Best 8mm Film to Digital Company Service – Comparison and Buyer’s Guide 2023

1. Our top picks
2. Comparison table
3. iMemories
4. Legacybox
5. Memory Fortress
6. ScanMyPhotos
7. Just8mm
8. Costco
9. Southtree
10. Bottom line

Summary of Our Top Picks

Best 8mm To Digital Service Comparison Table

You may have a wealth of cherished memories stored in old 8mm film canisters, like moments from birthdays and reunions that evoke feelings of simpler times. Don’t let these precious memories go unwatched. Instead, consider converting them to digital format to preserve them for years to come.

Check out our list of the best 8mm film to digital conversion services that provide professional, reliable, and cost-effective solutions. Our picks are based on factors such as affordability, customer satisfaction, and efficiency. Whether you want to transfer your films to a DVD or any other digital format, these companies will ensure your precious memories are preserved for years to come. So don’t let your memories fade away; start reliving them now with our top picks.

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1) iMemories

The iMemories company is a one-stop service for all your digitizing needs. The services offered by iMemories can help you preserve videos or photos. They offer many digitizing formats at affordable prices and a high customer satisfaction rating of 4.7 on Trustpilot, making iMemories stand out among other digitizing companies.

To preserve your memories forever, you will need to send them your films and other media. You can either send them yourself or order a SafeShip Kit from iMemories.

For added protection during shipping, consider ordering their SafeShip Kit, which includes crush-proof boxes, waterproof bags, and shock-resistant bubble cushioning. The kit also comes with a prepaid FedEx label for free shipping and 100% tracking of your package. You can trust iMemories to safely and securely preserve your memories forever.

The process of digitizing your old media can take anywhere between two to three weeks, depending on how much content you want to digitize.

Your original photos will be converted to digital and shipped back, and there is no order limit. They can handle any order size.

Upon completing the digitization process, they will send you your originals and digital copies. You can also view them on the iMemories app, available on iOS and Android devices. In addition, you can easily share your memories with family and friends using the app.

It’s worth mentioning that the quality of the media you get back is surprisingly good. The expert staff restores your memories to look better than the original.

They will also repair or “splice” broken film or tape without losing any footage. The best thing is it’s all free of charge.

Steps for sending you memories to get digitized:

• Order SafeShipKit and pack your media – Go through your films and photos and decide which ones you want to include in the SafeShip Kit. No labeling is necessary. You can do that later on their website.
• The iMemories team treats your memories carefully and converts them into digital formats.
• When they’re finished, you can download the movies and photos to your device for sharing through the app or get them sent back on a DVD or USB drive.

iMemories Accepts and Converts Following Formats:

• Movie Films: 8mm, Super 8, 16mm (with and without sound)
• Videotapes: 8mm, Hi8, Video8, Digital8, VHS, VHS-C, Betamax, MiniDV, MicroMini
• Photos, Slides, and Negatives
• DVDs, MiniDVDs

4 Ways To Get Digitized Media Back

• Customized DVD – For $9.99 per DVD, you can relive those happy times in an easy-to-watch format that’s perfect for home viewing or giving as memorable gifts.
• USB Thumb Drive – Memories on a USB drive start at $19.99 for an 8GB model and go all the way up to $49.99 for the 64GB.
• Digital File Download – You can download all your digitized memories for free.
• iMemories Cloud – $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

iMemories Pricing

When writing this article, iMemories offered a limited-time discount of 25%.

Currently, the price for movie films is $11.99 per 50ft. Videotapes are $11.99 per tape, and for photographs, it’s $0.44 per photo.

Click here to see if the Limited Time Offer is still available.

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2) LegacyBox

LegacyBox is known for its high-quality digitization services, allowing customers to preserve their old films and memories in a new, updated format. With the option to choose from various digital formats and their commitment to improving their services, LegacyBox is a reliable and affordable choice for anyone looking to convert their 8mm films to digital. To get the best value, be sure to check their website for discounts and offers.

They offer excellent customer service, and the representatives are helpful and polite. This makes the experience with LegacyBox much more pleasant. They have over a decade of experience converting old media.

LegacyBox offers a range of packages or shipping kits, with different options, depending on how many film reels you have and what format you want them in.

Your Legacybox Kit will be digitized and sent to you in approximately 6-8 weeks once they receive it. You’ll receive regular email updates throughout the process with access to a personal concierge who can answer all of your questions.

