Standard 8, super 8 and 16mm film conversions to DVD in standard definition

While we encourage our customers to choose high definition for their transfers due to it’s superior quality, our SD transfers still represent exception value and amazing bang for your buck.

All our film transfers are done with our Frame by Frame film transfer process which is explained in further details on our Frame by Frame film conversion process page.

A common means of transferring film in the past was using a regular projector to project footage at real time onto a white surface (usually a wall or piece of board). The process is crude and inherently flawed resulting in it being abandoned by all but a few cowboys!

If you shop around for the best operator for your transfers (which you should!), make sure if nothing else, that you find out what technique they use. If they are using anything less than frame by frame, chance are you will be in for an inferior result. Further to this, it really is wise to insist on a sample transfer, or at least to see an example of the results they can achieve with their equipment. This is imperative.

Back to the process of standard definition film transfer. DVD is still far and away the most popularly used domestic playback format and will probably be around for several years to come. If you looking for a format that is easy to use, compatible with the equipment of most of your relatives and friends then DVD is certainly for you (at least for now!).

A HD transfer is more expensive than SD (55c per foot compared to 35c for SD), so budget is obviously a consideration. Sometimes the budget just wont allow for the extra cost.

In my opinion, there is no harm in having a SD DVD version of your film to watch, as long as you acknowledge the likelihood that it will be obsolete in future years.

Do yourself a favour and at least consider capturing your film in HD, even if you archive the HD footage to editable file and watch an SD DVD for playback purposes for the time being. In years to come, you’ll be glad you did!