Two ways to do it.

Priced per tape, up to two hours of footage, then $9 an hour after that. So you only pay for what is actually on there, and blank tapes cost you nothing.

Essential

THE HONEST TRANSFER

$19per tape · up to 2 hrs

Every tape inspected, and the deck's heads cleaned before it plays
Captured in real time at full quality. Two hours takes two hours
Dead footage cut out. Lens caps, blank ends, ten minutes of carpet
Interlacing removed, so movement looks smooth instead of jagged
Picture geometry corrected, so nobody comes out stretched
One tidy file per tape, playable on any phone, TV or laptop
Free download link, or free pickup and delivery in the GTA

The right choice if you mostly want the tapes safe and watchable before they degrade any further.

Most chosen

Restored

EVERYTHING IN ESSENTIAL, PLUS THE CLEAN UP

$32per tape · up to 2 hrs

Grain and video noise taken out, frame by frame
Edges sharpened properly, without the glowing outline that cheap sharpening leaves behind
Faded colour lifted back toward how it looked at the time

Three things, done carefully, adjusted to your particular tape rather than run through one preset. On most family footage it is the difference between watching something old and watching something that happened.

worth it ♥

Four add ons. Pick any, or noneNO. 0001994

Cut into separate clips only here

A tape comes back as one long file by default. This splits it into one clip per recording, each named with its date and what is actually on it.

See what you actually get

Without it

Tape 001.mp42:14:33

With it

1994-07-16 Cottage, kids in the lake.mp48:41

1994-08-06 Grandma's 70th, the backyard.mp422:14

1994-10-31 Halloween on the front porch.mp44:02

1994-12-25 Christmas morning, presents.mp431:55

1995-01-01 New Year, fireworks off the deck.mp46:18

1995-03-09 Sarah's first steps.mp42:47

Most tapes are a dozen unrelated recordings in a row. A birthday, then three weeks later the backyard, then Christmas. Handed back as one two hour file, nobody watches it twice, because finding anything means scrubbing through an hour of nothing.

I split it at every point the camera was stopped and started. The dates come off the tape itself where the camera recorded them. Send me a note about who is who and I use your words instead of mine.

$25per tape

Enhanced clips

Detail rebuilt rather than smoothed, so faces stay faces and texture comes back in hair, knitwear and printed patterns. You choose how much of the tape gets it.

How this differs from Restored

Restored cleans up what is already on the tape. It takes the grain out, brings the colour back and straightens the picture, and on most footage that is the difference people notice.

Enhanced rebuilds detail that cleaning alone cannot recover. That is why it holds up on faces, hair and fabric, where ordinary processing just smooths everything into wax.

It is the slowest thing I do. Each clip goes through in passes and is then checked against the original frame by frame, which is why it is priced by how much of the tape you want it on rather than by the tape itself. Pick the moments that are worth it. The speech, the first steps, the face you actually want to see properly. Or take the whole tape and skip choosing.

from $35per tape, by how much

USB drive, gift wrapped

Your files on a labelled drive, in a proper box. Good for Christmas, better for a parent who does not trust the cloud. Extra copies for brothers and sisters are $15 each.

$15

Broken tape? Ask me first

Snapped tape, cracked shell, chewed by a VCR in 1998. Send me a photo and I will tell you honestly whether it can be saved, what it would cost, and what the risk is, before anything gets opened. Some tapes I will turn away rather than gamble with your only copy.

quotedcase by case

10%off · 5 to 9 tapes

15%off · 10 to 19 tapes

20%off · 20+ "the archivist"

Bring the whole shoebox. It works out cheaper per tape, and you will never have to do it twice.

Honest answers

The questions everyone asks.

Pick a tape. Every answer is one I have actually been asked.

How good will it actually look?

Like good VHS. The format holds roughly 240 lines of detail, and no amount of processing invents what was never recorded. On a large modern television it will look soft, because it always did. What the clean up genuinely fixes is grain, faded colour, jagged edges on movement and stretched geometry. Anyone promising you HD from a 1994 camcorder tape is selling you something.

Is it worth paying $32 instead of $19?

For most family footage, yes. Noise and faded colour are what make old tapes feel old, and that is exactly what comes out. For a tape that is already clean and bright the difference is smaller.

How long does it take?

Capture runs in real time. A two hour tape takes two hours on the bench and there is no way around that, because the tape has to play from end to end. Add the clean up and the checks on top. For a handful of tapes, plan on a couple of weeks. For a full shoebox I will give you a firm date when I see what you have. I take a limited number of jobs at a time so that every tape gets proper attention rather than being rushed through, and I would rather quote you a date I can keep than one that sounds good.

My tape is damaged, mouldy, or might be blank. What then?

You do not pay for a tape with nothing usable on it. I check every one, and if it is blank it comes off the invoice and I tell you. If it is damaged but recoverable I quote the repair before touching anything. And if you can see white or grey powder inside the shell, that is mould, so please do not put it in a VCR to check what is on it. One play can grind it into the surface and take the machine with it. Bag it, keep it dry, and bring it separately from the healthy tapes. Mould is often recoverable, but only if nobody has played it first.

How long do you keep my files?

Thirty days after you have them, in case a file turns out wrong and needs redoing. After that they are deleted for good and I cannot get them back, so copy them somewhere safe as soon as you have them. Your tapes are yours to keep either way.

Which formats can you take?

Seven, all on my own bench: VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, Video8, Hi8, Digital8 and Mini DVD, the small 8 cm discs from a camcorder. What I cannot do yet is MiniDV, and Betamax, audio cassette and 8 mm film reels are better done by a specialist.

Somebody you love is on that tape.

Don't take my word for it.