From pristine studio elements to film long classified as extinct. 8mm to 35mm, cleaned, scanned, and restored to a single exacting standard.
Film is history made visible. The faces, the places, the moments that tell us who we were. But film doesn't last forever.
Over time the medium itself fades, and the record it carries fades with it. Digitizing film is how we save it: moving each frame safely from photochemical to digital, so the visual history held inside endures.
Regular 8mm, Super 8mm, Regular 16mm, Super 16mm, and 35mm, silent or with sound.
Captured above what the format itself holds, so nothing in the original is lost.
Audio tracks captured in sync with the picture.
Archival masters as DPX sequences, ProRes, or MP4 viewing copies you can easily share.
Shrunken, warped, or brittle film with damaged perforations is exactly the kind that defeats a conventional scanner. The patented Reflex scanners were built for it, moving even severely deteriorated film gently through a transport that never contacts the image. The result is exact, archival quality scans of every frame from film that was, by every conventional measure, unscannable.
Every reel is prepared before it goes on the scanner, and how much work that takes depends entirely on its condition. Some reels are nearly perfect straight out of the can; others need real work by hand, mending broken splices and reinforcing weak ones, lifting old tape and debris, and adding fresh leader.
We also go to great lengths to clean the film. Fragile originals are hand-cleaned with a Kodak-approved solution, while film in sturdier shape runs through a gentle wet-cleaning machine that lifts away decades of dust and grime and leaves it spotlessly clean before it ever reaches the scanner.
Because condition varies so widely, we quote preparation case by case, once we have seen the film.
The patented, sprocketless scanners carry the film through in one smooth, continuous motion. Because nothing grips the perforations, the film is spared the stress that sprockets would put on it, and every frame is captured cleanly at full resolution. Restoration, when you want it, comes after. We digitize first, then restore whatever you want restored.
The Reflex scanners create 16-bit DPX files with enormous visual latitude, reproducing trillions of colors. That depth is what gives us the room to correct faded or shifted color. Even a badly faded or pink reel can be brought back close to how it looked the day it was shot. Deeper restoration, repairing tears, stains, and missing frames, is a separate service we quote case by case.
Regular 8mm, Super 8mm, Regular 16mm, Super 16mm, and 35mm, silent or with sound.
In most cases, yes. Our scanners move film gently and do not depend on its perforations, so we routinely scan reels conventional machines cannot even thread, including film shrunk as much as 25 percent. Standard scanners usually lose the ability to transport film at around 2.5 percent. Send us a photo and we'll let you know what is possible.
No. The process is built around protecting the original. Nothing touches the image, and your film comes back in the same condition it arrived.
Yes. Cleaning and repair, what we call preparation, is an essential first step, and how much a reel needs varies enormously. We bill it by the hour and quote it case by case.
Archival masters as DPX sequences or ProRes, plus MP4 viewing copies for easy sharing. We can recommend the right deliverables for how you plan to use the footage.
HD, 2K, 4K, or 8K, depending on the gauge and how the footage will be used. We always capture above what the format itself holds, so nothing in the original is lost, and we are glad to advise.
Usually a little. Difficult film is scanned at a much slower speed, which takes more time, but it is a modest difference, not a multiple. Every project is quoted individually based on the condition of the film.
Yes. Restoration and color correction are available as separate services, quoted by condition. We digitize first, then restore whatever you want restored.
“Reflex resurrected films we had no hope of saving.”Eric Davis, Institute of the American Musical
