8MM to Digital

My parents have several 8mm movies made when I and my oldest brother were very young. (As in a long time ago.) For years we've all said, "We really need to do something with those old movies to save them,"  and talking about it is about as far as it got.

Last fall Tim saw a tutorial on converting your 8mm movies to digital. Unfortunately, I do not have the link to the tutorial, but the concept is very simple. Find a quiet room with a white wall. Set up a digital video camera on a tripod. Project the 8mm on the wall and record it with the digital. Here is how one of the movies turned out.




Obviously the quality of digital is dependent on the 8mm quality, but this is a quick and easy way to preserve an 8 mm movie digitally. Edits could be made and music could be added to enhance the movie.

This was our Christmas present to my parents. It required little money, and actually would have been free if we hadn't needed a new bulb for the 8mm projector. It only required a little time, and was a much appreciated gift.