Not scanners. Copy cameras.
Technically correct. However, I purchased one and it works great for what it does. I have thousands of negatives to scan and I do not need the quality that I can achieve with my Canon negative/slide scanners. But the results give me adequate material to go through and decide which ones I do want to scan better. But for those people that don’t want the high resolution quality that the proper scanners provide this is an excellent device.
It only takes 1 to 2 seconds to scan each picture and you can do a 24/36 roll of film in only a few minutes. The Canon scanners take probably 2 to 3 minutes per picture, what with the fiddling around trying to get the framing and the white balance right in the software preview mode before even hitting scan.
It’s a little eccentric to use, in that you scan/copy to an SD card, which you can then upload to the computer via a different menu. The SD card is not included and you have to provide your own. It does not like the new version of SD card and 32 MB is the maximum size.
A nice feature is being able to hook it up to a TV with an HDMI cable so that you get the full experience on a big screen whilst scanning. In this respect it can also be used purely as a viewer as it is very easy to insert negatives and slides although you have to select what type you are looking at beforehand. Black and white negative is the third option available.
I have noticed it tends to try to do some kind of color correction of its own accord which can screw up successive scans. Rectified by turning off and on again. For instance, after scanning several pictures that had lots of green in the background, successive scans had a very green tint to them.
You can power from a USB cable from a computer, which means you don’t have to switch cables between scanning and then copying to the computer.
So it is a little anachronistic in that it has a USBC connector for power and computer connection and HDMI output, but only supports older format SD cards and no scan to PC directly.
Bleh… looking for one that can do APS film.
You could probably modify one of the film carriers with a piece of cardboard or plastic to accommodate APS quite easily. Or if you have the capability, 3-D print an APS carrier. I would probably try masking the 126 with black electrical tape in the first instance. If I had any APS film, I would try it.
This is what the film carriers look like.Three different sizes that fit onto the main cartridge that pushes in the side of the machine. Once it’s in there, you just feed the film in.
