Slide Conversion/Old Media Conversion

Hot Tip: Visit Costco for all your photo/media conversion needs. They have EXCELLENT pricing! Also, you can earn $ towards your Executive or AMEX rebate by using their services!


Many of you know I enjoy organizational projects. It seems these days that there are MANY choices and options these days for organization. We are encouraged to contain and conquer the clutter that impacts our lives, but if we just examined what we have then maybe our lives would truly be easier if we could limit and simplify what we hold on to.

I am learning this lesson as I work through the items I brought from my mom's house when we cleared it out. What lessons I have learned!

The biggest lesson that I am learning right now is the importance of preserving family memories in an appropriate manner. I have made a vow this year that I will start cataloging Chaya's childhood memories in an effective manner. For me this means taking photos and upon receiving the prints back filling them into a photo album the same day I get them.

My mom didn't take the time to file pictures into a system. What I know have is a box of slides (over 2000!), 8 mm film rolls (unlabeled!) and boxes and boxes of pictures in random order! What a headache! Taking the time to deal with your media in whichever format you prefer is better as you receive it vs. having to deal with it in a huge lump! I know many of us hope to get to our picture projects....take my advice. Stop delaying and figure out what system works for you and use it consistently!

So with that I share with you what I have learned this week!

Slide Conversion: PRICEY! This medium of photo exposure popular in the 70's and 80's has come to haunt those of us in more modern times. A few calls to local photo shops netted me a near heart attack. They want around $1.60 per slide to scan to a CD. If I had 500 or more they would drop it to a $1 and reprints would be 20 cents if I bought 500. If I just wanted the slides printed out in reprints it would be $1.20 each. Do the math....yikes! I then visited my local Costco store. They will scan my slides to CD for 29 cents each! Yes, that is a savings of 71 cents per slide! I might actually feel like paying $150 vs. over $500 to have my slides converted. Quality may be a slight issue, you might get slightly higher quality at a film shop, but the price to me outweighs the slide quality difference.

VHS/8mm/Hi8, Etc.- Costco is now offering DVD conversion for these old media formats as well. $19.99 nets you 2 copies of your medium (pricing varies slightly due to length). However, this is the cheapest option I have found for this type of conversion service.

I hope that once I make it through all the old media memories, I am able to find some treasures that I haven't seen in a long time (maybe ever!) and I can walk away knowing that I have saved a bundle by shopping around for better rates!