Pricing
By the foot actually transferred. No per-reel games.
If a 400 foot reel is only half full, you pay for the film that is really there. Two people with “ten reels” can get very different totals, with both quotes fair, because footage is the honest unit.
What it actually costs
Film is billed by footage actually transferred, $0.28 per foot at the Gold tier, with a $50 service minimum. Condition work (shrinkage, splice repair, cleaning) is quoted per element after inspection, never averaged into the rate.
Published rates as of September 2026.
Published rate, as of September 2026
$0.28 / ft, Gold
A $50.00 service minimum applies, shown as a “Minimum order adjustment” line. DVD or Blu-ray copies are $15 each. Rates move, so ask for a current quote.
What that means per reel
400 ft reel
≈ $112
About 11 minutes at 24fps. A 7 inch reel, the most common size in home collections.
800 ft reel
≈ $224
About 22 minutes at 24fps. Common for edited family compilations and school prints.
1,200 ft reel
≈ $336
About 33 minutes at 24fps. Not unusual in professional and institutional material.
A worked example. Four 400 foot reels is 1,600 feet, roughly $448 in scanning at the Gold rate, before any condition work. Knowing that in advance is usually more useful than a headline per-reel figure that turns out not to apply.
Quoted separately, per element
Shrinkage handling, splice repair and cleaning are assessed per element rather than averaged into a rate, as is sound, since whether a reel carries an optical or a magnetic track changes how it has to be run. A collection where half the reels need work and half do not should not be billed as though every reel needed it.
For institutions
Collections get a written assessment before scanning, so the number you take to a budget approval is based on what the material actually is rather than an estimate that moves later.
Ask us anything first.
Send a photo and a rough count. We will tell you what you are holding and what it would involve, with no obligation.