaller sprocket holes which allowed for a slightly larger image frame and (in some cases) space for a thin mono magnetic sound recording.
Click to expand...

Thanks yakko... I will have to open up a roll an measure it. In the meantime can anyone recommend a place to have it converted?
 
Y

YakkoWarner

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
16mm film should have sprocket holes on both edges of the film. Standard 8mm will have largish square sprocket holes only on 1 edge. Super8 also has holes only on one edge, but they are much smaller. If the films are on reels, there may be some labelling on the leader of the film itself.

Regrettably I personally don't have a recommended vendor for doing the conversion. We have a good camera shop down here in central Texas that advertises being able to do things like this, but I don't know if they can handle mail-in work or not and I have not used them for this process.
 
OP
Gliderman8

Gliderman8

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
Yakko... Thanks again for all your help.
 
AngliaGT

AngliaGT

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
My Dad took 16mm movies.He had a wind up professional camera.
Can't remember the name of it (Bollard?) right now.It took very professional-
looking movies.
 
P

pdplot

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
I think it was Bolex. I also have some old movie film of sports car races in the 1950s taken on a Bell & Howell 8mm (16mm?) camera that I still have. Ferraris, Allards even maybe a Scarab or two. It may have been converted to videotape at one time but that's obsolete now as well and my tape player broke down and was discarded. Technology marches on.
 
M

maynard

Obi Wan
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I have had both 8mm and VHS converted to DVD at Costco and they did a good job. Understand they do 16mm as well.
 
AngliaGT

AngliaGT

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
pdplot said:
I think it was Bolex. I also have some old movie film of sports car races in the 1950s taken on a Bell & Howell 8mm (16mm?) camera that I still have. Ferraris, Allards even maybe a Scarab or two. It may have been converted to videotape at one time but that's obsolete now as well and my tape player broke down and was discarded. Technology marches on.
Click to expand...


That's it,a Bolex.When my Dad passed away,I could have taken it,but didn't
know what I'd do with it.
 
Top