Legacybox offers a patented barcoding system that tracks your order throughout the entire digitizing process. You’ll be able to track it, check its status, and receive emails with updates on how things are going.

You’ll receive your original memories plus digitized future-proof copies on a Thumb Drive or DVD. You can even download a digital copy and relive the moment anytime you want.

How Much Does Legacybox Cost?

There are many different digitizing kits to choose from, and each comes at a different price point. For example, the 2 Item Starter box can fit two tapes or two films or two sets of 25 photos for $65.98.

The current prices of the LegacyBox kits are:

• $65.98 for two 8mm reels
• $299.98 for ten 8mm reels
• $599.98 for twenty 8mm reels
• $1179.98 for forty 8mm reels

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3) Memory Fortress

This service is probably not familiar to many people, but they are among the leading services of photo scanning and video transfer. The ability to work with big order volumes makes them stand out from the others, and we can undoubtedly say they currently have the fastest turnaround time.

Also, it is interesting that they are not only good at handling large orders but also encourage customers to combine their family memories into one big project. This means you could transfer and preserve memories from several generations of your family. Of course, if you don’t have that many films, that won’t be a big deal because Memory Fortress has a partnership with smaller transfer facilities that are better equipped for handling smaller orders so that they won’t turn you down.

Memory Fortress focuses on quality and, at the same time, on speed to meet the expectations of its customers, as evidenced by the high-rating reviews of verified customers.

To place an order, you can make it through the Memory Fortress website or by contacting them via phone. 

Memory Fortress doesn’t offer any shipping kits, so you need to group your films, pack them in your own box, and ship them to the provided address.

When they receive your films, they will digitize them quickly, after which they will be transferred to DVD, USB, or Cloud (Dropbox), depending on your choice.

Currently, the 8mm film transfer price is $0.29 per foot. Videotapes are $20 per tape, and by adding more tapes, the price gets cheaper. The same is with photos, slides, and negatives, which start at $0.38 per photo, $0.54 per slide, and $0.75 per negative.

With the completion of the order, they will ship back your original films alongside a digital copy.

With a simple process, fast processing times, and affordable prices, Memory Fortress will preserve your movies for future generations, so they’re ready to be shared online with family and friends.

Memory Fortress Accept and Converts the Following Formats:

• Films: 8mm
• Videotapes: VHS, VHS-C, Betamax, 8mm, Hi8, Digital 8, MiniDV/HDV, MicroMV
• Photos: Loose photos, photos in albums
• Slides: 35mm, Super 35mm, 35mm half frame, 110, 126, 127 
• Negatives: 35mm, 110 films, 126 film

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4) ScanMyPhotos

ScanMyPhotos is a site that offers many different types of scanning and converting services. While it primarily deals with photographs and slides, you can also digitize 8mm reels or VHS tapes. This company can help get your old memories converted into digital form quickly and easily.

The 8mm transfer system has been improved with several great features to produce high-quality movies.

Some of the improvements are:

• The technician will manually adjust a scene to ensure the best balance between clarity and overall look.
• Manual Retiming – The process of retiming a movie to appear at the correct speed can be tricky. However, they capture your footage frame by frame to avoid missing anything essential and preserve every detail.
• With Flicker-Free Playback, you can enjoy a seamless viewing experience with no flickers or jerky motions that you may find in other transfers.
• Full-Frame Capture is all about capturing the most amount of your movie without any distortion or stretching.

ScanMyPhotos Provides Following Services:

• Movie Film Transfer: 8mm to DVD (Individual and Prepaid Box), 16mm to DVD
• VHS to DVD (Individual and Prepaid Box)
• Photo Scanning
• Slide Scanning
• Negative scanning: 35mm, APS, 120mm

Ways You Can Get Digitized Media Back

You can get your newly converted memories back on a DVD, or you can choose three other methods like USB, HDD, or Cloud.

ScanMyPhotos Pricing

Pricing for individual 8mm reel to DVD is 19 cents per foot. The minimum order starts at $20. You need to pay an additional $55.95 to have it transferred on a 64GB USB or $125 for the 1TB HDD.

Prepaid 8mm reels to DVD box starts at $599.95, and you can fit approximately 3000 feet of the film when the box is filled. It costs an additional $105.95 to have it transferred to a 64GB USB and $175 to a 1TB HDD.

If you decide to go with the prepaid box, you will have to pay an additional $29.95 to have your originals returned or $24.95 to dispose of them, which is stupid, in my opinion.

