Do you remember all the birthdays, weddings, holidays and family events that you recorded on your video camera? Maybe your business has corporate training or special events videos. Your tapes may appear to be in good condition, but they may also have started to deteriorate slowly without you knowing it.
Camcorder and VHS tapes are affected by temperature, sunlight, magnetic fields and humidity changes. They begin to deteriorate after about a decade, or even less, depending on how they were stored.
The only alternative is to transfer them to a modern digital video format. Avoid losing precious memories by converting your tapes to DVD discs.
Enjoy seeing your old family videos again on your DVD player, Blu-ray player, PC or PlayStation. GREAT GIFT IDEA!
PLEASE NOTE
Our conversion production schedule for completion of orders by Christmas is now full.
Your’e still welcome to place and send your order for completion in January/February 2025
Order online, by email, or phone 021 055 3102 or 03 546 4148
What’s included in the price?
• Self playing DVD (starts playing automatically)
• DVD disc and disc case
• Personalised intro
• Editing out gaps and blank screens
• Basic enhancements where possible
• Personalised case insert and disc label
For more info see How does it work?
Prices shown exclude GST which will be added to the total amount.
1 – Video tape $48
2 – 10 video tapes $40 per tape
11 – 20 Video tapes $36 per tape
Over 20 video tapes – contact us for a special price
Return tracked courier post $14.00 for parcels under 3kg (unless local)
• We will advise you of the return cost for parcels over 3kg
• Rural deliveries will be $5.70 extra
Extra copies:
$25 per copy
Also create an mp4 video file of each tape and transfer to a USB on the same order:
$28 for each tape transfer to USB (USB drive not included)
Mouldy tapes
Please note that all mouldy tapes must be cleaned before we convert them
Clean light to medium mould $10 per tape
Clean heavy to severe mould $15 per tape
Editing options – such as customised menus. Details on request
Don’t know what’s on your tape, and you only want family/home video content?
Click here: Only family/home video content
Click below to place an order
A VHS tape heavily infected by mould. A white powdery substance, visible on the tape, will destroy it in time.
A Video8 tape infected by mould. Very difficult to clean but in some cases we may be able to extract some footage.
With an affected VHS tape even the case is eventually damaged and can’t be used to transfer the video.
Inspect your tapes and have them cleaned as soon as possible if you detect signs of mould infection.
What can happen to your video tapes when infected by mould?
Video and audio tape is made from cellulose coated with ferric oxide. It can dry out with age and become brittle. If stored in humid or damp conditions, like in a shed or garage, it will in time be infected by a powdery white fungus known as “mould” that resembles a fine white dust.
Once the tape is infected it will slowly eat into the tape and eventually completely destroy it. Mould will systematically spread from tape to tape and also infect the VCR. This problem is mostly found with VHS tapes, but lately also with Video8 and Hi8 tapes.
Mould infection of VHS, other video tapes and audio cassettes recorded in the 1980s and 1990s is becoming more noticeable lately.
Don’t let this happen to your tapes – inspect them today. If they are moulded you should be thinking of having them cleaned and transferred as soon as possible, before it’s too late.
What can you do?
• Don’t store your tapes in garden sheds, cellars or lofts where temperatures can vary a lot.
• Don’t store your tapes in damp areas or in wet cardboard or wooden boxes.
• Keep your tapes in a dark cupboard and away from direct heat sources.
Inspect your tapes:
• Look for a white powdery dust.
• Don’t try to brush it off or blow it across other tapes.
• Don’t try to play your tapes as it will affect your VCR.
• Wear a face mask and gloves if you want to attempt to open the cassette (not recommended).
• Send your tapes to us – we will inspect them to determine if they can be cleaned. If so, we will then clean and extract as much footage from the tapes as possible.
Please note: We cannot guarantee that the cleaning process will always be 100% effective. Mould can cause varying degrees of damage to videotapes including tape layer damage, or the tape layers sticking together (Sticky Tape Syndrome). We will not take responsibility for any damage caused to the tape during the cleaning process due to STS, such as breakage, or if it can no longer be played
We classify mould infection in 4 stages:
• Light
• Medium
• Heavy
• Severe.
Light, Medium and Heavy have produced good to excellent results, whilst Severe ranges from poor to unwatchable.
6 Huntaway Close, Stoke, Nelson 7011
Email: info@photofriend.co.nz
Tel: 03 546 4148 | 021 055 3102
A www.whitecloudcreative.co.nz service
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