Super 8/8mm Film Scanner

This item displays "Wolverine" on the integrated screen for a split second after power-up. Draw your own conclusions. The item I received is dated 2017 and is, therefore, an older model (the film input gate is a piece of foam and not, as in later models, a metal gate. The first run was not brilliant as the film kept "mis-feeding". After some research (via youtube" I discovered that the film output gate is height adjustable, although this is not intended to be adjusted by the user and doing so will void the warranty. Nevertheless, I performed the adjustments (which are extremely fine and critical) and the unit now functions flawlessly.This is, in my opinion, a failure on the part of the manufacturer/supplier as the unit should have been in perfect calibration upon receipt. So far I have digitised ten 50ft (5”) reels of standard 8 film (only one of which stuck but this was a result of a poorly made repair splice in its' past). The other eight reels went through with no trouble. Each 50ft reel (3 inch) takes approximately 25 minutes to digitise. I have also digitised four 5 inch (200ft) and one 7 inch (400ft ) reels of super 8 sound film (NOTE : this machine does not record sound), all of which passed through the machine without any problem or error). This represents 1,650 feet of film and all was fine. I would recommend that you "babysit" the machine by checking every few minutes that the film is still running. There is no danger of fire as the light source utilises LED technology, which runs very cool. The machine does NOT auto-stop so you will have to allow for this. I had no concerns with leaving the machine unattended as there was no heat detectable even after running it non-stop through a 7 inch reel of film (about 400 feet) which took about 3 hours 20 minutes. NOTE : the unit is only supplied with a 5 inch, standard 8 take-up reel so you will have to supply your own take-up reel if you want to run bigger reels of film. I was delighted to discover that the unit was well packaged, in its' own, bespoke box and the contents included: - 1 X digitising machine 1 power adapter (fitted with moulded-on UK 13A plug) 1 X Video cable (3.5mm to RCA Phono to allow use of a video monitor instead of the integrated display 1 X USB cable to allow data transfer from the (removable) SD card to external device e.g. computer etc. 1 X 5" take-up reel 2 X standard 8 to super 8 reel adapters 1 X 32GB SD card 1 user manual All you need, in fact, to get started right out of the box! My overall opinion is that this is a very good machine, within the domestic market, and the results I have achieved are far and above what I expected. I am not able to assess the Longevity of this machine but it seems to be well made and uses quality parts (such as a stepper-motor for the main drive and a good quality board-camera). The "guts" are accessible as the back cover is held on with small, standard posidrive screws, so when it does eventually go "belly-up", as it ultimately must, it is, at least, tinkerable. I hope that this review has been informative to you and that you are as satisfied with your machine as I am with mine.

You get what you pay for. And this scanner is cheap - for a reason. If you just want to digitize a small number of family cine films then this might just be ok. But don't expect a good picture: what you'll get is a soft image, poor resolution and a general lack of definition. On top of that, the video out lead (to connect to a TV) produces a picture full of electrical interference. Thankfully this is, hopefully, not recorded onto the files on the, included, sd card. Most of the 'frame scanners' similar to this use a film guide path with 'tabs' that the film has to run under. This model, bizarrely, only has one 'tab' which is just before the film sprocket advancing 'lever'. Instead of two additional tabs, there are foam 'pads' which, I guess, hold the film in place. This may be an acceptable means of controlling the film as it advances but, having used more expensive and generally, more superior scanners, I find a bizarre method. My final advice? Spend another £200 or so pounds and buy either a Wolverine or Kodak (not Kedok!) Reels scanner.

This is a brilliant piece of kit. Easy to set up and use straight out of the box, with incredibly good results. I had a large collection of 8mm films in conditions ranging from good to severely damaged. Although the machine can't do anything about the damage, it produces the best possible quality. One reel (80 years old) was extremely brittle and curled up at the sides, but I still managed to capture usable footage. It is advisable to clean your films as best you can before scanning. Get advice from someone like The Cine Film Factory (on YouTube). Some films may be beyond cleaning so unless you seek professional help, you have to use what you've got. Scanning is very slow because it's frame by frame (hence the good quality). You need to keep an eye on it in case of frame slippage, as noted in other reviews. However, this tends only to happen when there are joins in the film. Otherwise it holds the frame well. Use the 'frame adjust" feature before recording, including the "W axis" which zooms in slightly, thereby reducing risk of slippage.

Item seems OK, seems to do what it says though I would need to use more before fully deciding. What I found the hardest was putting the 8mm film through the converter, probably because I have largish hands the space is very small. I also found it very difficult to see in the converter area as very dark and hard to see, had to get a torch in my mouth to help. It would also really help if some sort of brake could be put on the feeding wheel whilst you threaded the film as that spins loosely causing the film to move too much causing problems in the initial set up because the film was loose The instructions could be more helpful in my opinion, had to go online to find help. Once the film was in with the door closed the rest was very easy to do and started the job as described. The end product on the Super8mm was jerky in places, seems the film sometimes is pulled back a frame after a few forward moves giving a black line occasionally. That could be me and once I have used a few more times I may have a different end result. Bit pricy in my opinion for what it is and does! The end product quality (definition) is what I expected from old film, was viewable. Like that it saves to MP format so editing can be later.