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Film & Tape Repairs

Mending Damaged Tape Spools & Film Reels

FILM & TAPE REPAIRS: $30 PER ITEM

If it’s broken, we may be able to fix it. We can easily mend damaged film, audio, and analog video, but digital formats are too complicated due to the sensitivity of the media and the delicate nature of the equipment on which they are recorded and viewed.

Please note: If we are transferring your items and they are damaged or covered in mildew or other substances, cleaning and repair charges will apply in addition to the services rendered so that we can protect our equipment from damage.

Film Cleaning
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Clean out the attic!

Those moldy and dirty film reels are not trash! We can clean your old items easily. We are amazed when we hear people mention throwing away these precious glimpses of lost time. Whether they are family trips to Disney, Johnny’s 9th birthday, or Grandmother’s knitting, we just cannot understand why they would not signify as great an importance to you as they do to us!

How do I send them to you?

We understand how nerve-racking it can be to contemplate sending originals through the mail. We do not recommend using regular postal mail, but, instead, FedEx or UPS. Require a signature, insure the packaging, and obtain tracking and confirmation numbers. If you still feel uncomfortable, it’s more than understandable. You are welcome to personally deliver your originals to us. Simply let us know!

We will contact you for the details, such as what you would like for us to put on the label and so on. After your order is finished, we will contact you for the total price and will be shipping your order separately from your originals, unless you would prefer to pick them up, upon payment received.

Please, always keep your originals!

Those old items are not trash–even if the tape is broken, the film is moldy, or the slides are cracked and faded! There is a very good possibility that we are able to clean it, fix it, and transfer it. We are amazed when we hear about people throwing away these precious gems. They still have potential!

Even if you decide to transfer your files to a digital format, we highly recommend that you always keep your original formats. Technology is an evolving field. In time, there may be even better equipment for restoring and transferring these files.

We also would like for you to beware of technicians who tell you that it is safe for you to throw away your originals. This indicates a lack of professionalism and knowledge of this field. We have heard horror stories! One day you may discover, as others have, that your files were transferred at a very low resolution and therefore will feel grateful that you kept your originals. Not everyone in this field is a professional.

The number one reason we recommend saving you originals is that we do not trust technology. Remember, all hard drives eventually fail and if it is not backed up, you risk losing valuable information. Of course, it is always useful to use Cloud technology, but that also often means that someone else has access to and control over your files. If you cannot touch it, you do not necessarily own it. Not everyone appreciates Cloud computing, and we happen to agree.

Did You Know?

VHS

  • VHS stands for Video Home System and was developed by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) as a consumer analog videotape-based cassette.
  • The VTR, or Video Tape Recorder, was invented by the AMPEX Corporation in 1956. The VRX-1000 was the first unit. At a cost of $50,000 USD in 1956, only television networks could afford the unit.
  • The VHS cassette is a 187 mm wide, 103 mm deep, 25 mm thick plastic shell held together with five Phillips head screws. The recording media is a 12.7 mm wide magnetic tape wound between two spools, allowing it to be slowly passed over the various playback and recording heads of the video cassette recorder (VCR).
  • The VHS VCR was a mainstay in the American living room for more than 20 years. In March of 1997, DVDs were introduced to the American consumer and this marked the decline of VHS.

 

VHS-C

  • The VHS-C video format was first introduced in 1982, primarily for the purpose of consumer-grade handheld video cameras.
  • The magnetic tape used in VHS-C is the same as VHS, but the plastic shell is more compact, requiring a mechanical adapter to play the tape in a VCR.

 

Hi8

  • In the 1980s, Sony introduced Video Hi8 (high-band Video 8) to compete with the Super VHS format. Video 8 equipment can play Hi8 recordings, but not very well.
  • The effects of the smaller head drum and tape made recorders susceptible to tape “drop out,” which is when magnetic particles are eroded from the tape surface. In this instance, the larger head drums of the VHS and Betamax proved more beneficial.

 

MiniDV

  • The MiniDV tape is one format of digital video. Digital video, or DV, was introduced in 1995 and offers four different tape sizes.
  • DV uses “lossy video compression,” which means that it compresses video by discarding some of it. Lossy compression is used primarily for video, audio, and images for easier handling by the computer. The audio in DV is stored uncompressed.
  • MiniDV was intended for amateur use but soon was accepted by video professionals.
  • In 1999, Sony developed Digital8, but it was not as popular as MiniDV, and it was discontinued in 2007.
  • As of 2013, MiniDV tapes were still in use, but popularity was moving in the direction of memory cards and iCloud technology.

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