VHS prices alongside the smaller camcorder formats
The published video price table lists a VHS or VHS-C cassette at £20 to DVD or £25 to USB. Video8, Hi8, Digital8 cassette and miniDV appear in a separate row with the same £20 DVD and £25 USB prices. These are video-transfer figures; the audio cassette prices elsewhere on the website describe a different service.
For someone comparing VHS digitisation in Stourbridge, the table gives a concrete basis for an enquiry. It does not specify a recording-duration cap, VAT treatment, completion time or additional charges for awkward material. Ask for the total for your actual tapes and chosen output, particularly if labels suggest unusually long recordings or you have several formats mixed together. A useful quote should identify what you are handing over and what you will receive.
Cine reels and audio need their own decisions
Black Country Film and Audio also lists 3-inch 8mm or Super 8 film at £25 to DVD or £30 to USB. For 5-inch reels, the figures are £35 to DVD or £40 to USB. Those sizes belong to the cine-film entries, so they should not be treated as running-time allowances for VHS.
There is an audio route too. Published prices are £20 to CD or £25 to USB for cassette, £25 to CD or £30 to USB for a vinyl LP, and £15 to CD or £20 to USB for a vinyl single. The audio service describes digital download, USB stick and CD as delivery options. If your priority is a recorded family voice rather than moving pictures, discuss that separately from the video order and confirm how a download would be supplied and priced.
Use the shop enquiry to establish the handover
The website places the business at Stourbridge Music Centre, 159 Lower High Street, and describes bringing films into the shop for an inspection, an explanation of the process and a clear quote. It also says original media will be returned with the digital copies. That provides a practical reason to prepare a short inventory before arranging your visit.
Give each tape or reel a simple number, photograph its label, and record any family clues beside it. Keep uncertain dates as estimates. Ask relatives which recordings they most want to see first; this can make a large collection easier to prioritise without guessing what every unlabelled tape contains. Flag cracked cases, loose tape, mould or a history of playback problems before anyone tries to play the material. Ask what assessment or repair is possible instead of assuming that conversion includes restoration.
Choose a copy you can watch and keep
The video options are USB stick or DVD. Choose with your household’s equipment in mind: a DVD may suit someone who already watches discs, while digital files can be useful for a family archive. Before ordering USB, ask which file format will be used and whether it will play on your intended computer or television. The published output choices do not establish a particular resolution or file type.
When the copies arrive, compare them with your inventory. Check the beginning, a section in the middle and the end of each recording, including sound. Look for missing sections or files that stop playing, and raise questions while you can still identify the original. Keep the returned tapes and reels, retain the supplied digital copy, and make a separate backup. A USB stick should not become the only place where an irreplaceable recording exists.
Let relatives put dates and names back into the footage
After conversion, Memrial offers a separate private family archive for digital photos and home videos. It does not convert tapes and is not part of Black Country Film and Audio. The free plan includes 2.0 GB of shared archive storage with no card needed. Check your file sizes when deciding what to upload first; that allowance is shared across the archive.
Invite relatives to add comments and stories, then use Timeline with exact or approximate dates to find memories by year. A holiday labelled only “summer, late eighties” can still have a useful place while the family works out the details. Live Watch Parties synchronise an uploaded home video, with the host controlling play, pause and seeking and relatives using voice or text chat nearby or far away. The free allowance is three hours per month with up to six participants.
For a family anniversary, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership, and their photos and videos collect in the event album. Closing the link keeps those memories. That gives new recordings from the occasion a home alongside the older footage that helped everyone recognise the faces and remember the stories.