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5) Just8mm

Unlike other services focusing on photo transfer, Just8mm, as the name suggests, focuses mainly on 8mm films. Besides converting 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm films, they also accept and transfer videotape formats such as VHS, Hi8, Digital8, Beta, and MiniDV.

What makes the Just8mm service better than others is its custom-built equipment, which captures film footage frame-by-frame and converts it to digital format. As a result, they capture impeccable video quality with high-quality professional imaging equipment with no after-process digital editing. This method replicates and captures the film’s original motion, color, and clarity.

They claim this method can stand against any other converting method. From this, you can conclude that the film’s state and quality determine the film’s conversion quality.

Ordering and sending films to them is the same as with Memory Fortress, and that’s because they don’t offer any shipping kits. As for turnaround time, currently, you can expect it to be done in 2-3 weeks.

For the digital copy of converted film footage, you can choose a DVD or USB, which are included in the price, plus digital access.

When it comes to the cost, the film transfer price starts at $0.26 per foot. Also, a volume discount is applied for larger orders. What’s also great with Just8mm is that they offer an upgrade to 2k resolution for $5-10 per film reel.

If you are interested in transferring videotapes, the price is $19.99 per tape.

They offer the fastest turnaround time for under 30 tapes in 1-2 weeks. Also, they love big and complex orders, which is excellent for big family projects.

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6) Costco

Costco is a great place to find deals on film tapes. They offer conversions of your old 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm into DVD digital format.

Sending your memories is the same as any other digitizing company mentioned. They offer MemoryCloud as the easiest way to access your videos from anywhere. You can download a digital copy of your order for 90 days or purchase additional DVDs and USBs online.

They will keep you updated throughout the entire process, from shipping your order off to making sure that it gets delivered promptly.

Costco Provides Following Services:

• Film: 8 mm, Super 8, 16 mm
• Video: VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, Hi-8, Video8, Digital8, MiniDV, Betamax
• Photos: Photos 2″ x 2″ up to 8″ x 12″ (they don’t accept sheets and albums)
• Slides: 35 mm, Super 35 mm, 110, 126, 127, 127 Superslide, 120/220 Medium Format (Cardboard or plastic mounts only)

Costco Pricing and Transfer Options

The transfer price starts at $19.99 for all media formats.

For film formats like 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm, transferring to DVD costs $19.99 for the first 150 feet. After that, the price is $0.13 per foot.

Transferring to a USB instead of a DVD costs $24.99 for the first 150 feet, and after that, it’s $0.13 per foot.

Getting it on both USB and DVD will cost you $29.99 for the first 150 feet, and after that, the price is $0.13 per foot.

You can expect to have your order in 3-4 weeks from when you drop it off at a UPS Store. You’ll receive an email notification once they receive it and another when they ship to your home. Also, while they convert 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, they don’t process and digitize film sound.

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7) Southtree

Southtree is a more simple version of transferring your memories. If you want to convert different types of analog media, they include a Mix-and-match box to fulfill all your needs. Just be sure to pack up all media before sending.

Digitizing each item by hand ensures that you’re getting an authentic, high-quality digitizing service. In addition, Southtree provides a safe way to ship your items with safety barcodes, and they even provide a prepaid return shipping label for you to send them straight back.

Once you send in your old media, they will transfer them to digital in about 6 – 8 weeks. You’ll receive regular updates throughout the process.

With Southtree, You Can Convert:

• Film: 8 mm, Super 8, 16 mm
• Tapes: VHS, VHS-C, MiniDV, Hi8, Digital 8, MicroMV, Beta, PAL to NTSC
• Photos: Prints, Slides, Negatives
• Audio: Cassettes, Reel-to-Reel

Southtree Pricing and Transfer Options

At Southtree, the transfer price starts at $25 for two film reels. You can choose to digitize 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40 reels.

You can get your digitized memories pre-loaded on USB, DVD or get stored on the cloud with a digital download for the price of $9.99 each. After that, the price starts to grow depending on how many items you’re converting.

Bottom Line

Selecting the optimal 8mm film to digital service is crucial in preserving your valued memories. Consider which features are most important to you and compare prices and quotes from each service before making a decision. 

To simplify the comparison process, refer to our comparison table for a quick overview of available services. Please note that Costco no longer offers these services, but you can choose from other available providers.

Ultimately, the decision of which service to use is yours to make. Our summary of top picks highlights our selection based on their services, providing you with a starting point for your own research and decision-making process.