Magnasonic All-in-One Super 8/8mm Film Scanner, Converts Film into Digital Video, Scans 3", 5" and 7" Super 8/8mm Film Reels with Bonus 32GB SD Card (FS81)

This machine has worked wonderfully! I was kind of skeptic ordering this, but I wanted to make digital files of my late grandfathers 8mm film reels. The first reel didn't go so well, but it was spliced in several places. The last 25 + reels, the machine worked amazingly! It's crazy that it takes about 30 minutes to scan film and then the files are like 3-4 minutes long. Camera's back then didn't have sound either, but they are so fun to watch. Our family memories are now preserved. The machine is very user friendly and easy to operate.

Overall - I was pretty pleased with the quality of the product. Basically what is described is what you will get. It does take some patience for the first few reels to get the hang of it. Especially the frame adjustment portion of the process. The unit makes the adjustment pretty easy for you, but it's just the nature of how the film has to be fed through the scanner. Since your really running through decades old film that can be breaking down, etc. that once you think you have the alignment right, you'll see it won't be after 20 or so frames into it. Plus breaks in the film, or any where the film has been taped together, it's going to hang up, etc. It's a project to have running in the background while you are nearby to check on it every once in a while.BEST TIP/SUGGESTION REGARDING REWINDING THE FILM:So, I didn't have enough patience for the rewind process using the machine. Just slow, to much work swapping the reels around, and takes to long.TRY THIS TO REWIND AS FAST AS YOU CAN MAKE IT - Avoid the Written Directions All Together !! - When the film is done scanning, leave everything as it is. Be sure the film has run all the way through the unit (dangling free end from the right hand reel). Start the film back onto it's original reel (on the left side of the machine - you may have to remove that reel to properly get it started and locked onto that reel and then replace back on the unit. You'll see how you want to route the film around the knobs that help tension the film normally - I would use one of the one the right bottom and then feed to the one know on the left under where the original reel is hanging). Oh, basically you can turn the unit off - does not need to be on. Use a short but solid small rod, or for example a 3-4" wood nail that you can place the tip of it in the original reel, and then basically start cranking that reel around and around feeding the film back on to it. What every you use for this, because it's round, so the cranking goes really smooth. After some practice, I could a 3" reel in about 20 -25 seconds. That's it. Swap that reel for the next one to be scanned, and you are good to go ! Hope this helps !! Good Luck !COUPLE TIPS:1) I didn't change any of the contrast/brightness settings, the default seemed to be just fine. You may find that same thing yourself.2) Depending upon the condition of your film/reels, you may want to clean the dust/debris from the film before running it through the process, because any of that will impact the final product.3) You might want to have one of those cans of Keyboard/computer Compressed air cans handy, and just give a small puff on the scanner plate after each film in case hair/dust/debris has landed in that scanning area.Overall Feedback & My Project: I've been very satisfied with your product and I've scanned in ALL 100+ Super 8 Reels that my parents had created many years ago. As a matter of fact, this was the first time I've ever seen these films, and since both my parents passed away several years ago, this was a very special project to me and my family. Many Thanks !

I bought this Magnasonic unit from Amazon 2 1/2 years ago, and only 2 weeks ago did I unbox it and try my first transfer. There is a small learning curve to use it. I recommend watching a few videos online as an orientation, then select a movie reel to try it out a couple of times. The SD card you use to capture these films does matter. 32GB SanDisk Class 6 or higher will give you the best results. I formatted the SD card on my computer first. It can be done on the machine but I chose to do it on the computer. I have only tried 3" Super 8 reels so far, all originally shot and developed in the early 1970s. I'm 40 reels in on an 76-reel project. I do have some 5" and 7" spliced reels that I will try later. So far, so good. No issues or problems. A 3" reel takes around 29 minutes to transfer, then I switch the film reel and take-up reel on the machine and use Fast Forward on the menu to rewind the film in about 3 minutes. I do not sit there and watch the machine over the 29 minutes, but I do stay close by in case there is a problem. (There haven't been any yet.) I set a timer on my phone so i can be there shortly before the scan finishes so that the film un-latches from the source reel as I don't wish to tax the motor on the take-up reel that is pulling it thru. Sometimes they un-latch on their own, but sometimes the films do not. So try to be sitting there right at the end of the transfer. I transfer 5 or 6 reels, then I remove the SD card to check & edit the recordings. I have been posting the finished product on a YouTube channel I set-up for my family. The digitized films look great on a phone or laptop or an iPad. I doubt they are going to look awesome on your big screen TV, if that's your goal. But for my purposes, the results are very nice and I think it has saved me quite a bit of money vs. a transfer service. If I do two transfers each evening + a few more on the weekends, I'll be finished with this project in 1 month. Not bad. If I used a transfer service it would probably take them longer than that, and I would be close to $1,000 lighter. I'm very happy with this unit so far !

I have put 50+ 8mm and Super 8mm through it from 3" to 7". If films are in good condition they scan without issue. If you have films that are spliced or worn out, they can get caught and need a little help pulling on the film a little. Also make sure you clean the gate with air and provided rag between films, old films can drop small particles that can show up as dark spots on your recordings. Lastly, if you are doing mostly Super 8mm, buy a 7" Super 8mm take up reel. It comes with a regular 8mm take up reel and the shafts on the unit are regular 8mm, so you are always messing around with adapters and trying to align them, pulling them on and off. Buying a Super 8mm take up reel allows you to leave both adapters on the machine all the time saving you hassle.