Equipment

📼 For VHS and VHS-C:
  • We have a fleet of high end JVC VCRs, including the JVC Super VHS HR-S3900U and JVC HR-S6700U professional models that stream the movies via S-Video for the most crisp picture.
  • We clean our VHS tapes with Tapechek 460 Cleaner ($4000). This ensures only clean tapes are being put into our machines, increasingly their longevity.
  • We spent around $10,000 on our total configuration.
📹 For Camcorder Tapes:
  • We use a fleet of Sony TRVs240s and TRV510s for Video8, Hi8, and Digital8 Film
  • We use Sony TRV19s for Mini-DVs
  • We use a variety of tools to manually clean our fleet of camcorders
  • We’ve spent roughly $4000 on our total configuration
🎥 For Film (8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm):
  • We hand clean each film with solution and microfiber cloths
  • We use a Retroscan Mark II ($9000) scanner to scan film, designed for “Academy of Motion Picture Film Archives in Hollywood” (link)
  • The Retroscan Mark II is very gentle on film and can scan film in various conditions
🎞 For Prints, Slides, and Negatives:
  • Photos, slides, and negatives are manually cleaned with an air pump (not compressed air) and special cloths
  • We have two Epson 12000XL PH flatbed scanners ($5000 each) that can batch scan prints, negatives, and slides at high quality
  • The Epson 12000XL PH are museum-grade scanners and are used by many institutions around the country
  • For newer prints that are in good condition, we use the Epson FF-680W ($700), which is a very efficient, high quality batch scanner that helps us keep costs down. While it is a feeder scanner, it is designed for prints and is very gentle when used correctly and properly maintained. We also do not use it in fully automatic mode. We run only a few photos through at a time.
  • We’ve spent in total $11,400 on this configuration
🎬 For Editing:
  • We use 2019 and 2017 intel iMacs and 2021 M1 Mac Minis to edit photos and film
  • We edit film in Apple Final Cut Pro and Apple Compressor
  • We edit photos in Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and Affinity Photo
  • We edit audio in Adobe Audition