How to Measure Your Film Reel to Determine Footage
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Few things capture the wonder of media like the flickering frames of a film as it threads through the projector. You may recall bringing out the bulky camera and threading a few rolls of 8mm or 16mm yourself to capture birthday parties, college graduation, or a family reunion. Moving films gave families of a whole generation one of the first ways to capture daily life and cherish those moments forever.
As time goes on, however, reels of film can wear and deteriorate from environmental factors like dust, moisture, and heat. As a result, the picture and sound quality can fade like the memories themselves, and the images are lost to time forever.
The clock is ticking on your film. Get a digital copy while it can still be viewed.
Measuring Film
When digitizing with Keepsake, we transfer your old film reels into durable digital files with your safe, secure digital process. Our film transfer includes necessary cleaning, editing, and color correction to ensure your footage is the highest quality when you get it back. We charge by the foot of film for transfer service, which means you’ll need to know how many feet of film you have to send.
Before sending in film, you must first measure your film reel to determine a footage estimate. Using a ruler or measuring tape, take the diameter of the reel of film. Almost all film reels are in the 3” to 7” range across the middle. Some larger reels exist but most of us are unlikely to have them.
If you have a 3” reel, that’s roughly 50 feet of film. If it measures 5” across, you have 200 feet. 7” is 400 feet, and so on, according to the chart below. Use it as a gauge to estimate your footage, and punch the number into the checkout when ordering film transfer service.
Try to get as close as possible. When we receive your reels and run the film through our projectors to digitize your images, we’ll get an accurate count and contact you if an adjustment is needed to your charges.
How To Digitize Film With Keepsake
Transferring your old memories into a digital file has never been easier! At Keepsake, our team is with you through each step. Simply send us your media, let us do the hard work, and we’ll send back your original media files along with a digital copy. For those who do not feel comfortable sending precious memories in the mail, we encourage you to find a local drop-off location. We have partnered with local retailers across Ohio to offer in-person drop-off and pickup of your media files. Our Keepsake drivers hand deliver the materials, ensuring your packages are never lost in the mail, mishandled, or ruined.
Keepsake Solutions is a Columbus, Ohio based memory preservation service with over 15 years of experience. We use cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art techniques to ensure that your memories are preserved, and that no precious moments are left in the past. If you’d like to contact us with questions or comments, please feel free to do so at (614)392-1909 or email us below.