8mm film viewer
We have a lot of different 8mm film viewers that you can check out. We have different ones at the Fort Collins and the Denver studios. Please call to reserve a viewer to use at home. Some of the viewers can play either super 8 or regular 8 films while some of our viewers play only one or the other (only super 8 film or only regular 8mm film). See our page on 8mm film to figure out which type you have. We don’t have a 16mm viewer at this time (we love sharing clients’ old equipment with others and could use a donation). Some of the 8mm film viewers operate with a small electric motor to wind the films while the one shown here is a hand crank. The 8mm film viewers were made for previewing your films and helping in splicing films together. The image shows on the small screen in the center.
The steps in running your film viewer are:
1. Choose a dim room.
2. Plug in viewer.
3. Load your film on the left side.
4. Place take-up reel (empty reel) on the right side.
5. Feed your film through the viewer (with sprocket holes aligned) from your reel to the take-up reel.
6. When finished viewing a reel, rewind it back on to your original reel.
Keep in mind that the small reels like in the viewer shown are 50 long but only last about 3.5 minutes. This is the primary reason why people wanted to splice their films.
The solid white strip of at the beginning of each 8 mm or 16 mm film is called the leader. The purpose of it is so that you can lace this part through the projector or viewer and so that you don’t miss seeing any of your recorded film footage.
See our other article on why rent a film viewer vs. projector
We have old family 8mm film that we would transfer to DVDs if we could review what is on the films and decide whaich ones we want to keep. Can we rent your viewer for use in Buffalo, NY, or in NYC, NY? If so, what is the charge to do so and how to go about it?
Thanks.
J, Thank you for the inquiry. Unfortunately we are no longer renting out projectors, even locally, as they seem to break down as soon as they leave the store. If you were not wanting to eliminate films then we would recommend that we transfer them all and then you can look at them once they are digital. Local clients come in and view them on our kiosks. Distant clients either view the footage online or we can send you a proof disk with a time stamp and an edit request form and you can tell us how to rearrange your films and what edits to make. Then we will burn the final disk for you. Many clients now want the raw digital files from the transfer which allows them to make the edits themselves on their home computer. Our only option for preview before transfer is a light box with magnifying lens so you can at least see a few frames. You might also try your local library and see if they have equipment to use. I’ve heard that here the Denver Public Library has some. We wish you the best on preserving those memories!