Customer Reviews

SVP PS9700(with 4GB) Digital Film/Slide/Photo Scanner w/ 2.4" Build-in LCD

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For the price, this scanner does an admirable job. We've scanned negatives and slides and the quality is really very good. We did an enlarged print of one of the slides we scanned and it is good enough for framing. I guess a professional scanner would do better but who can afford one? This one does the intended job -- converting our old slides and negatives to digital format for convenience and for safe-keeping should anything ever happen to the originals. The instructions are a bit lacking but the unit is fairly simple to figure out and we haven't had any problems. I would recommend this scanner.

First off, kudos to Slim Sharp as I received the order in less than one week (std. shipping) and in perfect condition.

I'll admit that I took advantage of the complaints that many here have had regarding quality, breakage of slide/film transport, bad focus, etc. When I opened that package I could tell the frailty of the unit immediately, so I handled it gingerly. The manual, as most have said, was very bad...it was written in 'Chinglish' and they obviously used a software language translator. I'm used to that though, and found that if you just pick out the nouns and verbs in the sentences, you'll get the gist of...what it to the user starting to be saying (sorry, couldn't resist).

I powered up the unit with the 5V/USB adapter and just started pushing buttons (I'm an engineer, so don't try that at home LOL). Anyway, the buttons and switches all seemed to be of acceptable quality. Each gave a positive feedback (a click) and none required any excessive force. While playing with the buttons I began to get a feel for how the menus were layed out, so I put the manual back in the box never to be seen again.

Many of the complaints have to do with poor focus. These units use a fixed-focus 5MP camera chip, so if they went out of focus (or were never in focus), it most likely is a mechanical problem. The distance between the camera chip and the film carrier has been knocked out of kelter. This could be caused by faulty assembly or damage during handling. If your unit has sharp focus to begin with(luckily mine did), then it should stay that way unless the unit gets a hard knock or dropped or the film carrier gets forced out of position. This leads to the next complaint...the detents on the carriers break off. This seemed to me to be quite possible, as the whole carrier/slot deal is frail. After reading those types of complaints I knew to handle the carrier and the carrier insertion process as if I were dealing with a baby chick. Be sure to insert the carrier in the correct direction (refer to the arrows), use just slight pressure, and don't rush anything. I'm positive that I can make mine last years by handling it that way. Granted, it would be nice if it were as rugged as Apple hardware, but personally I can't afford an 'iSlideCopier', so I'll just go easy with what I can get.

Next...quality of scan. There are two resolution settings, 5M and 10M. I don't know what an "M" is (megapixel?), but I know that 10M results in a larger JPG than 5M. If 10M means a 10 megapixel photo, then there is some software creation of pixels going on because the camera is only 5(.1)Mpixels. That could be good or bad, depending on the algorithym they used. So far I've scanned everything at 10M because 10M is more than 5M, so it should be better...right? How's that for stupid logic?

While previewing a slide (on the TINY LCD screen) before scanning, you can adjust the "EV" or Exposure Value of the camera chip. I don't know if the EV numbers correspond to real EV numbers (standard aperature & shutter speed relationships) but changing the EV on the scanner results in a noticeable change in contrast and brightness on the screen. I haven't experimented yet with what the actual effects are on the final JPG image. So far I've just kept it at neutral, and kick it down a number for bright slides or up a number for darker slides. If the slide looks good, leave the EV alone. Yes the screen is tiny, so if you're picky about the contrast you may have to scan the image to see how it looks and then go back and adjust, rinse and repeat.

Oh yeah, the 4GB SD card that comes with it is a very nice feature. When installed, it is automatically written to first so you don't have to direct where the scans go. Just remove the SD card from the scanner and put it in your computer's SD card reader and you have access to everything you've scanned onto it.

I do know that the scanned images I have pulled up in Photoshop are as good quality as photos I've taken with my old 5Mpixel digital camera, so overall I'm very satisfied. I gave it 4 stars because it is flimsy and fragile, but it is not junk. Now I must go. I have zillions of ancient slides to recover.

