Standard 8, Super 8 or 16mm? How to Tell What's in the Box
You've found a box of old film reels in the loft, or inherited them from a parent. There's no projector, no labels that make sense, and no way of knowing what's on them.
The first question is what kind of film it is. Most home movies are on one of four formats: Standard 8, Super 8, 16mm or 9.5mm. Each needs different equipment to play or digitise, and knowing which you have also gives you a rough idea of when the films were made.
You don't need any special kit to find out. A ruler, a window or a lamp, and a couple of minutes per reel is enough.
Measure the width
Unwind a short length of film, just a few inches, and lay a ruler across it.
About 8mm wide (roughly a third of an inch): Standard 8 or Super 8. Most family home movies fall into this group. Go to step 2.
About 16mm wide (roughly two-thirds of an inch): 16mm. Twice the width of 8mm and noticeably chunkier.
Slightly wider than 8mm, with a hole down the middle: 9.5mm. More on this below.
The width alone sorts out most collections.
Standard 8 or Super 8? Look at the holes
Standard 8 and Super 8 are the same width, so the quickest way to tell them apart is the sprocket holes, the small holes running down one edge of the film. Hold the film up to a window or a lamp.
Standard 8: the holes are larger and sit level with the gap between two pictures.
Super 8: the holes are noticeably smaller and sit alongside the middle of each picture.
Because Super 8 has smaller holes, there's more room for the picture, so the frames look bigger. If you have both types in the box, the difference is obvious side by side.
Standard 8 | Super 8 | |
Also called | Regular 8, Double 8, 8mm | Super 8mm |
Introduced | 1932 (Kodak) | 1965 (Kodak) |
Typical years in family collections | 1930s to mid 1960s | Mid 1960s to 1980s |
Sprocket holes | Larger, level with the gap between pictures | Smaller, beside the middle of each picture |
Picture size | Smaller | About 50% larger |
Sound | Almost always silent | Mostly silent; some sound film from the 1970s |
Another clue is the plastic reel. Super 8 reels usually have a larger hole in the centre than Standard 8 reels. It isn't foolproof, as film was sometimes moved onto whatever reel was to hand, so check the holes in the film too.
16mm and 9.5mm
16mm is twice the width of 8mm, with holes on one or both edges. It was more expensive and more common in schools, clubs and businesses than in family homes, but some keen amateurs shot their home movies on it. If the box contains film with a stripe running along one edge, it may be 16mm sound film.
9.5mm is the odd one out, and it turns up more often in British collections than people expect. Pathé launched it in 1922, ten years before Standard 8, and it was popular in the UK and France before and after the war, sold here under the Pathéscope name. Manufacture stopped around 1960.
It's easy to recognise: instead of holes along the edge, 9.5mm has a single hole in the centre of the film, between each picture. Some 9.5mm reels are home movies; others are short versions of cinema films, comedies and cartoons sold for showing at home. If you have it, it's likely to be the oldest film in the box.
Other clues in the box
Boxes and labels. Original boxes often say "Super 8", "Double 8" or "8mm" and name the film, such as Kodachrome or Ektachrome. Processing labs often stamped or wrote a date on the box, which helps place the film in time. Handwritten labels like "Margate 1968" are worth keeping with the reel.
Sound stripe. A thin brown stripe running down the edge of the film means it was recorded with sound. Most home movies are silent.
Reel size and running time. The reel's width tells you roughly how much film it holds. Measure across the reel, not the film wound on it.
Reel diameter | Film length | Approx. running time (8mm or Super 8) |
3 inches | 50 ft | 3 to 4 minutes |
5 inches | 200 ft | 13 to 16 minutes |
7 inches | 400 ft | 27 to 33 minutes |
16mm runs through about twice as fast, so the same reel lasts roughly half as long.
The small 3-inch reels are the most common. Each one usually holds a single roll as it came back from processing, often one holiday or one occasion. Larger reels were usually several small films joined together.
Handle with care while you check
Hold the film by its edges. Fingerprints on the picture are hard to remove.
Only unwind what you need. A few inches is enough to see the holes. Old film can be brittle and crack if you pull or bend it.
Don't try the old projector. Old film and old projectors are a risky mix; brittle or shrunken film can tear or burn.
Note anything odd. A vinegar smell, a pink tint, or sticky or warped film can all signal decay. See Is Your Cine Film Deteriorating? for what they mean.
Not sure? We can tell you
You don't need to work any of this out before getting in touch. At Photo Revivals, we digitise Standard 8, Super 8 and 16mm cine film, and we'll identify each reel for you when it arrives.
Once digitised, you can watch those holidays, weddings, and family days on a TV, laptop, or phone and share them with the whole family. We handle your original reels with care and return them to you.
