I was a bit skeptical of the advertiser's claims because I had spent about $300 converting slides to digital photos with a professional service. After converting about 200 slides with the Kodak Mini Digital Scanner, I don't see any difference in quality between those converted on this device and those converted by the professional service. Very easy to use and an easy to understand manual. I will definitely recommend the device to others.
I found a box of my Dad's old negatives, my wife found a box of her Dad's 35mm slides. I'm just getting started and have scanned about 30 of each. The scanner is easy to use and compact. The power cord plugs into a USB port on a laptop. Separate plastic guide trays for each type of film are clearly marked and lock in to the scanner, then you can just continually feed the film through and it comes out the other side. Film is scanned to an SD card. Once the card is full, there is a button allowing you to upload the scans to the computer. It was confusing at first because the message that comes up on the scanner is "FALL", and I couldn't find any info on the internet. Turns out the message should be "FULL". Once the scans are uploaded, there is a button on the scanner to format the SD card, then you can scan the next batch. 110/135/ and Film can be scanned at 14M or 22M. Super8 only scans at 6M. 126/127 scans at 16M. This Kodak scanner is very easy to use. My Dad and Father in law were good photographers, and had good cameras for the technology of their day. I wipe each film with a microfiber cloth before inserting them in the scanner. The film negative scans are clear, pretty much what you would expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how vibrant and clear the 35mm slide scans came out. I am having fun with this, and seeing pictures that I don't remember ever seeing before.
The KODAK Mini Digital Film & Slide Scanner pretty much did exactly what I needed it to. I had a huge box of film and slides that I wanted to view/save in digital form.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Small, compact
- You can save pictures to the scanner, no SD memory card is required
- You can use your laptop USB card to power the scanner and transfer pictures to your laptop very easily
Cons:
- You will have to clean the inside frequently. It comes with a felt brush to wipe the fibers off the light/lens. If you don't wipe it off, the resulting digital pictures will have fuzzies and hairs on them.
- The manual was not helpful. FYI--through use, I realized that when it says "FALL," the memory is full and you must upload the photos saved to the scanner to your computer and delete them from the scanner. It doesn't take many pictures to fill it up if you don't use a card. (But it is nice to not have to use an SD card--especially since my laptop has no slot for one.)
- It is small (which is also a pro) but its compact size makes it feel, seem a little plastic--less durable
This Kodak slide converter is such a joy to use. I just plugged it into my laptop and began using it. Capturing the digital image is easy; editing the images is also easy and is providing me with better quality digital images than the original 35mm slides! I have thousands of slides from my pre-digital life that I haven't looked at in years, and now converting them to digital images is fun and is going rather quickly. You can feed the slides into the holder and run them through the converter with a minimum of effort. I had looked into having Walmart convert the slides for me a couple of years ago, and it was going to cost a fortune, given the number of slides I have. Now I find that the resolution of the images is very fine, and editing results in great pictures. This converter will pay for itself many times over when I am through with my project. It will also save me about one-half of a closet in space that is currently taken up by stacks of carousels in their boxes. I am very, very happy with this Kodak Mini Digital Film Scanner.
Worked really well and was able to work thru several trays of slides. now will tackle the older negatives
Feature Product
- AMAZING MINIATURE FILM SCANNER - All-in-One Device Lets You Scan, View, Edit, Convert & Save Old 135, 126, 110, Super 8 & Monochrome Negatives & Slides; Turn Your Old Pictures Into Sharp, Clear, Detailed Color or Black & White JPEG Files
- MULTIPLE ADAPTERS FOR FAST LOADING - Enjoy Maximum Compatibility & Ease of Conversion w/ a Variety of Adapters Designed for Fast, Continuous Loading; Improve Quality Up to 14/22MP w/ Adjustable Brightness, Color & Reverse/Flip
- UPDATED USER INTERFACE WITH 2.4" LCD - Dedicated Scan & Home Buttons Provide Easy One-Press Scanning & Quicker Menu Navigation; View & Edit Current Slide or Gallery Pictures on the Color Display [Internal Memory Holds Up to 128MB]
- MEMORIES FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM - Use Any SD Card Up to 32GB [Not Included] or Hook Up to Computer, Laptop or External Device Via USB 2.0; Perfect for Enhancing & Printing Old Photos & Sharing Old Film Formats on Social Media
- 3-IN-1 INTERNATIONAL ADAPTER & MORE - Extended Accessories Pack Includes Universal Power Source for US, EU & UK, Cleaning Wand, USB Cable & TV Cable Power Adapter; Send & View Images on Mac/PC Computers, Big Screen TV, Etc.
Description
Easy Home Scanning
The main scanning device arrives with an arsenal of interchangeable adapters compatible with yesterday's most popular film and slide formats. Specific accessories include negative and slide adapters, 110 negative film and slide trays, and a Super 8 slide tray.
Digital Done Simple
No more sophisticated computer programs or specialty machinery. Once your chosen adapter is installed, smart technology converts each slide or negative into a JPEG file that you can save via internal or external memory. Just keep loading for fast, continuous photo scanning.
