Best lo-fi transfer set up?

March 28, 2006

I've very little interest in shooting digital at school (or period for that matter) and also would enjoy the ease of home transfer when I've got film I've been goofing around with/shooting just for the fun of it. I know my results won't be as good as getting it professionally done, but I'm content to capture using Hi8 or SVHS or whatever for the type of stuff I'm talking about.

Are any of those video transfer devices I see on eCheeze any better than the others? I was reading about the Kodak Moviedeck...anyone have one to chime in on about?? I like the look of it as far as ease of use goes.

I was hoping that Bentley thingamabob would work, but from all accounts, I might have well as rolled up my $20 and smoked it.

Tron X · March 29, 2006

Look for an old video transfer box from the 80s. I found one at a Goodwill for $6.50 and find it yields great results (for it's price).

Just project your image onto the screen on one side and film the image off the other with your DV camera.

I hook my DV directly to my computer and import as the projector runs.

Sure there's some flicker (minimal), and sure the image isn't amazing, but that's how my parents watched it; projected on a Da-Lite screen some 30 years ago.

This is super 8, people expect it to look like crap. I'm not saying super 8 does look like crap - it doesn't - I'm saying that you don't need a perfect image to make a great little movie.

This is a picture from mike nyberg's amazing super 8 page. It shows a video transfer using a box similar to mine.

Anthony Schilling · March 29, 2006

I don't know your budget, but if you ever want to get a little serious... the Workprinter is pretty much the only up to date consumer range transfer unit, but can give stunning results that are close to a pro telecine. The better ones capture straight to your hard drive. here's one that requires no computer http://www.moviestuff.tv/c_15.html seems expensive but can pay for itself against pro transfers if you shoot often. plus they hold their purchase value on ebay because of the 6 week back order.

Mathis Nitschke · April 2, 2006

Project on a small white paper and film it with your videocam. Depending on your equipment it can come out surprisingly well. And it´s fun.

Giles Perkins · April 2, 2006

Build a DIY setup like this for less than £100 - http://homepage.mac.com/onsuper8/diytelecine/

April 2, 2006

If all you're looking to do is monkey around with some low-fi transfers for some video editing practice based on what you've already got shot on super 8, mathis is exactly right. You should simply tape up some extra-white paper and shoot that with your camcorder. Way sharper than any grained screen in a home movie transfer box.

Unless you are planning on going into the home movie transfer business, buying a Workprinter or, my God, a Sniper, means an outlay of thousands of dollars. Completely insane -- can't even hold a candle to uncompressed harddrive 10 bit (Rank, Shadow) which is now readily available at half a dozen places. And besides, think about it, you're shooting reversal anyways (negative does not work worth a poop in those things), so you can do an edit of what you decide you want from raw footage doing an off the white paper on the wall transfer and send that reel in for a real transfer, so getting a real transfer makes even more sense economics-wise.

* The big concern with mathis's sugestion is getting your exposure on the camcorder right. And this is because you are shooting a projected image off a white sheet of paper. Almost always you're going to see people being fooled into thinking that they are seeing a better exposure with their reversal exposed even 2/3 of a stop off. Of course they are not. The camcorder is autoexposing under to compensate for the artificially bright light on the white paper in the bright spots! Which is naturally far brighter than in the original scene, so the iris closes more than it should for a correct transfer. *