a release wouldn't be a bad idea, at least letting them know that something could go wrong. most companies have a release like this for anything, even developing film.

Yes, I suppose if it's as simple as a break, I can just splice it. I'm just thinking "worst case scenario."

Then again, I've never had my gear eat a roll of film, so why would it start?

So far, my film transfer customers have been people I know (or people who know people I know...), but I'm starting to get customers I don't know personally, and I just want to protect myself.

I send my clients to Ralph Morris on this forum - not aware of anyone needing yet to sign a release and that's nothing against Ralph's business practice or anything else, it just seems to me that like in many cases, especially with old film, how can you guarantee there won't be a problem? So maybe the release helps, or at least some list of things to expect when considering film transfer to DVD or tape or hard drive.

I did film transfers years ago for a short time - realized that I just didn't have the right gear to do it as safely as I wanted to - gave it up for the protection of those who I was doing transfers with (although no issues at anytime)

I think the release is a good idea but then again, how far does that go? Personal photos? Personal films? Are they releasing everything they bring to you with the notion that they may not get it back in the case of an equipment failure or accident? -

-cheno

I guess I want to say, in enough legalese to cover my @$$, "Here's the deal. These films have probably been sitting in your attic for thirty years and will probably break if you look at them cross-eyed. My equipment is in perfect working order, so if it shreds your film, I don't wanna know NOTHIN'!"

Although, I've never really had a problem like this in the past. If anything, I've been amazed at how well home movie film holds up when it's thirty to forty years old and was stored in an attic.


Maybe I don't really need to bother with a release. I just wanted to see if anyone else was bothering with them.

Your referrals are appreciated Cheno -

I don't do releases, and I've never yet had a problem. It might be a good idea, but it just has not been an issue.

Short of having a flood or fire, there is little chance of damaging the film if you are using equipment with a low wattage transfer bulb. Since my equipment is sprocketless, the chance of damage is further reduced. I inspect all the film I transfer by hand before it goes in the transfer machine. If I see excessive problems, I notify the customer, usually via email, that the film has issues. I'm probably closing in on 500,000 feet of film transfers, and I've only seen one set of film that was deteriorated beyond hope of saving (at a reasonable price).

My mom asked me to transfer some of her family movies to video. These were shot on 16mm from the 1950s and 60s. I got an old 16mm silent projector from ebay. Some of the reels were good and worked just a fine. A few had the dreaded "vinegar syndrome", which you can easily detect because of the smell (like vinegar, in particular acetic acid) from the celluoid decomposing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_syndrome

These reels were fragile and would jam in the projector, but for the most part did not actually break.

If it was someone else's footage, if they smelled like that, I would advise them up front that the film is probably gone.

Not really meaning to change the subject, but this is an interesting way to transfer film

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~elvis/8mm/film_scanner.html

Dave T2