VHS / Betamax transfer to disk or thumb drive recommendations-who, where, & how much?
 

My 86yr old father has probably 100+ tapes (mix of VHS, Betamax, and maybe even Super 8?) of family videos that I'd like to have transferred to either the cloud and/or a thumb or hard drive.

I've called two local places, and they quoted $20 per tape. That seems high to me, as I'm not asking them to do any editing or anything--just transfer the videos to a different format--so presumably they don't have to do much beside pop the tape in the player, hit play, and then record on their computer.

Anyone got any better (and by better I mean cheaper!) suggestions?

Good question.

You can get video tapes onto a DVD relatively easily if you have a DVD recorder (rather than just a player). Should be able to connect via RCA cables from one to the other.

No idea on the Betamax, as I have not seen these for a long time, however, there are sources for VHS/DVD player/recorder. In the simplest from, you insert a blank DVD disc, and the VHS tape, press a few buttons and walk away. The more complicated ones require a few more steps to finalize the DVD. If you have several tapes, this is probably the best solution. As for 8mm film, I have a projector and a copy kit (never used), but another villager recently used the projector and his own camera to copy films. Finally, if you can beg or borrow a Betamax player the previously mentioned VHS/DVD 'should' have RCA audio and video jacks as well as a way to select an external source, then using the same procedure for making the DVD. I have done all of these in the past, but currently I am short on time and cannot commit to do this. I may be able to loan out my equipment.

You can buy a VHS to DVD recorder on Amazon. I don't know about Betamax or Super 8.

Legacy Box
 

You can try Costco. Here is the link.

Video Transfer | Home Video & Photo Transfer | Costco Photo Center

I digitized all of our tapes on:

Digitize Your Home Videos, Film Reels, & Photos | iMemories.

Pretty much any format to a digital device of your choice.

Not sure if cheaper but definitely very good. You can even keep the digital versions online too, if want that option.

I saw a place on 441/27 in Belleview the other day coming back from a doctor appointment in Ocala. It's called Video Vault Productions and they do transfers like this. No idea of pricing or quality.

You can buy analog to digital converters for $150-200. Suggest a Google search. These units will usually take VHS, Beta, cassette audio tapes and vinyl discs and write the information to a DVD or memory stick. At 100+ tapes the costs for the VHS/Beta conversions would be about $1.50-$2.00 per tape. You could then convert all that vinyl as well. Good luck.

They are the worst. I called them twice to get 8mm and VHS tapes transferred and never got a call back. Dont waste your time.

I used Digitize Home Movies, Photos, Slides & More with Legacybox(R) and they did an outstanding job. Individual media is all barcoded and tracked. They send updates and progress emails regularly. All converted media is returned on a thumb drive - they offer other options as well.

They aren't the cheapest, but they provide an outstanding result and right now, they're having a Valentine's sale with major discounts. Sometimes, the cheapest solution isn't the best, and paying a little more for excellent outcomes is worth it.

This is who I used too many years ago. They did a great job on 100+ VHS and Super 8 tapes. I chose to not get them on DVD as that’s outdated technology in my opinion. I asked for the digital versions on an external drive, but you have the option to download the file yourself from their site if desired. I also pay $50 annually to store them in the cloud at their site as an extra backup.

We use Video Doc in Leesburg
 

Video Doc Productions
Video Doc Productions | Video Tape Transfer and Conversion Services
1314 W North Blvd, Leesburg, FL 34748 · ~21.3 mi
(352) 728-0602

About '20 years ago I bought a Samsung dvd player recorder with vhs. Just drop in the vhs tape and a cd and hit record, sounds simple enough, not. Problem was the dvd's wouldn't play on the same machine they were recorded on, or hardly any other dvd player, rarely on a computer. I think it was too many different formats of dvd's, I used the one's they recommended, but no luck. I want to transfer the tapes to a flash drive so I can play them on my big screen tv, hopefully those will play on anything.