8mm/super8mm transfer to dvd or vhs

[Jonathan Jones]

Originally Posted by Sean McHenry

Jonathan,
What was the total cost of the Workprinter XP? I don't see pricing on his site. I did write him before the holidays but haven't heard back yet. I am just getting into Super 8 and I am trying to figure out the break even point for buying my own printer.

Thanks,

Sean

Hi Sean,
Sorry for the delay (pulled a 38 hour shift to meet a media deadline and had to crash for a few hours- I'm too old for that)

Anway, the moviestuff site folllows two threads, the transfer services they offer, and the actual equipment sales for DIY'ers. The workprinter pricing stuff can be found here:
http://www.moviestuff.tv/8mm_telecine.html

For that model, I believe it is listed as $1395 plus S&H (which will vary depending on location) They also have a downloadable order form on the site, and a paypal system for processing the payments. I know paypal takes a cut for their take, but it doesn't affect what you pay - so they are very cool about that.

Also, note that moviestuff is very busy. Roger covers alot of bases with his stuff and expertise. I have generally found that he is very good at connecting when the time becomes available...he works extra hours and weekends to personally phone people all over the world to answer questions and provide necessary info to use his gear. He doesn't waste much time - so his info is concise and I believe it to be as good as gold. I have even found that he frequents film and dv forums to ask and answer -like most of us here. But like I said, he is a busy guy, so sometimes it takes awhile.

They also manufacture their stuff to order, so he told me the turnaround to receive one would be between 45 to 60 days....usually the 60 during the peak times, and when I called, he had a lot of order to fill. Sure enough, my package arrived at probabl the 58 day mark....What a thrill.

I love this thing. Sure, when I got it, it did have to take a few minutes to blow out a little dust to clean it up....but I was quite impressed with both its simplicity and its ingeniousness.

The one hitch is that I had a malfunction with the inner fan assembly - the fan had broken off and Roger had said he had not heard of such a thing before...I finally realized what had happened....apparently one of the little bolts that mounts the fan assembly was not anchored, and very likely the whole fan assemby spun around - probably when I first turned on the unit, and it broke the spin base of the fan, making it fly off inside the unit.

Either way, Roger fed-exed a new assembly out to me and I had it the next morning...no questions asked, no additonal fee. I love the quality of its output, I am now integrating it into my business stuff, and am already beginning to make in-roads on re-couping my investment by making alot of very happy clients who were previously sitting on old boxes of film gathering dust in their attics.

When I get a chance after my current round of deadlines, I plan to post a page on my site that demonstrates the Workprinter quality by comparing the same footage I have been converting with different techniques, from lower quality to higher quality, (If I can afford it at the time, I might even try to get it on both Rank and wetgate systems, so folks can get a better idea of what to expect and decide the best route in investing their cash in the proper transfer technique for the desired outcome.

Sorry, I'm getting carried away making a plug for moviestuff. Anyway, you get the picture (pun) goodstuff. Check it out.

-Jon

[Andrew Todd]

to use a good prosumer camera to capture the projected footage is much easier. As long as you have a good projector you will end up with good footage.

[Richard Alvarez]

"Easier"... yes, "Better" no. The work printers film gates show the WHOLE frame, something most projectors don't do. They allow you to capture the frames, properly registered without a 'hot spot' typical of consumer level projectors.

They are definately better quality than just shooting the film off the wall or screen. But only you can decide if the cost factor is worth it to you.