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Just found a treasure trove

RedlegRedleg Member Posts: 417 ✭✭✭
edited March 2002 in General Discussion
I was going through my Dad's things from Vietnam and found a dozen Super 8mm film reels tht he shot while on patrol, R&R, etc. I would love to get these things transfered to VHS, but it's so g-damned expensive.Some of the frames show pictures of an F-100 doing a napalm run and a cruiser or destroyer taking fire. I would love to see what els is on these reels...anybody have any ideas?Brian
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Comments

  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've done some of this in the past but am not set up for it right now. I bought one of those gizmos at the camera shop that allow you to run the old Bell & Howell projector into one end while pointing your videocam into another porthole. Having had considerable camera experience, I successfully copied a couple hours' worth of old home movies this way and got pretty good results on VHS -- BUT --It was tedious work. You have to get the framing and focus just right, and the projector framed just so, and whenever a splice goes through (even the one on the white leader) you can lose the loop in the projector so you have to stop and re-thread. It's no picnic. The pressure was so great on me from various family to do ALL the home movies that I finally got tired and gave everything back to Mom, who said she would pay to have it done by a camera shop. Predictably, it has yet to be done. The answer is probably to call around and find a better price to have this done. Many camera shops don't get an order for this very often but they can mail it in for you to some service that will handle it. That way the trouble is somebody else's. The scary thing is, there is no absolute guarantee against loss or damage of these irreplaceable movies either in the mail or during the procedure, and I'm sure their responsibility will be limited to a new blank roll of film... Your first step might be to pick up a working Bell & Howell projector for $50 from your local classifieds and watch the movies that way to see what you've got. But get a projector that's been babied, or you're liable to tear the old film and splices apart on first run. I've known people to actually shoot video off a home movie screen and get viewable results, by the way.
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Redleg it may be costly, but this about your Daddy. Do it and I guaranty you won't be sorry.
    PC=BS
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  • budmottbudmott Member Posts: 155 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    One opinion,do a search at google.com for film to DVDtransfers.There are companies that do this at reasonable rates. Plus DVD will last almost forever.have a daybud
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  • budmottbudmott Member Posts: 155 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    found this place will do 2hrs tape to dvd for $25. http://www.perfectpopcorn.com/ hope this helps.bud
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  • concealedG36concealedG36 Member Posts: 3,566 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Redleg, thanks for your post. It somehow reminded me of some tapes I watched as a very young child of my father in Vietnam. I totally forgot about them until just now.I just contacted my dad and asked if I could take another look at his films. Hopefully, he'll let me archive them.As a kid, he rarely spoke about the Vietnam War but one time he showed me a couple of his 8mm(?) movies when we were alone. I think Vietnam really messed him up and I'd like to look at those movies again, with a different and more mature perspective.Anyway, thanks for posting this thread.G36
    Gun Control Disarms Victims, NOT Criminals
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  • Submariner .Submariner . Member Posts: 165 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    SHUFFLING THROUGH SOME OF DADS OLD VIETNAM STUFF AND FOUND SOME POLAROIDS OF DAD AND SOME OTHERS DEMONSTRATING WHY THE 173RD ABN WAS THE ONLY NON SPECIAL FORCES UNIT IN VTNM THAT THE V.C. WERE SCARED OF.IT WERENT PRETTY AND IT GAVE ME A DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE OLD MAN.NOT BAD MIND YOU JUST TO SEE YOUR DAD DOING THINGS THAT WELL JUST WOULDNT BE UNDERSTOOD BY SOME WELL....
    Truck Driver,Submarine Veteran,Rusty Wallace fan,and piss poor typist
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  • ndbillyndbilly Member Posts: 1,573 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Redleg - The words of caution regarding the handling of the old 8mm film are well said. Also, don't stop the projector to look at a particular image. That old film will burn very quickly from the heat of the projection bulb. Finally, I did it both ways - had the films transferred by a professional and shot the video camera while the projector was running in the living room. Believe it or not, I had better results with the latter. The stuff I shipped off to the videographer lost a lot of light in the transfer process. The stuff transferred in the living room scenario came out with very little loss of light. Old films like yours are priceless but they will fade and become increasingly brittle with time. Get it on to videotape while you can.
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