Pacific Image PrimeFilm 3600u for Windows and Mac

by Pacific Image Electronics

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.8 x 7 x 10.5 inches ; 3.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000F2WTLG
• Item model number: PF 3600u
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

Pacific Image PF3600u digital film/slide scanner. The most affordable digital solution provides very high quality scanned images.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Scanner won't disappoint, but your old negatives might..., May 11, 2007

By 

Peter (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pacific Image PrimeFilm 3600u for Windows and Mac (Electronics)

This scanner is a reasonably good value and does a reasonably good job. If you have tried scanning prints with a flatbed scanner, you will be happier with the results you get scanning negatives with the PrimeFilm. A couple of caveats: first, this scanner is not fast. One roll of film a day is probably as much as you'll have patience for. Second, the scanned image quality is only as good as your negatives, and your old negatives are probably more fragile than you expected. Plan to spend a fair amount of time cleaning up blemishes in PhotoShop, and, frankly, if you used a cheap camera in the first place, don't even bother; you'll do just as well scanning the prints (and a decent flatbed scanner is a lot cheaper).

One last thing: if you want to save some money, go buy this scanner at C-O-S-T-C-O-D-O-T-C-O-M.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Does the Job but..., May 8, 2010

By 

D. Hoffman (Prosper, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pacific Image PrimeFilm 3600u for Windows and Mac (Electronics)

This scanner does a reasonable job on slides or negatives that are properly lighted. It can not handle slides on the dark side. I did several hundred slides with it and it does take alot of time. I eventually switched to an on-line service which does a fabulous job for 30 cents per slide. If you don't want to pay others to do it, this scanner will handle most slides.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent scanner, once you figures out the bugs, December 12, 2011

By 

John Doe "Mutant (AKA_Homo Superior)" (USA, America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pacific Image PrimeFilm 3600u for Windows and Mac (Electronics)

I got this Primefilm 3600U Scanner as an upgrade from the Pacific Image Electronics' PrimeFilm PF1800U USB Film Scanner . It has alot of og bugs, but once you figures out what the bugs are and learn how to deal with it, it is an excellent product for the price.

I have included my review for the Pacific Image Electronics' PrimeFilm PF1800U USB Film Scanner below so it might helps those who has this item and don't know how to deal with the bugs. Or you can go to the link directly and see my review.

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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 Secret Messages: Concealment, Codes, and Other Types of Ingenious Communication.

I decided to use the raw negative scanning option to see how the quality of the pictures will be. The pictures came out normal. No weird pinky color, no colors contamination and minimal dusts & scratches. It seems the pink color contamination really accent the dusts & scratches.

And using the photo editing softwares I have on Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium[OLD VERSION] really makes the scanned photos come out looking professional. But if you don't have access to Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium[OLD VERSION], you can always use some of the free photo editing software available out there.

After reading all these reviews, I suspect that quite a few of these reviews are made by shills (For more informations about shill, perform a search for "SHILL" on wikipedia.com). I think there is one reviewer who barely mentioned about the RAW issue. But if you don't understand the digital photograhic jargon, it means nothing. You also have another reviewer trying to peddle the silverfash scanning software that cost more than the scanner.

So it seems these industrial clans will have their shills out there spreading propagandas instead of finding out what the problems are and fix it.

The following are some tips to make using this scanner a more enjoyable experience:

1.Do not select any of the scanning option except RAW for negative & positive(Slides).

2. Makes sure the room is dark so that you can see and properly position the negatives on the scanner. If lights are coming through the window, close the window blinds.

3. Before scannig the negatives & slides, takes a deep breath and blow on the negatives & slides on both side at least once. But don't spit on the negatives & slides while blowing on it. This will reduce the dusts on the scan by 80% or more.

4.Save all your photos in the RAW format TIF instead of JPEG. The files will be 10 times larger but all the information will be in the photos instead of being compress with many of the datas lost. In addition, the processing of the photos, after scanning, will be instantaneous since the software does not have to compress the data at all.

5.Try not to scan too much negatives or slides at once. Limit each scan to 1 roll of negative or 1-2 hours at a time. Then turn it off to let it cool down before re-scanning so it does not overheat and gives inaccurate scan data.

When I purchase this item in 2002, it was over $100. Now I see it new for as low as $40. Thus this is a deal now if you are looking to buy a negatives & slides scanner. But if you can spend the extra money, I would recommend the Primefilm 3600U with twice the resolution for less than I paid for this item in 2002. In my case, I am low in cash so I can't afford to upgrade & buy the primefilm 3600U.

In conclusion, this is an excellent item if you are aware of the software glitch and know what to do about it. I would have given this item 5 stars if it was not for the software glitch.

Note: Technique 3 that I used is a poor man technique. If you have money, you can buy a dust blower such as Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large - Black that is normally use on camara lense to blow off all the dusts accumulated on the lense.