Do you have old 8mm, 16mm, and Super 8 film reels? Over time those memories can fade or be lost forever. That’s why it’s important to use digitizing services to turn your analog film reels into high-quality digital copies.
However, not all services will produce great results, return your precious memories quickly, or offer helpful customer support. Capture offers 20+ years of experience in film digitization, which is why we put together this guide to help you choose the best digital conversion service for your priceless film reels.
Keep reading to examine important criteria for choosing a top-quality service, learn about the top film to digital service providers, and choose the best company for your memories with a comparative analysis.
Jump to:
- Criteria for Choosing the Best Service Providers
- Top Film to Digital Service Providers
- Comparative Analysis
Criteria for Choosing the Best Service Providers
There are plenty of professional film digitization companies to choose from, but to make sure you make the right choice for your memories and your wallet, it’s important to consider several factors like quality, formats, turnaround time, price, and more.
Quality of Conversion
Make sure you consider the resolution, color correction, color accuracy, and quality of scanning so that you get results that capture the memories exactly as you remember them. Additionally, if your old film is broken, moldy, or otherwise damaged, then you should consider whether the company will splice and clean it before film conversion.
Formats Supported
Some film transfer services will only accept a certain type of film, while others can digitize 8 mm, Super 8-, and 16-mm film reels. Additionally, they might offer different digital formats like DVD copies, cloud storage, or USB flash drives.
Turnaround Time
You probably don’t want to wait months to get your old film formats and digital video, but some companies have a track record of taking 12 weeks or longer. However, others, like Capture, guarantee a turnaround time of 30 days or less.
Price
While your precious memories are important to you, you also don’t want to overpay. Compare prices of companies to determine the most affordable, while also considering the other criteria to truly make the best film transfer choice.
Customer Service
Finally, consider customer service including communication, order tracking, security, and satisfaction guarantees before choosing. We also recommend reading film to digital conversion reviews to identify common complaints or regular issues.
Top Film to Digital Service Providers
These are the top film scanning services that you might want to consider to preserve old films digitally, including their services, reviews, and more.
Capture
Capture started nearly 25 years ago in 1999 and offers an unparalleled experience with over 12 million happy customers. Our film transfer services can accommodate 16 mm, Super 8, and 8mm film reels. Plus, we include free cloud storage while also offering affordable USB drives and DVD copies.
Our archival experts will clean, splice, and perform scratch reduction prior to creating digital files to ensure the highest quality results. In fact, we guarantee your satisfaction, or we’ll do the entire process again at no extra charge.
In addition to movie film, we also convert a wide range of other memories including video transfer for home movies like VHS tapes, S-VHS, VHS-C, Video 8, MiniDV, Digital8, and Betamax tapes. We also offer photo scanning services for your print photos, negatives, and photo slides. That way, you can digitize all your old media with one premium company.
Plus, our pricing is affordable, starting at only $29.99 for the first 100 feet of film. Even better, we do everything possible to ensure your peace of mind, including investing millions of dollars into a state-of-the-art tracking and security system that monitors your memories every step of the way. No wonder we have thousands of positive reviews and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau!
ScanCafe
ScanCafe has been digitizing memories for over 15 years and offers high-quality film to digital services for 8mm film, 16mm film, 35mm film, and Super 8 camera film. With a 4-6 weeks turnaround time, regular ScanCafe coupons, and an easy checkout process, they have traditionally been one of the top choices in the industry.
Their pricing is by the foot of film, charging 34 cents for every foot of film that you have digitized. Additionally, you’ll have to pay an extra $10 for a digital download, $19 for a USB drive, or $80 for a hard drive, making their price a little less affordable.
One of their more unique services is reel-to-reel audio and audio cassette transfer. They also convert photos to digital and offer video conversion services. While they have been around a long time, earning recognition as an industry leader, ScanCafe reviews have recently gone downhill.
In fact, common ScanCafe complaints include the fact that they send your memories to India, offer poor customer support, might add hidden fees, and could take much longer than 6 weeks to deliver your order.
Still, they have traditionally been a trusted provider with good quality results, so it’s important to consider them so you can make the best choice for your 16mm, Super 8, and 8mm film camera memories.
Legacybox
Legacybox can digitize 8mm, Super 8, Regular 8, and 16mm film reels onto a thumb drive, cloud, or DVD. Their pricing structure works by providing convenient boxes that you fill with a certain number of memories and send back.
