robin1234

I have my parents’ wedding film from 1947, and I want to get a copy of it in digital format. I see there are contractors who you can mail the film to, and they’ll make a dvd + online copy of it, and return the original film, all for a moderate cost. It is regular 8mm film on a reel. My sister got a vhs copy made about 30 years ago, but it is poor quality. Has anyone done this, and can recommend one company over another? (In the US.)

I know there are no absolute guarantees, but I just don’t want the original film to be lost or destroyed..

BristolUK

Just a thought, but is it possible that the VHS copy reflects the quality of the original?

Jerseygirl

Not sure if she can help, but you could try contacting Siouxie.

https://britishexpats.com/forum/members/siouxie-118202/

neill

Check out this youtube: Might be worth considering a pro to do it:


"Brad Miller of Film-Tech Cinema Systems scanned this Super 8 film to 1080p HD and 2160p Ultra HD using a Lasergraphics Scanstation Pro 6.5K and applied color correction to it, and even without more advanced processing to clean up the image, I'm amazed at the quality of the results.

BristolUK

I thought that was what Robin was considering. For exactly that sort of reason, given the age of the original.

ddsrph

Robin
Minor thread deviation but my question doesn’t warrant new post. I occasionally come in internet contact with people still wrestling with Obama’s birth certificate. I have told them to look up his Honolulu birth announcement in Honolulu Advertiser Aug 13 1961 and they can find this in any major library. How are newspapers archived and where or how easy could you find this newspaper archived?

jkeller

Isn't film from 1947 likely to be that highly flammable type of film?

Found it, nitrate film...

https://everpresent.com/cellulose-nitrate-film/

robin1234

Thanks for this. It is 8mm film shot in 1947, so presumably manufactured in 1946 or 1947. I skimmed that article, and it looks like it could go either way- the article gives some distinguishing features that allow you to identify the type of film by examining it, so I’ll do that.

robin1234

I honestly don’t know about that particular newspaper. In the modern world, yeah, access to newspaper archives is available via commercial newspaper aggregators that are available at your library or any library that you have access to. (For example, I live in remote rural New York. I have access to anything at my local college library, my local public library, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, and Norfolk Libraries in England, since I have a home & library card in Norfolk.)

Basically, over the last twenty or thirty years, companies & non-profits have gone into newspaper archives, paper or microfilm, and digitized all the newspapers that are available. These aggregated archives are then rented out to, or made available free of charge, to libraries. Lexis-Nexis and Ebsco are two of the big commercial providers. You simply have to search around, or ask a librarian, which database includes the Honolulu Advertiser.

It is not just libraries - Ancestry.com and ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk (Etc) have local newspaper databases within their products..

https://www.newspapers.com/article/t...as-b/15455398/

robin1234

Yeah, I definitely want a pro. It is black & white film.

Jolly Good

We had a guy in Houston do ours when we were living there. He did a good job but ours were only from the early 1970's through the 80's. He did tell us that some were damaged too badly though probably because of storage after storm damage. I will see if I still have his information.


It was strange seeing myself as a very shy youngster in my late teens and then a crazy young mum running around with my babies in my 20's! Whatever happened to time??