8 mm projectors were a feature of many homes until the birth of the camcorder.
Old rolls of 8 millimeter (mm) film still hold thousands of hours of home movies recorded before the birth of the VHS, Super-8 and digital camcorders. Although it is still possible to buy used 8 MM projectors at flea markets and through classified ads, this will get more difficult as they age. Setting up a projector and a screen is also an inconvenient way to watch movies. To store 8 mm home movies for posterity, you can instead record them on a camera and transfer them to the hard drive of your digital video recorder (DVR) for storage.
Instructions
1. Set up an 8mm projector and a screen in a dark room. If you don't have a screen, use a white wall or a piece of white paper.
2. Place a camcorder on a tripod facing the screen.
3. Turn on the camcorder and zoom in until your projection screen fills its viewing area.
4. Connect your camcorder to your DVR with A/V cables that match their input and output jacks. Many camcorders have red, white and yellow outputs for composite video which can be connected directly to a DVR's composite inputs. Other camcorders may use S-Video, which is a round multi-pin connector that most DVRs also have. If using the composite cables, you only need to connect the yellow video cable, as 8 mm film doesn't record sound.
5. Connect your DVR to your television with another set of A/V cables. Turn both of them on.
6. Using your DVR remote, select the input corresponding to the jacks to which the camcorder is connected. If your camcorder can send live video through its video output, you will see a picture of your projection screen. Some camcorders can only use their video outputs for playback. In this case, you will need to use your DVR after first recording the film.
7. Thread the 8mm film into the projector, turn it on and start the film.
8. Insert a disc or tape and press "Record" on your camcorder. If your camcorder can output directly to its output jacks, you can skip this process and just record directly to your DVR.
9. Press "Record" on your DVR to record the incoming signal from the camcorder. You may want to playback the camcorder's recording of the whole 8mm movie. To do this, switch the camcorder to playback mode and press "Play" on the camcorder's controls to send the signal to your DVR.
Tags: your camcorder, camcorder your, Connect your, home movies, output jacks