How Many Feet of Movie Film Do You Have?

Please Note: While we no longer convert 8mm or Super 8 movie film to digital, we've kept this information available as a helpful reference for those looking to estimate their film footage.

Quick Guide to Estimating Film Footage

The easiest way to figure out how many feet of film you have is to measure the diameter of the reel where the outer edge of the film is. This will tell you approximately how many feet you have on each reel.

Important Tips:

• You don't have to be exact with your measurements
• It's better to estimate low rather than high
• Measure across the reel at its widest point where the film ends
• The chart below shows footage for FULL reels—if your reel isn't full, estimate accordingly

8mm & Super 8 Film Reel Size Chart

Reel Size	Feet of Film
3"	50 feet
4"	100 feet
5"	200 feet
6"	300 feet
7"	400 feet
8"	600 feet
10"	800 feet
12"	1,200 feet

About 16mm Film

16mm reels of approximately the same size will typically have twice as much film on them compared to 8mm reels because the hub (center core) is smaller and the reels are slightly larger in diameter.

For example, a 7-inch 16mm reel would hold approximately 800 feet of film (double the 400 feet that a 7-inch 8mm reel would hold).

How to Measure Your Film Reels

Step 1: Lay the reel flat on a surface

Step 2: Measure across the reel at its widest point

Step 3: Round to the nearest inch (3", 4", 5", 6", 7", 8", 10", or 12")

Step 4: Use the chart above to find the approximate footage

Step 5: If the reel isn't completely full, estimate a percentage (e.g., if a 5" reel is half full, estimate 100 feet instead of 200 feet)

Understanding Film Runtime

8mm and Super 8 Film: Runs at approximately 18 frames per second (fps) when projected

• 50 feet = approximately 3.5 minutes of footage
• 200 feet = approximately 14 minutes of footage
• 400 feet = approximately 28 minutes of footage

16mm Film: Professional 16mm typically runs at 24 fps

• 400 feet = approximately 11 minutes of footage
• 800 feet = approximately 22 minutes of footage
• 1,200 feet = approximately 33 minutes of footage

What We Do Offer

While we no longer convert movie film, we specialize in high-quality slide and photo scanning services:

• 35mm Slide Scanning at 4,000 ppi with professional Photoshop editing on every scan
• All slide formats: 110, 120, 126, 127, and 3D stereo slides
• View-Master reel scanning
• Paper photo scanning
• Prints from slides - we can make beautiful prints from your digitized slides