Costs to Copy Film and Tape
to DVD
Transferring tape and film
to DVD is something we have been doing for 25 years.
Our prices are approximate due to the variety of film
reels, tape formats, lengths, and condition. Once on
DVD, copies are relatively cheap.
Super 8mm and 8mm film
transfer..$40 for 1st 100
ft, $9. for each additional 100 ft.
16mm film
transfer........................$60.
for the first 500 ft., $15 for each additional 500
ft. First DVD
copy............................................$25
for up to 2 hours, 40. for 4 hours
Each additional
DVD....................$10.
each up to 9 copies. less for 10 copies or more
Making You Cry is Our
Business
by Andy Carpel
When people ask me what I do
for a living, I tell them I make people cry. It’s
true. One of our services at Carpel
Video is film-to-DVD-transfers. We take your old home
movies, usually shot by Dad or Grandpa years ago, and
convert them to DVD for easy copying and playback. We
have a screening area in our lobby. The customer can
screen a few of their tapes before leaving them or check
a little bit of the finished DVD. But as Elvis used to
sing, ”…that’s when the heartaches begin.”
The average customer finds
these films somewhere in the basement next to a
projector that hasn't’t worked in years. Often their
films haven’t been seen in a generation. Long lost
relatives populate these movies. When the DVD starts the
customer cries. You should see our Kleenex bill.
I can empathize. I found a
ninety-second color film made of my family’s holiday
dinner five years before I was born. All these
relatives I knew as old folks were young, gay and
gorgeous. They were teasing, talking, and dancing. I put
the Godfather theme under it. I cried myself when I
saw it.
If you have a big family
you can amortize the cost of the transfer by making a
copy for each of your relatives. You shouldn't wait
until the last minute. For security we do all transfers
in Frederick and the work is time-consuming. We never
send your films or tapes out.
We also produce video
streaming for web sites and instructional/promotional
programs for businesses. But the transfers touch people
in the deepest way. Your fathers and grandfathers were
the geniuses who knew the value of preserving your
family’s history. We just add music and make them more
accessible. It’s a noble calling. Carpel Video is
proud to make people cry.