16mm and 8mm Film — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What type of films do you convert?
• How do reels translate into feet?
• How many minutes of footage do I have?
• Why does my film box say 25ft, but the
  smallest reel you list is 50ft?
• What if my movie film is undeveloped?
• How can I tell the difference between
  regular 8mm and Super 8mm film?
• If the film appears to "jump" or "chatter"
• Can you make my film look better?
• Can you transfer very old or broken film?
• Can you transfer film with sound?

Other Question and Answer Pages

• Photo Scanning for Printed Photos
• Slide Scanning
• Negative and Film Scanning
• Sideshow Movies
• 8mm Film to DVD Transfer
• Video Tape Home Movies to DVD

We specialize in all 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm film types with the ability to transfer sound if present.

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50ft Reels are 3-4 Minutes. You can use this as a base guide for your larger reels. For Example: a 400ft Reel would be 24-32 minutes in length.

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Most "Double Roll" film was originally sold as 25 feet of 16mm film. The cameraman would shoot one edge of the film, flip-over the spool in the camera (in the dark) and then shoot the other edge of the film. After the film was developed, it was split down the center and two ends were glued together to form one 50 foot reel. You'll notice the box containing the reel is twice as thick as the small plastic reel inside.

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We can not process undeveloped film at this time. If you have film that needs to developed, contact Kodak at 1-800-242-2424 ext.1011 or 1012.

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Super 8mm perforations (holes) are SMALLER than those for regular 8mm. Correspondingly, the actual film area for Super 8mm film is larger than that for Regular 8mm - a full 50% larger! Hence the industry term of "Super" is added to the name.

A golden-brown magnetic strip along the top of the film indicates that the film has sound. We can also transfer your movie reels that have sound for an addition 25¢ per foot!

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If the film is not lubricated, some projectors can damage the film perforations. (Kodak film is automatically lubricated during processing by Kodak.) Once the perforations are damaged, lubrication will not solve the problem of unsteadiness.

Such damaged areas must then be either spliced out or duplicated. Lubrication also helps prevent drying and warping of the film. For protection and long life, your film should periodically be cleaned and lubricated.

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Through our color correction and image enhancement services (included in the base price) most films will indeed look better. Possibly better than they have ever looked!

Please Note: We cannot improve film that is blurry, flickering or strobing on original film, shot out of frame, damaged due to humidity and mildew or double exposed.

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Most old film can be restored using the cleaning and lubricating agent we carry. If your film is too brittle, we won't risk damaging it. We will keep you informed on every step of the way.

The most extreme cases of damage are from the vinegar syndrome where the film smells like vinegar and has curled and become dry and brittle. Only in some cases have we been able to transfer this type of film. Since it is a case by case basis. The best way for us to tell you is if we can see your film ourselves.

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Yes! Although most home movie film is silent, we can transfer sound from Super8 movie reels for an additional 25¢ per foot.

Base transfer price is just 20 cents per foot for DVD resolution and 30 cents per foot for Full HD 1080p resolution.

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We keep our turn status up-to-date and posted on the left-hand side of every page on the website. Please call or email for larger projects.

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Yes! Unless you instruct us otherwise, we always return your original film.  Some people don't want their original film back so in that case we hold on to it until we're given us the ok to destroy it.  Please buy or make extra copies and store them separately. 

Buying extra copies for family is a great way to have backups in multiple locations!

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You will be able re-organize the order of your movies on our website once we've completed our work so don't worry about delivering them to us in any particular order.  You may want to jot down any notes written on the reels or boxes to help you remember what to title the movies.

 Visit our Shipping Tips for more information!

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We charge by the foot and have a no minimum charge! Our goal was to offer the most affordable and quality product possible. Rather than automating everything to cut costs and produce an impersonal product, we have set up our process to incorporate manual quality control in every step.

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Yes! The additional cost for this service is 50% of the services price with a $50 minimum. We do this in order to pay an employee to work overtime in order to move a customer ahead in the Queue to be processed.

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When you fill out our online order form, we recommend that you choose FedEx shipping. Our partnership with FedEx allows you to print your own shipping label that you won't be charged for until we've completed your order. All shipping charges will be included in your order's total.

If you opt to use another courier, we strongly suggest that you use an air service with package tracking available. You also have several return shipping options on our online order form.

DigMyPics only charges the posted shipping rates on the FedEx and USPS websites for return shipping.

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We have a direct phone number to our customer service representatives during regular business hours. You won't be forced onto a hold line. When you call 1-866-364-5952 our phones start ringing and we answer with a hearty hello! Or you can always email us at support@digmypics.com

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We do all the work from our sole location in Gilbert, Arizona, so you can feel good about supporting the American photographers and artists that work at DigMyPics!

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Yes! We have no minimum so you will just pay for what you send. We are confident you will be satisfied with the quality of our service and when you send the rest of your reels, we'll add your first sample order to your new DVD free of charge.

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Yes! We will transfer full quality uncompressed .avi files from your 8mm and Super8 reels to a USB 2.0 External Hard Drive. This hard drive does not require a "wall plug" to power it up and can be used on both MAC and PC. You only need your computer and the USB cable that comes with it.

There is no additional charge to receive your movie reels as AVI files other than the price of the hard drive(s) it takes to store them. The standard DVD resolution AVI files are in 720x480 resolution.  1080p files are in 1920x1080 Full HD resolution.

Alternatively you can use a ripping and converting software such as AVS Video Converter to convert the playable DVDs we make into editable files. The resulting files will not look as crisp as the uncompressed AVI files we provide and conversion time may be lengthy depending on the speed of your computer.

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Every 1000ft. of film takes up about 16Gb of Hard Drive space in an uncompressed AVI format. Most orders will fit on 1 hard drive. We will let you know if your order requires 2 or more hard drives.

We can fit 950 feet of film on a DVD or about 15,000 feet on a hard drive as uncompressed AVI files.

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Yes! These DVDs work like any commercial DVD you buy in the store.

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We keep all the files we need to make additional copies for 30 days after your order is completed. Simply call us and we'll send more copies your way or even deliver them to a friend or relative as a gift.

Please Note: The cost is $8 per disc.

For example: If a set consists of 3 discs to fulfill the total footage then it will be $24 ($8 x 3) per set.

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Yes! These DVDs are yours to do with as you like. However, you must have the proper burning software and DVD burner drive installed on your computer.

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