Effortless Image Enhancement
You can view and edit photos right on the scanner, so there's no need for secondary software. Once the image appears on the screen, use the flip and reverse functions to change orientation; you can also adjust brightness and RGB values for perfect coloration. Finally, certain films allow you to enhance resolution from 14 to 22 megapixels.
Full Specs & Details
- Function: Film scanner/USB MSDC
- nterface: USB 2.0
- Image Sensor: 14.0 megapixels (4416x3312); ½.33" CMOS sensor
- Display: 2.4" color TFT LCD
- Exposure Control: Automatic/Manual (-2.0 ~ +2.0 EV)
- White Balance: Automatic
- Resolution: 14 megapixels/22 megapixels*
- Scannable film types: 135 film (36 x 24mm), 126 film (27x27mm), 110 film (17 x 13mm), Super 8 film (4.01 x 5.79mm), Monochrome film, slides
- Scannable Slide formats: 35mm slides
- Scanned file format: JPEG
- TV-Out Type: NTSC/PAL
- External Memory Support: SD Card up to 32GB (Not Included)
- Power Supply: DC 5V adapter / Mini USB port
- PC Systems Supported: Windows XP/ Vista / 7 / 8 / 10; Mac OS 10.7.3 and above
- Dimensions: 3.43" L x 3.41" W x 4.04" H
- Weight: 8.82oz
*Due to interpolation, the scanner automatically upgrades and enhances themegapixels of scanned photos from 14 - 22MP. Results not the same for all film types.
I have converted several hundred slides to tiff in the past week. Some of the slides were my grandfathers and are glass, too thick for the holders, so I slid them in on the bottom slide and and adjusted for placement, worked fine. So far I have no issues aside from not being able to figure out how to use the USB cord to transmit the photos directly to my computer. Using a SD card works, just more steps in the process. I have no problems with the device.
This scanner is great for hobbyists. At 14mp, the scans won't look good larger than a 4×6 print, but it's all you need for a photo album or posting online.
Well, this is a nice little unit for the price. I did have some issues figuring out how to center some slides because of the size of the window. I just turn them sideways in the slide holder to capture more of the slide and then rotate them with the software after capture, so problem solved. This is a great little beast if you have a lot of old slides that you have been wanting to convert to digital. Limited correctability (RGB only) and rotation, but fairly adequate for slides (also you can adjust brightness level). For the most part, it works better than our old "it" scanner that was also a personal scanner like this, just older. So I would give this a 4 stars because the use of the unit is not as intuitive as it could be, but the fact that the company includes a manual so that you don't have to go online to try to find one is a huge plus. I would recommend this for anyone who wants a simple unit. Just remember to put your slides through one after the other in the slot once you have the plastic slide holder inside the unit. Removing it is a little challenging so you have to take care. Also, at times I get lost in the menu and the unit shuts off and I have to turn it on again. It's something I am doing though. But once you get used to using it, it gets easy and breezy.
OK, folks, here's the deal. This scanner functions very well for its intended purpose. It creates files that are perfectly suitable for posting online, sharing via email, and printing at relatively small sizes. 8 x 10 would be pushing it. I see that Amazon is selling much cheaper units that appear to have the same specs. I paid extra for, frankly, the Kodak brand, should I need customer support (not so far).
Pluses: it's quick to use; you can digitize quite a few negatives or slides in a relatively short time. The files are adequate for online posting and small prints.
Minuses: it doesn't clean up dirty, scratched, or dusty source material. You really need external editing software to produce adequate images. I use Lightroom, which is excellent for correcting the color casts that appear on many scans, removing dust spots and scratches, and dialing back the over-saturation on many images. There's a lot of editing software out there that can do the same. Don't expect exhibition quality prints. However, I've attached a scan which came out quite well, and shows the resolution and color capability of the unit. I would expect that I could make a decent 5" x 7" print from this file.
Do not use the 22 MB file size. It gives you no more detail, and if you need to up-res your file for printing, your editing software will do a much better job. If you scan something, and think, "Wow, that's a great slide/negative. I'd like to make an 11" x 14 print from it," then stop there and either send the slide/neg to ScanCafe or a similar service, or purchase an Epson V600, which will yield a much higher quality scan. But I've sent a number of scans of old negatives to folks pictured in them, and they've asked for larger file size copies from which they can make prints, so the quality is still pretty good.
Bottom line: if you have realistic expectations and are willing to spend a little time in editing software (don't bother with the unit's editing controls), you will be quite happy with the results.
I had my husband’s grandfathers 35mm slides collecting dust for years. I finally got enough courage to order this product along with a decent sized sd card and an iPad compatable card reader. I don’t use a laptop anymore, just an iPad and an iPhone and I couldn’t be any happier with the results! I was able to scan and save some old slides and I didn’t need to fiddle with the resolution adjustments at all. I scanned several slides from 1957 and some from 1967 and they are crisp and detailed and look as though they were taken last week. I was able to upload them to a local Facebook history group and I couldn’t be more proud of the quality of these slides. Easy to use and I highly recommend this for slides. Don’t let your family history be lost. The picture I shared is 52 years old!
0 comments:
Post a Comment