Pacific Image Electronics PrimeFilm PF1800U USB Film Scanner

I had the same problem with mine...I had Lamp Failure with very few hours on the unit(around 15 hours). I had lost my sales slip so could not get any help. I would have given this unit a 5 star rating because when it was working it was a great tool. Too bad the lamp life wasnt better.

For some reason all the images look as though it was a printer with the ink cartridge running out. I have tried every possible combination and it all looks the same. Stay away from this thing unless you are seriously desperate.

Dont entertain the thought of converting 1000s or even 100s of slides with this . Software is poor , manual is lacking . At best , quality of scans is just OK if the slide or neg is perfect .. and the weather is good .. your mood is not bad .. moon is full etc. etc. Top notch film scanners with Digital ICE run 500.00 to well over a 1000.00 bucks . Most of these require a SCSI interface . When I got mine it was 75.00 MSRP , It was worth it .

Before buying this scanner, Id had some of my 35mm transparencies professionally scanned, which produced great results but was an expensive approach. I bought this scanner in the hope that it would allow me to produce reasonable-quality scans at a lower price. Unfortunately, although the software worked fine for me, the quality of the scans is so hideously bad that I gave up in disgust after a few scans. Here are some of the problems: 1) strong pink tint to every scan. Although this can be corrected to some extent in software, there is a significant loss of color spectrum that cannot be restored. 2) Poor dynamic range: rendering of shadow detail is nonexistent. The most astonishing thing is that I bought my unit several years ago, and theyre still selling this piece of junk now!

I researched 35mm slide scanning services over the Internet and found that the cost was app. $1 per slide and that was at a low resolution. I purchased the PF1800U because it was the cheapest film scanner I could find that was built for that purpose (not just a flatbed with a mirror or backlight). I have scanned app. 300 of my 2500+ slides and am very happy with the purchase. The image quality is comparable to a 1.5M pixel digital camera (the images are actually 2Mb in .jpg format), suitable for web pages or printing (I plan on making a book with mine).

Ive had this unit for several years, giving it light duty. Ive been happy enough with the scans it produces. Color and contrast are plenty good enough, especially considering Ive used it on slides some of which are 40 years old and some with inferior off-brand film. I had a bit of trouble with the software that came with it, but I was able to get a newer version from the web site, and that one works fine. Recently the sensor failed. I think Ill try a different one next time. Solid state components should last decades. 3.5 stars

I purchased this item about a week ago, and because of the widely varying reviews, thought that Id chime in. Normally I just buy books through Amazon and havent been motivated to review them since I usually know what Im getting. I am NOT an employee of Pacific Image however (or any sort of camera or computer store). I am a graduate student in history who needed to be able to scan microfilm. I searched everywhere for a product that would let me do this. The strips fill an entire spool and are many feet long, and since they are borrowed, I can not cut them to fit a standard film scanner or flatbed with a 4-6 frame holder for negatives. Products designed for this purpose are thousands of dollars - not in a students budget! Id just about given up when I found this machine, and figured I didnt have much to lose since Amazon has a good return policy, so I took a chance. Is it perfect? No. The TWAIN software that came with the computer crashed every time I tried to do more than a preliminary scan. The Adobe Elements is nice, but I have an ancient copy of Paint Shop Pro 4 I like just fine. After several crashes, I emailed the company and got a fairly useless response from them. However, an online tech reviewer who liked this product had recommended a compatible scanning program called Silverfast. I downloaded the trial version of this and lo and behold, it worked. It still took some skill and some trial by error to find good settings for the film. It didnt match any of the settings, of course, so I had to try different film options until I found one that worked. I also had to play with the detail of scan and such to avoid blurring. But after a couple of hours, I determined the settings that work. I would assume it would be easier with a standard film type. I have some slides and negatives Ill probably try also just to see how they work, and if I get remarkably different results, will comment again. Is it fast? That depends on the detail you want. It does only scan one image at a time. However, I didnt find it hard to center the image in the scanner. It scans the pages faster than I can translate them, which is all that matters to me! If you arent in a hurry, I dont think youll have a big problem. In the week Ive had it, Ive run it some days for 3-4 hours at a stretch. I havent had any problems with grinding noises. The scanner isnt silent, but its in line with my old Microtek C6 - the only other scanner Ive ever had. If it does break, Ill see how the company treats the warranty. So to sum up, if you have a specific need as I did, and youre willing to take a little time to learn the Silverfast software, you can make perfectly good images with this machine. I havent printed any of them, but I am using them on CD enlarged so that just a few words of the original hand-written records fit on the screen, and the detail and sharpness are just fine.

I ordered an A/C Power Supply Adapter and received a scanner without an A/C Power Supply Adapter.

Its as bad as the other reviewers noted back in 2003. Mine runs properly but the resolution is worse than your kids Barbie camera. If you had Kmart make prints when you had your film developed, scan those paper prints on a flatbed scanner to get better digital images than you can obtain from this. Buy something else. If you are determined to proceed - Recent 2013 edition TWAIN software, SF_ENG_1.3.exe, is available from scanace.com (The manufacturer). This makes the scanner visible to Photoshop, Irfanview etc. But the scanner still wont be visible to MS Paint or Paint.Net since those use a different protocol. Some of the prior 5-star reviews have to be shills who intended to raise the ratings average. This device needs both hands to release the film clamp before your negative is free to move to the next frame.(Or fall to the floor). Clumsy. Then each scan is done individually. I wouldnt have the patience to capture and edit a collection of negatives as was claimed. Your type of film can be specified in a menu. Choosing raw type, then editing in separate software, gave better color balance for me compared to the scanners presets. This devices era has passed. Much better gear is available now. At least I didnt pay too much for it. It had been on the shelf so long that it was marked 75% off from Goodwills original $3.98. It will soon go back.

Works food, bit lacks quality and misses the ICE chip that is very importante if you are an amateur without large knowegde (or time) in to photoshop.