Pacific Image Electronics PrimeFilm PF1800U USB Film Scanner

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.

very good results for an inexpensive 35mm film scanner and scans negatives as well as slides. The scanner only takes 35 seconds per scan and offers very good quality for a very low cost as compared to other film scanners costing over twice as much.

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 purchased this item in 2002 to scan all the 35mm negatives that I have. The only problem is that the pictures that I scan comes out all pinky or funny colors. I tried using it for awhile but the awful picture quality was really annoying that I stop using it. I recently heard from a digital graphic person recommending that you should acquire all your digital photos in RAW format. As it is uncompressed and retains all the original unmodified data that you can use any photo editing software to adjust to your liking. Before the moment I heard it from the digital graphic person, RAW means nothing to me. You might as well speak coded language to me as this RAW terminology means as much to me as the coded language I mentioned on

Its not even worth pulling out your wallet. Results are about as good as trying to draw your photos with a very blunt crayon. I get far better results using a flatbed Epson with the film adapter. Not that using a flatbed is the best idea but it is 100 times better than the 1800u. If someone gives it to you consider them a mean person and dont take it. Unless you need a rather ugly 2lb piece of plastic to clutter up your desk and spill coffee on. Even then, theres probably something better to accidentally caffeinate .

I had read critical reviews before purchasing. When I first tried it, the color was badly distorted and I was not able to adjust to compensate. However, as a last effort, I tried scanning in the raw setting. This largely solved the color distortion problem. So, overall, I am pleased with the scanner. When you consider how inexpensive it is, it is a real bargin.

This economical 35mm film scanner is exactly what I wanted and needed. I have a large collection of 35mm slides taken in Korea and Vietnam; this scanner allows me to convert them to digital images on my computer and either print, send or share with others. It has a great preview function and an adjustable quality feature. A great buy for the money.

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 .

This is not a bad item when you need to scan a couple, but its very slow and the resolution is not good. If you need it for your family photos it can be a good product, but you have to think you will need a lot of time, if I could Ill try to get one with autofeed.

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).