Normal pricing is quite expensive though, starting at $59.98 for only 2 film reels and going all the way up to $559.98 for 20 reels or $1099.99 for 40 reels. Not only that, but you are forced to pay either $5.99 per year for cloud storage or the same price for a flash drive or Disc set.
Another concerning issue is the fact that they offer a slow 10–12-week turnaround time. While you can pay extra for expedited or rush orders, many Legacybox complaints state that the turnaround time was much longer than promised.
However, the results are generally good quality and Legacybox reviews praise the easy checkout process, convenient box pricing, and helpful customer support. So, is Legacybox worth it? While they might not be a good choice if you’re on a budget or need your order fast, they are definitely worth considering as one of the most popular choices for film, video formats, and old photos on the market today.
iMemories
iMemories is another good option to consider. While they might not be as popular as Legacybox, they are still one of the top film scanning services. They can accept 8mm, 16mm, and Super 8 film reels and offer free digital downloads. Plus, they have an excellent turnaround time of 2-3 weeks.
Additionally, they have an app that allows you to view your digital media even faster, in as little as 1-2 weeks. Plus, they can turn your family memories into DVD, USB, and Blu-Ray copies. Unfortunately, app access is a little expensive, costing $7.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Also, their pricing for USB and DVD costs are high at $39.99 and $19.99 respectively.
iMemories reviews are generally positive as well, praising the app, customer service, fast turnaround time, and good quality results. However, there are some reoccurring complaints as well, particularly with expensive costs, missed sections of film, and longer turnaround reaching 6 weeks or more in some cases.
Like Legacybox, iMemories isn’t for those watching their budget, but they offer great services and good customer service, which is why they are clearly one of the top options in 2024.
Comparative Analysis
Now, it’s time to do a head-to-head film digitization service comparison. We’ll compare each of the criteria to determine the best option for each, so you can easily determine which is best for your particular needs.
Conversion Quality Comparison
Best Choice: Capture or Legacybox
While all of these choices produce good quality results, Capture and Legacybox tend to offer the best quality results. That’s because they are industry leaders, always looking to improve their services. As far as Legacybox vs Capture, we’re probably biased but we believe that Capture is the best, especially with our quality splicing and scratch reduction services.
Turnaround Time Comparison
Best Choice: Capture or iMemories
Some of these options have extremely slow turnaround times, particularly Legacybox. However, Capture and iMemories are clearly the leaders when it comes to fast film to digital turnaround. While Capture guarantees less than 30-day delivery at no extra charge, you can pay for app access with iMemories to access your memories within 1-2 weeks. That brings us to the next factor.
Price Comparison
Best Choice: Capture and ScanCafe
As far as pricing, Capture offers the best pricing overall, starting at only $29.99 for the first 100 feet of film and only 25 cents per foot after. However, ScanCafe is also quite affordable at 34 cents per foot, which is why they deserve a recommendation for cost. However, when comparing ScanCafe vs Capture directly, it’s the other factors that tarnish ScanCafe’s reputation.
Customer Service Comparison
Best Choice: Capture
As far as customer service goes, Capture can’t be beat. Not only do we offer helpful customer service prior to ordering and throughout the digitization process, but we extend our support after the order is complete as well. Plus, our tracking and security system is the absolute best in business, providing peace of mind for every customer.
Preparing Your Film for Conversion
Regardless of which of the best 8mm to digital conversion options you choose, it’s important to prepare your film first. That includes organizing it, labeling the reels, and preparing it for shipping.
We recommend providing the service provider with any additional information, like where the film might be damaged or how much content is on each reel. That way, you never overpay and get the best customer service possible.
While most services will provide order tracking, you might want to consider insuring your shipment as well. While most orders aren’t common, it does happen, and it might not be the fault of the film transfer service.
Finally, decide how you want your new digital copies stored. A digital download is the fastest while also being ready for sharing over social media and email. However, having a physical copy like a DVD, Blu-Ray, or USB drive for your digital media and old home movies can also be great. Either way, having two copies of the digital files is a good idea so that they are never lost.
Conclusion
Hopefully, now you can choose from the best film to digital service providers, using film to digital transfer ratings, cost of film to digital services, and additional offerings to determine the best choice for your home movies.
If you want to choose the top service trusted by Walmart, Costco, and CVS Pharmacy, choose Capture. We can digitize all your film reels, old photos, videotapes, and more to create a lasting legacy for an affordable price. Click here to get started with your first order today!
