Convert Your Betamax Tapes to Digital.
The format that lost the war, but kept your memories
Betamax recorded a decade of family life before VHS won the market, and working Beta decks are now genuinely rare. We transfer your tapes to digital MP4 at roughly 12.5 GB per two-hour tape, monitored in real time, on equipment most people no longer have.
Get a Free Betamax QuoteIn-house in Orange, CA since 2001. Over a million reels handled, never one lost.
$19.95
per two-hour tape (regularly $28.50). Any brand.
Since 2001
Hollywood 's Choice
In-House Processing
Expert Technicians
Trusted with the tapes for Netflix's Lucy and Desi and thousands of family libraries · All video tape formats →
Why Betamax Should Be First in Line
Sony introduced Betamax in 1975, and though VHS eventually won the market, plenty of families recorded their most important years on Beta. Today it is one of the most urgent formats to digitize.
Sony stopped making Betamax recorders decades ago, and few labs still keep working decks. The window to play these tapes at all is closing.
Because Beta came first, Betamax cassettes are frequently the earliest home video in a collection, and the most faded.
Forty-plus-year-old magnetic tape fades, sheds, and grows brittle. Some Beta tapes are already near the end of what can be recovered.
Betamax cassettes look similar to VHS but are a bit smaller and squarer. Not sure which you have? Send them and we identify each one.
Betamax Transfer Pricing
The same flat rate as any consumer tape, no rare-format surcharge.
Longer tapes count as multiple two-hour tapes. We tell you the exact count with your quote.
Delivery on flash drive or hard drive, and optionally on DVD: $5 per disc for disc-only orders, $15 per disc when a drive is included. $50 order minimum. We skip blank footage and never charge for the empty parts of a tape.
Which Tape Do You Have?
Not sure what you are looking at? Match your tape below and tap it for the details, or just send a mixed box and we sort and identify them for you.
Consumer and Home Formats
Professional & Broadcast
Low-compression MP4 or MOV files delivered on flash drive, hard drive, the cloud, or long lasting archival DVD.
Starting at just $19.95 per Tape
Cost to Convert Video Tapes to Digital
At Legacy Digital, our video tape conversion service expertly transforms your VHS, Super VHS, Compact VHS (VHS-C), 8mm, Hi8, Digital 8, DVCAM, Betacam and Betacam SP tapes into high-quality digital files or DVDs. Time-based correction is included with VHS and VHS-C tapes where others charge additional fees. Using professional-grade VCRs and capture devices, we digitize each tape, maintaining the integrity and quality of your existing recordings, sometimes with improvement. Our process includes monitoring and adjusting for the best possible audio and video quality, sometimes requiring two or three reruns just to ensure the best possible output.
SALE: Starting at just $19.95 per tape
Using professional-grade VCRs and capture equipment, our process involves playing your tapes through time-base correction hardware into professional capture systems to convert them to digital. We carefully monitor tracking and video levels throughout, capturing your footage in high-quality digital formats. Post-capture, we edit out blank footage and unwanted static, so you never pay for blank tape. Finally, we deliver your digitized videos as MP4 files on a flash drive, hard drive, or DVD, ensuring your precious memories are preserved and easy to enjoy for generations to come.
| Running Time (Up to) | Regular Price | Sale Price |
| 0-2 Hours | $28.50 | $19.95 |
| 2-4 Hours | $57.00 | $39.90 |
| 4-6 Hours | $85.50 | $59.85 |
Starting at just $40.00 per tape
Using professional-grade VCRs and capture equipment, our process involves playing your tapes through time-base correction hardware into professional capture systems to convert them to digital. We carefully monitor tracking and video levels throughout, capturing your footage in high-quality digital formats. Post-capture, we edit out blank footage and unwanted static, so you never pay for blank tape. Finally, we deliver your digitized videos as MP4 files on a flash drive, hard drive, or DVD, ensuring your precious memories are preserved and easy to enjoy for generations to come.
| Type | Price |
| Betacam | $40.00 |
| Betacam SP | $40.00 |
* $35.00 per tape on orders of more than 25 tapes
Why families choose us over the "big box" mail-in services.
