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Home /Entertainment / Southtree vs. Fotobridge

Southtree vs. Fotobridge

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By Katy Sommerfeld

When is the last time you looked at any old pictures of you and your family, or watched a home video of a holiday or birthday party? We often have golden memories just lying around our homes, and since we are in the digital age, we often forget about those precious artifacts we have.


Thanks to the technology of digitization, you can turn those old photos, tapes and film into a newer, digital format easily! And there are lots of companies offering digitization services these days.


But how do you know which company to use? It’s not always best to use the cheapest option, especially when you’re trusting a company to carefully handle some of your most treasured memories.


Let’s take a closer look at two digitizing companies, Southtree and Fotobridge. Both companies have a lot to offer, but which one offers the best quality and service for your money?


Here are the basics.


Southtree is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and boasts a huge 52,000 square foot facility where all their digitizing magic happens. Southtree prioritizes quality, simplicity and convenience. From the time you order to the time you receive your originals and digitized copies, Southtree handles it all. You can rest at ease while they take care of all your digitizing needs. Southtree provides shipping and shipping materials for you as well, so that you don’t have to worry about getting the right sized package and paying for shipping costs.


Fotobridge is based in West Berlin, New Jersey. They specialize in converting lots of the same format – so if you have a lot of tapes you need digitized, they can convert them all quickly and easily. However, they separate their print photo and negatives/slides packages, so if you have multiple photograph formats it becomes less convenient. Fotobridge does not offer shipping materials, although they do offer free return shipping.

 

 

 

Southtree

 

Fotobridge

Only one company handles your film, cassettes, videos?

Yes

Yes

Shipping provided?

Yes – Every Southtree order comes with a crush-proof box and pre-paid shipping. No fees!

 

 

No packing materials are included in your order.

Return shipping is provided.

Film formats accepted

8mm, Super 8, 16mm

8mm, Super 8, 16mm

Tape formats accepted

 

 

VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Video 8, Digital 8, Mini DV, Betamax, Micro MV, PAL to NTSC

 

 

VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, BetaMax, Video8, Digital8, Hi8, MiniDV

Photo formats accepted

Print photos, slides, and negatives

 

 

Print, slides, and negatives

Audio formats accepted

 

Audio cassettes, reel-to-reel

 

None

Convenient packages to choose from?

 

 

Yes – save money by choosing a package that exactly fits your digitizing needs. Packages range from converting

  • Up to 3-48 tapes
  • Up to 3-48 reels of film
  • Up to 100-2,500 photos
  • Up to 3-48 audio cassettes/reel-to-reel

 

 

Specializing in large quantities, packages range from converting

  • Up to 5-100 tapes
  • Up to 250-10,000 feet of film
  • Up to 250-1,000 photos, slides and negatives

Step-by-step tracking

 

Yes

 

Yes

Package starting prices

 

 

Print Photos, Slides & Negatives: $23.79

Tapes: $26.49

Film: $37.49

Audio: $26.49

 

Print Photos: $54.95

Slides/Negatives: $109.95

Special Formats: $9.95

Tapes: $129.95

Film: $69.95

Audio: Not available

What’s included?

 

  • Welcome guide with instructions
  • Crush proof box
  • Barcodes for each item
  • Pre-paid return shipping label
  • Digitization by hand
  • DVDs and/or thumb drive and/or digital download option
  • DVDs and/or thumb drive and/or hard drive option
  • Pre-paid return shipping

Turn-around time

 

 

6-8 weeks

 

 

Around 2 weeks

Thumb-drive option

 

 

Yes

 

 

Yes

Customer service availability

 

Access to Southtree’s personal concierge via phone or email at any time

 

 

Contact the Fotobridge team through phone or through the Fotobridge chat service


 


Both Southtree and Fotobridge offer competitive services and pricing, but when it comes down to it, Southtree stands apart from the crowd with their lower prices, easy to use online ordering system, and their ability to digitize many more formats, including Hi8, Micro MV, and PAL tapes, and audio formats.  If you’re looking for a digitization company that will handle all shipping costs, will make ordering and delivery easy, all while offering low prices that you can count on, then Southtree is a great choice.

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