Converting old 8mm tapes to digital for editing.

[Fletcher500]

I have 30 year old 8 mm tapes that I would like to convert to digital, and then edit them on my Mac using iMovie.

I found this Vidbox product that I can apparently use for the shown camcorder and then convert the Mini DV tapes over to my Mac. Has anyone used this product, or are there others you would recommend?

Regarding the Larger 8 mm tapes shown, I don’t have the original camera so I would assume I need to buy a playback machine? Any recs on one of these (cheaper model for one time use) for the larger tape sizes?

Would the Vid box product work on the larger 8 mm tapes if I have a suitable playback machine?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Yahoo 1]

Same here. I will follow this thread with great interest. Thanks !

 

[KnotYet]

Another way to get the transfers made would be to use a business that does it for profit.
There are several such places in the L.A. area and likely one in any major city.
They may provide a better quality transfer than the $69 gadget, too.

 

[twistedtree]

I would LOVE to find a place that will do frame by frame scans for max quality. I just don't think the project-it-then-record cuts it. Too much image quality loss. I've got three generations worth of home movies, including surgeries that my grandfather performed in the 20's - that's the 1920's, not the 2020's. Plus family steamship trips, one where Abbot and Costello were co-passengers. And of course tons of my brothers and me hamming it up.

 

[ghost]

Edit: I should have read it again. You pictured mini dv, but yours is not digital but older analog tape. My response was for DV.

You said 8mm, but that’s mini dv in the picture. You would only need a FireWire cable to whatever your Mac takes (mine is thunderbolt). Then you can import directly into iMovie. It’s really easy, just did one about an hour ago for the same reason.

 

[Crossroads]

Contact Steve at Harbor Digitizing here in Friday Harbor. His contact info is on the linked website.

He is exactly who you are looking for.

Full disclosure: Steve is a friend and dock neighbor.

 

[Peter B]

Another way to get the transfers made would be to use a business that does it for profit.
There are several such places in the L.A. area and likely one in any major city.
They may provide a better quality transfer than the $69 gadget, too.

Yes. This would indeed be the way to go. I recently have a similar situation, where I have a whole lot of valuable home videos of kids growing up, family holidays, our earlier boats, etc, all on compact VHS, and also later digital tape. (I now have a digital SSD camcorder).

In each case my adaptor or player of same was now defunct. I was trying to find where I could obtain the appropriate players when someone advised me of a fellow who could convert all modalities onto thumb drives and DVDs. Problem solved in much better way. They all fitted on one 32Gb thumb drive. I got him to burn off DVDs as well, but some of them are a bit tedious to watch unedited.
If I was motivated, I could edit them now with iMovie.

 

[Sykes]

I use https://www.pinnaclesys.com/en/ to capture video on my computer. Then I send it out to clients on dropbox.

Thanks, Steve Sykes - Sykes Investigations

 

[Marco Flamingo]

We had all of our still photographs digitized. I've looked at them more in the last couple of years than I had in the past 30. A good decision, but it still felt very strange throwing out the photo albums.

When we had our 8mm digitized, the business did us a favor by editing out some of the mistakes, both of which were our favorite parts of the old films. One was my grandfather trying to get the camera to work (several seconds looking up his nose). The other was crossing the Columbia river on a ferry and as we docked Dad swung the camera around like we had crashed into the pier. Both got lots of laughs. So be sure that whoever does the transfer has clear instructions.

 

[Enyar]

Check your local library, ours offers these services for free or you could DIY using their equipment.

 

[folivier]

I did this last year and used an Elgato converter along with an 8mm camcorder as a player. Very time consuming since you have to let the tape play as it's being recorded. Also don't expect much quality, the tapes are old and were recorded at a much lower resolution. But memories are worth being captured. After spending a couple months converting all of our family memories I gave my wife and both sons an HDD with all of the movies.
Check at pawn stores for an 8mm camcorder and buy one with a guarantee if it doesn't work for them to keep giving you one until you get one that works. Sony's are notorious for the camcorder part having problems.
This is a MUCH cheaper option than having a service do it. But will test your patience.

 

[READY]

I used a service about 5 years ago to convert 8mm film. They did frame by frame and it was a fantastic job. I had probably 25+ reels, some single but many that were spliced so they were 5-7inch. It was expensive I think near $1k but it was worth it. Let me see if I can dig up the name of the company.

 

[twistedtree]

I used a service about 5 years ago to convert 8mm film. They did frame by frame and it was a fantastic job. I had probably 25+ reels, some single but many that were spliced so they were 5-7inch. It was expensive I think near $1k but it was worth it. Let me see if I can dig up the name of the company.

I'd be very interested in the company name. Thanks.


Also, perhaps the OP can clarify whether he is looking to transfer from 8mm video tape, or 8mm film. I has assumed film, but maybe that's wrong?

 

[Fletcher500]

Also, perhaps the OP can clarify whether he is looking to transfer from 8mm video tape, or 8mm film. I has assumed film, but maybe that's wrong?

The footage was taken on a 1990 vintage camcorder, so I assume its 8 mm tape, not film.

Before posting this, I also found the companies out there that convert it for you. The idea of mailing quite a few precious memories didn’t sound very good, so I was looking for a DIY solution. But, if my efforts fail, I will mail them to a processing company.

The key thing I am trying to do is edit the raw footage using my IMovie software. If I get 20 hours of converted digitized tape back from a company and I don't edit it down to a useable form, it will likely stay in a box for another 30 years.

The product I quoted in my first post has arrived, so I plan on using it next week.

 

[Fletcher500]

I converted a Mini DV 8 tape to digital today using my IMac and the original Videocam that was used. The Vid Box converter was easy enough to use. I then used IMovie to edit it, much of that process involved stripping out redundant footage. It was created at 720 res (I believe), but the quality of the video is fair at best, especially in a large screen display on my Mac. My tech skills are fair at best, so take all of my comments with the proverbial grain of salt.

 

[Fletcher500]

Update for those who may be considering this:

I converted a second mini DV8 tape yesterday with the Vid Converter and the quality was actually quite good. Watching old videos of my kids when they were little was a lot of fun including birthday parties with Sponge Bob Square Pants. Pulling them in to iMovie was no problem for editing, titles, etc.

Then I tried a third tape, and no luck. I would assume the age of these may be the issue, but I will keep trying. The fall back is to mail the ones I can't do myself to a processing service.