The short answer: The price of tape conversion in Israel depends less on "how many tapes" and more on what is done to each one: whether someone opened and inspected it by hand, whether it was cleaned of mould or stabilised before playback, which machine it ran on, which file you receive, and what happens if it turns out to be dead. Our current figures are on the price list (Hebrew); this post quotes no prices at all. Instead it explains what you are paying for, and why two services can ask very different sums for exactly the same tape.
Almost every phone call to us starts with the same question, and almost always the next one is "but why did someone else tell me something completely different?". The honest answer: "tape conversion" is not one product. It is a list of operations, and every service decides which of them it performs and which it skips.
Why do prices differ so much between services?
At one end of the market: a domestic video recorder connected to a USB capture stick, press Play, save whatever comes out. At the other end: a tape opened by hand, inspected and smelt, run on a machine with calibrated heads through a time-base corrector, delivered as a file in the format you chose, after a human has looked at the result. In the advertisement both are called the same thing. The gap in price reflects the gap in work, and the gap in results is sometimes the difference between "there is video" and "you can see grandmother's face".
One thing is worth understanding before you compare: what is not on the tape cannot be invented, but what is on it can still be lost. According to CLIR, magnetic media lose part of their signal strength over the years even when never played, and their practical life is measured in decades, not forever. The transfer made now is probably the best transfer this tape will ever get, and whatever is cut away on the way will not come back.
Per tape or per hour — what changes in the bill?
Two billing models are common. Per tape: a fixed price per unit regardless of recorded length — simple, predictable, and good value when most tapes are full. Per recorded hour: you pay for the duration actually recorded — fairer when many tapes are partly used, as camcorder tapes often are, with a quarter of an hour of holiday and the rest blank — but harder to estimate in advance. Neither model is "right"; what matters is the edge cases: a long tape recorded at slow speed, a half-empty tape, a tape holding two different recordings. Our own model, and what it includes, is set out on the price list.
What are hand inspection, cleaning and baking worth?
This is the easiest part to save on, and it is also the part that decides whether the tape survives the conversion. Every tape that reaches us is inspected by hand before it touches a machine: opened, looked at, smelt, turned by hand. Why? Because according to CLIR the binder that holds the magnetic particles on the tape absorbs moisture over the years, softens and becomes sticky — the condition known as sticky-shed — and it happens on the shelf, without anyone playing the tape. Put such a tape straight into a machine and it squeals, sticks and leaves its coating on the heads. The accepted professional treatment is controlled heating of the tape over several hours, which temporarily drives the moisture out of the binder and opens a window of days for one clean transfer. That takes time and equipment, and it does not exist in a service that only presses Play.
And mould. According to IPI, mould spores do not germinate below 65% relative humidity, so a tape that waited in a damp storeroom or a basement is an immediate suspect. Playing a mouldy tape contaminates the machine and infects the next tapes run on it, and the spores themselves are a respiratory hazard. Professional cleaning is slow handwork; our guide to mould on tapes shows what it looks like. Ask any service: what do you do when you find mould, is it extra, and will you tell me first?
What are TBC and calibrated heads, and why are they on the bill?
Analogue video is a signal that depends on precise timing of every line in the picture. Old tape, slightly stretched, running on a machine whose heads have not been calibrated in years, produces wobbly timing: a picture that sways, bands, "snow". A time-base corrector — TBC — rebuilds the timing line by line, and calibrated heads prevent much of the snow before it appears. According to CLIR, thin formats such as Video8, Hi8 and MiniDV are prone to dropout — spot loss of coating — earlier than VHS, so it is precisely the small camcorder tapes that gain most from a good machine. Such machines are expensive and rare, and their upkeep is part of what you pay for. Ask: which machine will my tape run on, is there a TBC in the chain, and who looks at the result?
Where is the work done, and which file do you get?
Two questions many people do not think to ask. First: where. Some services collect tapes in Israel and ship them abroad for conversion. Not necessarily bad, but it means your only copy passes through airports and customs, the process takes weeks, and whoever opens it by hand — if anyone does — is not talking to you. With us everything is done in the studio in Rishon LeZion, and you are welcome to come and see.
Second: which file. MP4 is right for sharing and viewing; ProRes or MXF keep far more information and suit editing and archiving. We deliver all three, and the differences are in our ProRes, MXF and MP4 guide. Ask also how the file arrives and for how long: our download link is valid for one month, and the originals stay with us for up to two weeks after the job, then go back to you or are recycled, as you instruct.
What happens with a dead tape, and what surrounds the price?
A dead tape — torn, fused into a block, or wiped by accident thirty years ago — is not rare. The only question is whether you pay for it. With us the hand inspection comes before conversion, so if there is nothing to save you hear it first and are not charged for work that was not done. Ask this explicitly before handing over a box.
And around it: is the courier included, in both directions? How long does it take? Our small jobs are usually ready within about seven working days and large ones within about 21, and couriers reach any door in Israel, there and back. Since 2006 more than 5,000,000 frames and photos have passed through our studio, and the questions in the table below are the ones we have learned to answer. Seven more questions to ask any service are in our guide to choosing a conversion service, and our own service is described on the video tape conversion page.
| What affects the price | Why it matters | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | Per tape or per hour changes what a partial tape costs | What happens with a half-empty tape? |
| Hand inspection | Sticky-shed and mould are caught before they destroy | Is every tape opened by hand? |
| Mould and baking | Slow handwork that saves the tape | What do you do when you find it, and at what extra? |
| Equipment: TBC and heads | Decides whether you see snow or faces | Which machine will my tape run on? |
| Where the work is done | A tape shipped abroad is at risk and delayed | Where is the conversion actually done? |
| File format | MP4 for viewing, ProRes/MXF for editing and archive | Which file do I get, and for how long? |
| Dead tape | You should not pay for nothing | If nothing can be saved, am I charged? |
| Couriers and turnaround | Part of the price, even if unwritten | Courier both ways? How many working days? |
Want to know exactly what our price includes? Call us, and we will go through the list together.
We send couriers to your door anywhere in Israel, in both directions. Small jobs are usually ready within about seven working days, large ones within about 21 working days, and the first minute is on us — you will see how your film comes out before you decide. You can also drop off in person: our studio at 9 HaMa'ayan St., Rishon LeZion, 5 Lisin St. in Tel Aviv, or Mitzpe Hararit in the Galilee. Call 03-5610368 or leave your details on our contact page. What each service includes is listed on our price list (Hebrew).
Frequently asked questions
Why do you not say here how much it costs?
Because prices change, and this post is meant to stay true for years. The current figures are always on the price list, together with what exactly each service includes.
Is a cheaper service necessarily worse?
Not necessarily. But ask what exactly the price includes: hand inspection, mould treatment, TBC, file format, courier in both directions. Compared on the same list, the gap usually explains itself.
If my tape is dead, do I pay?
With us every tape is inspected by hand before it touches a machine. If there is nothing to save, you hear it first, and you are not charged for a conversion that did not happen.
How long does the conversion take?
Small jobs are usually ready within about seven working days, large ones within about 21. A tape that needs cleaning or stabilising adds time, and we let you know in advance.
