Transfer 8mm film to DVD

That is probably the easiest and cheapest solution.

Use of a digital camera and projector, as you've suggested, is probably the simplest way. I would only suggest that, instead of a projecting onto a screen or wall, you use a video transfer device such as those designed originally for transferring movies-to-tape.

These devices have two openings and an internal mirror at a 45 degree angle. The projector plays into one opening, and your video camera records at the other opening.

The resulting quality will be much better than if projected/recorded off a wall or screen.

They should be cheap, and even be available on ebay .

I have been down this road for a few hard and expensive miles. I bought one of the devices with the 45-degree mirror and a top quality screen. The best results were barely acceptable. I then tried some professional services. They are very expensive, but produce far superior results. Don't waste money converting poor quality film. Edit first. I had best results from the following, in order of overall experience:

<http://www.film-to-video.com> (Bruce Mayfield's tutorial is very helpful.)
<http://www.homemoviedepot.com>

Thank you Jo Ann,

The information in those links were very helpfull and answered some questions I've had for a long time.

Thanks for presenting your experience so I dont (continue to) make mistakes with my own stuff.

The easiest and probably best thing to do is visit a local photo shop and ask them if they can transfer the film to mini-DV or DVD.

Wow--thanks for these warnings! Really opened my eyes abt what to do w my cans of precious super-8 film.