Customer Reviews

Pacific Image Electronics PrimeFilm 1800AFL Film Scanner

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'VE TRIED THIS UNIT WITH FAIR/POOR RESULTS. ALL OF PACIFIC IMAGE SCANERS I'VE TRIED TEND TO OVER EXPOSE OR REQUIRE A PHOTO EDITING PROGRAM TO "CORRECT COLOR". I CURRENTLY HAVE THEIR 1800U MODEL. IT'S GOING BACK! (P.S. I SEE LARGE QUANTITYS OF THEIR SCANNERS BEING RETURNED DAILY.) ALL SCANS COME OUT ROSE OR BLUE HUED AND/OR THE COLORS ARE BLOWN OUT. I.E. NO BLUE SKIES OR WHITE WALLS. I DO ALOT OF MILITARY SHOWS AND EXPECT RICH COLORS NOT A PINK & BABY BLUE FLAG. THE 1800U CANNOT HANDLE DEEP SHADOWS IN B&W FILM. THEY TEND TO SCAN A MURKY GRAY COLOR. IT SEEMS LIKE THE LIGHT IS NOT OF QUALITY OR CALIBRATED PROPERLY. I SPENT A WEEK TWEAKING THE GAMMA, CONTRAST, BRIGHTNESS ETC. BUT STILL DO NOT GET CONSISTENT SCANS. YOU HAVE TO ADJUST FOR EVERY SCAN MADE. I'VE TRIED TO CONTACT THEM BUT THEY'RE NOT SURE WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. I THOUGHT SINCE I WORK IN THE BLDG. NEXT TO THEM I COULD EXCHANGE MY UNIT BUT I CAN'T "WALK IN" TO DO IT. EVEN THOUGH I "WALKED IN" TO PURCHASE IT. WHEN YOU CALL FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE ALL YOU GET IS A ANSWERING MACHINE.

The scanner is just the size of a book only a bit thicker. Very simple USB connection. The software install was a breeze. Will certify that it works perfectly on a Windows XP machine with a lot of other devices and software.
Scanning results were very good at 1800 x 1800. created a 25 MB file. Scanning is very fast. In 5 minutes of unpacking I had it working. only issue I had was that I had to push the film into the autoloader a bit firmly. The auto loader works just as good, the best part is no guides to load a film onto.
Would like to indicate that I did shop a lot, after evaluation found that It is probably easier to connect USB than a SCSI type Scanner (open a computer, put a card,then the SCSI issues! Believe me it is not all that cool! I service and maintain computers as a profession, I know).
Also would like to recommend the 1800 resolution over 2800 resolution . Higher resolution is fine for professionals but for home users like us, who need to scan and digitize all the film at home and have CD or DVD picture albums, 1800 is more than enough. Infact an 1800 scanner is equivalent to a 4 Mega Pixel picture taken by a digital camera, So you can even print 4" prints from your photo printer or from Ofoto or any other online service.
Finally but not the least it has an asthetic look. In all a very good buy.

It could have been blind faith, however I was disappointed that I couldn't get past the software. Did every thing as instructed
and my PC was minimum plus. Still could not get things working.Tech support not too helpfull.Ended up returning both the 1800u and the 1800AFL. A disappointing experience.
TRIED

What a joke Pacific Image's customer support is. No help, all they say is we are aware of the issues. This was over a year ago. You have been warned.

I only have a few things to say about the scanner and the company. Pacific Image as a company is terrible! They have no support and they don't care. This is the poorest example of a scanner I've ever used. Please take my advise and look eleswhere.

Color cast is always off; editing software is clunky; levels adjustment is incredibly clumsy; scanner is prone to crashing (all the time); scanner won't calibrate properly for film strips. I have wasted an unbelievable amount of time trying to scan with this machine, and then fixing the scanned products, and am incredibly frustrated. I'm using the more advanced version than this - the PF 3600 Pro, but it sounds like it has the same problems. My advice is to troll the Internet and mags for solid reviews, and spend your scanner money accordingly ... or wait 2 more years for the manufacturers to get us off their bleeding edge.

Reading some of the below reviews, I am reminded with I use a Mac: things usually work. The PF1800 is actually a good, not outstanding, scanner. I am scanning all my Dad's slides in and it produces good, easy to use results. I use about 1200 to 3000 dpi and it works well with manageable file sizes. Previously I was using an Epson flatbed scanner w/ slide attachment which as much slower and could not reliably reproduce quality scans. The PF1800 does though although not perfectly: it has trouble with darker slides which come out very grainy despite various manipulations. Also its CyberView 35 driver in Mac OS X (Panther) is not glitch free: it often mysteriously retrieves an old scan while posting a NEW slide and freezes up occasionally. But it's MUCH cheaper than the rest and it DOES WORK. I've done about a thousand slides with it so far... I should know. Also check out Costco.com for a better price. Happy scanning!

I'm surprised to hear that some people had negative comments about Pacific Image customer support. Their website offers updated downloads including a PDF of each model's manual. I have never had trouble with my scanner so I had no reason to contact customer support but if you are looking for a review of this product from someone who has used then I have to say it is one of the best scanners I have used. Check out Pacific Image's website [...] for more info on their scanners.