Prepaid boxes look cheap until you see what those prices leave out.
Legacy Digital
Big Box Services
Every tape inspected and monitored during transfer
Pay only for tapes that actually convert
Work stays in the USA, in one facility
Time-based correction on VHS & VHS-C
Tape repair for damaged tapes
Well-maintained decks with clean heads
Why Our Betamax Transfers Look Better
Playing Betamax at all takes working, maintained equipment. We have it, and we try troublesome tapes in multiple decks for the best result.
We encode at far higher quality than the warehouse standard, so what is left on a 40-year-old tape is preserved in full.
A technician monitors each capture rather than running racks of tape unattended.
Your tapes are digitized by our own team in Orange, California, never subcontracted or sent overseas.
How It Works
Getting your Betamax tapes to us is simple, and your originals always come home.
Send it to us
Free local pickup across Southern California, a secure prepaid shipping kit by mail, or drop off at our Orange, CA counter.
We digitize it in-house
Each tape is captured in real time on maintained Beta decks, tried in multiple decks if needed, and the blanks are trimmed.
You relive it
Get your videos as MP4 on a drive or DVD to share and stream, and your original tapes come back with them.
If you are not happy with your transfer, we redo it until you are.Handled entirely in-house in Orange, California. Your tapes never leave our facility.
VHS Questions
Below are the most common questions we get about coneverting negatives to digital format. If you have other questions, please give us a call. We're happy to answer them.
Yes. If you are also converting other tapes, film, photos, slides, or audio, we place everything on the same drive in organized folders so your whole archive lives in one place.
Usually, yes, though some heavily degraded tapes have limits. We pursue the best possible result and are honest about what a given tape can give. The sooner you digitize, the more survives.
Betamax cassettes are a bit smaller and squarer than VHS and usually say Beta or Betamax. If you are not sure, send them and we identify each tape for you.
Yes. We keep working, maintained Beta decks, which is exactly why so many Betamax tapes end up with us; most people no longer have a way to play them.
Turnaround depends on the size of your order and the current queue. We give you an estimated timeframe with your quote and never rush the work at the expense of quality. Call for the current turnaround before you ship.
MP4 files on a flash drive (orders under 256 GB) or hard drive. DVDs are available at $5 per disc for disc-only orders, or $15 per disc when a drive is also in the order.
Yes, a $50 order minimum, not counting drives.
Pricing depends on the type and number of negatives and also the scanning level you select. We keep it affordable and transparent. Get a free, no-obligation quote today.
Please call the office to inquire about our current backlog.
We are usually about 4 to 6 weeks out, but that depends on the season and current circumstances. Rush orders are available at additional cost. This will ensure that your order will be completed within one to two weeks depending on the size of your order. It is always difficult to say what exactly day your video tapes will be done.
Everyone’s video tapes are different and we take the time on every single order to make sure it is done right, even if we have to spend extra time and redo scenes until we are happy with them.
Please understand that you are hiring us because of the attention we pay to detail and quality, not speed.
As with all of our services, careful attention is paid to organization and detail. Once we receive your tapes, they are sealed in a container with your name on the inside and the outside of the container. Only one family gets worked on at any one time. Your project is managed by only one person from beginning to end, and only one project is being worked on at any one time. Before your project is started, the last one is completed and cleared from the area.
Most videotapes we see are well beyond the stated life of the tape when we receive them. All care and attention is paid to make sure we do not damage your tapes, but things can happen. It is possible that a tape you give us is poised to break the next time it is used, however, it hasn’t happened yet. If your tape does break in our care, we will repair it free if possible. You have nothing to lose. If they are not transferred to DVD, they will be lost for sure.
Betamax Decks Are Vanishing. Your Tapes Should Not Go With Them.
Get a free, itemized quote. We count every tape, tell you the exact cost, and your originals always come home.
Get My Free Betamax QuoteOr call (888) 405-2685 · Orange, CA · In-house since 2001