Rewind

Home movies, tapes and family photographs, copied by hand and posted back

Two of us, a film scanner, four tape decks and a flatbed. Send us the box from under the stairs; we copy every reel, tape and print, write down what is on each one, and post the box back with the files.

How to send a box
Hands holding open an old photo album with small black and white pictures of horses and a vintage car.

ALBUM · 84 PRINTS

An album from a farm, 1931 to 1938

Every print was lifted out of its corners, scanned both sides for the pencil notes, and put back in the same corners.

Two film reels and a projector in black and white, lit from one side.

CINE · 11 REELS

Eleven reels labelled only “summer”

Six were holidays, three were a garden, and two were the same wedding filmed from both ends of the church.

A black and white photograph of a toddler in a white dress taking steps while an adult holds her hands.

PRINTS · 212

A first birthday, and a first step

The step is on a single frame of a cine reel from the same box. We printed it and put it with the photographs.

A black and white group photograph of a family in their best clothes standing on a lawn in front of trees.

GLASS PLATE · 1

Three generations on one lawn

One cracked glass negative. Scanned in a tray, lit from below, crack left in. The family asked for it to stay.

A black and white photograph of a young couple on a sofa with two small children on their laps and a lamp beside them.

VIDEO · 26 TAPES

Twenty-six tapes of one living room

Christmas, every year, from the same corner. We made one extra file: all twenty-six openings, one after another.

A black and white studio portrait of a mother with a baby in a white dress on her lap.

PRINTS · 1

A single portrait, and a name on the back

Faded on the right where it sat in a window. We scanned it as it is and sent a corrected copy beside it.

01

It arrives

We open it on camera, count what is inside and email you the count the same day.

02

We clean it

Film is checked for vinegar and splices; tapes are wound through once before they are played.

03

We copy it

Real time, one item at a time. A two-hour tape takes two hours, and one of us watches it.

04

It goes home

The box, a stick with the files and a typed list of what is on each one. Tracked post.

An old cine projector with three large empty reels mounted on its arms.

Prices, per item

You pay for what we copy, nothing for what turns out to be blank. Most boxes come to between £90 and £250, and we tell you the total before we start.

Video tape, any length£14

Cine reel, 8 mm or Super 8, per 50 ft£12

Photograph or slide£0.60

Glass plate or large negative£6

Return post, tracked£9

Ask for a quote

Before you post the box

A hand holding two old black and white group photographs against a dark wooden wall.

Don't sort it

Send it the way you found it. The order things were kept in often tells us the year.

A black and white photograph of a grandmother on a garden chair with a baby on her lap and two children beside her.

Smell the film

If a reel smells of vinegar, bag it on its own. It can still be copied, but it should not travel with the rest.

A wooden box stuffed with old photographs and cards, a small portrait of a man propped in front.

Keep one thing back

We have never lost a box. Still, keep your favourite photograph at home until the rest is back.

Loose black and white family photographs and a small gilt frame spread on a white sheet.

Not sure what is in the box?

Neither is anyone. Send us a photograph of the top layer and we will tell you roughly what it will cost.

Send us a photograph