Film Digitization

From silent-era nitrate to Super 8 student projects, archives, filmmakers, and families trust Chicago Film Archives to digitize their films. CFA’s experienced technicians can digitize 35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Super 8, and 9.5mm motion picture film, along with optical and magnetic soundtracks on certain formats.

CFA’s digitization service can produce high fidelity, preservation-quality digital representations of your film materials. CFA employs a suite of three versatile film scanners: a Lasergraphics ScanStation, a Filmfabriek HDS+, and a Kinetta Archival Film Scanner. All three are sprocketless and equipped to handle damaged, warped and shrunken film.

Your payment for these services helps support Chicago Film Archives’ nonprofit mission to preserve Midwest history.

Film Digitization Rates

8mm & Super 8

HD (1440x1080): $0.60 per foot
2K (2048x1536): $0.85 per foot
4K (4096x3072): $1.00 per foot

Regular 8mm can be scanned at a maximum resolution of 3.3K (3354x2515)

16mm

HD (1440x1080): $0.50 per foot
2K (2048x1536): $0.65 per foot
4K (4096x3072): $0.75 per foot

35mm

HD (1440x1080): $0.40 per foot
2K (2048x1536): $0.55 per foot
4K (4096x3072): $0.70 per foot

9.5mm

HD (1440x1080): $0.85 per foot
2K (2048x1536): $1.00 per foot
4K (4096x3072): $1.15 per foot

Color correction for faded film: +$0.15 per foot
Optical sound (16mm, 35mm): +$0.15 per foot
Magnetic sound stripe (Super 8, 16mm): +$0.15 per foot
Full-coat magnetic sound (16mm): $0.35 per foot

Pixel dimensions refer to cropped outputs.

Deliverables

We can provide framing options such as overscans or cropped files in a variety of output formats including H.264, Apple ProRes, DPX, etc. Our highest resolution scans offer 16-bit color depth scanned with a 6.5K sensor.

For orders under 50GB in size, we can deliver your files via a download link; for anything larger than that, please provide a hard drive when you drop off your films. We can work with Mac, ExFAT, or NTFS formatted drives. Please make sure that your drive has enough room on it for your files!

You can also purchase a drive through us. The cost will depend on the size of the drive required (which depends on the file format, resolution and footage count of your order). Please contact us for more information and costs.

Determining Estimated Pricing

Pricing estimates for our digitization services depend on multiple factors.

Questions? Contact us

1. The format of your film.

We can digitize 35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Super 8, and 9.5mm film, as well as optical and magnetic soundtracks on certain formats. If you need help figuring out what film format you have, please call, email, or use CFA's printable Film ID Guide.

2. The total length of your footage.

You can estimate the total footage length of your film based on these standard reel sizes:

3" diameter: 50 feet
4" diameter: 100 feet
5" diameter: 200 feet
6" diameter: 300 feet
7" diameter: 400 feet
12" diameter: 1200 feet
2" 9.5mm (Pathe/Pathex) cartridge: 28 feet
2.5" 9.5mm (Pathe/Pathex) cartridge: 56 feet

3. Additional labor.

Base prices for each of our scan options include film inspection and prep for transfer, including minor repairs. If a film requires extensive repairs or handling, CFA will charge for additional labor by the hour. We will notify the customer if this time is likely to exceed 30 minutes of work. Free estimates are available in person, over the phone or by email.

4. Shipping & handling.

The following charges apply to all orders:

• Administrative processing: $15 per order
• Shipping: all charges handled by customer
• Depending on the amount of footage, our regular turnaround time is 2-3 weeks. Rushes can be accommodated for an additional fee.

There is a $100 minimum on all digitization orders.
Please note that CFA does NOT process undeveloped film.