I would give this product 5 stars if it came with decent instructions. It would help if the instruction writer had English as the first language. It took me several hours to figure out that slides must be scanned in the film settings and that there was a setting to select slides as the type of film. The film type selection instruction was on page 24 among the playback instructions. The device was delivered quickly and did a nice job once I determined how to scan slides. I have yet to try it with prints or negatives.

Once I figured out the instructions, it worked quite well. Slides were easily converted. The important thing is to change the setting to slides.

I am very pleased with this photo and negative scanner. It is so easy to use. I have a huge collection of slides and now they are Saved! I had always thought I would send all my old photos and slides off somewhere to be converted, at great cost and possible risk if lost. This is such an inexpensive and simple alternative. One warning....the instruction manual is not the best, I had to experiment a little before I figured it out, but once I did, it was simple.

This scanner is very easy to use and takes seconds to set up. I've already scanned over 1000 slides that my dad took in the 60's and the resolution is excellent. Easy to put on memory cards and then do what ever you want with them. Memories preserved.

I received this product last week from "Slim Sharp" and have had several bad experiences scanning negatives:

1. After the onboard memeory became full, I inserted the SD card that came with the scanner, and started scanning again. Every scan seemed to be successful (because they all displayed correctly on the scanner display, and when doing playback there, they all showed up correctly too). But taking the card out and inserting it to a PC, there's no files found on the card.

2. Somehow the card started to work, but many of the the scanned files (~100 out 500) had broken images (portion of the images got shifted to a different place on the same photo). They all displayed correctly on the scanner display, and playback showed no abnormaly either.

3. Suspecting it might have to do with the SD card, I tried to use the onboard memory card again, by first erasing all the files on the onboard memory card. The erase seemed all successful from Windows File Explorer, and scan was able to continue, until it became full again after some 40 scans. Again the scanner displaying of the photos was all good, and playback was good too. But when connecting the onboard memory using USB to PC, the previously erased images all appeared! None of the 40 images are there. I did this for the second time, and got the same result.

The scan quality was OK for the ones that I was able to capture and transferreed to PC.

After reading several reviews on this Slide Copier, I decided that it would do the job I needed to convert my 2-3 thousand slides from my past. I purchased the first unit, and received it on time and in good shape. I started to copy slides, and it worked as advertised. After about 150 slides, it stopped working. The internal light or microchip stopped working, and I couldn't copy anymore slides. I requested a return lable and another Slide Copier of the same model. I received both within two weeks. The second Slide Copier seemed to work fine for a few minutes, then it would freeze up. The image was still on the Review Screen, but nothig would work, including the Power Off switch. The only way I could get it to respond was to pull the Power Module or the USB plug at either end. This would allow me to copy a few more slides, until the unit would freeze up again. This also occured in Play Back mode too. The second unit had a microchip Freeze up problem seems like.
I have requested a Return Label, and my money back. I received the Return Label right away, and am now waiting for my money back.

This unit is excellent, when it works. It does a fine job at copying the slides as far as sharpness and color. The problem with this unit seems to be in the electronics, which is questionably unreliable. I hope the designers will find out what the problem is, and get it corrected. This unit seems to be the best available today for the price, but it has to work reliably.

Jerry AlvarezSVP PS9700 Black(with 8GB)3-in-1 Digital Photo/Negative Films/Slides Scanner with built-in 2.4" LCD Screen

As always, I rely heavily on customer comments when buying electronics. This one seemed worth taking a chance on. The price was pretty much in line with others and it had some good reviews.
I can't say that I hate it but at the same time, I don't love it either.
Cons: It "freezes" or stalls out often and the only way to get going again is to unplug it from the PC and start over. That gets old in a hurry. The resolution could be a lot better too. I am scanning old 35mm negatives as well as slides. I wonder what I will do if the bulb inside ever burns out because I see no easy way to gain access to the inside and it was a little pricey to and up being a disposable device.
Someone else mentioned the manual in a review. Wow! good luck reading it is all I can say! Whoever wrote it has English as a second language and barely passed grammar. You have to translate the directions and even then, it's trial and error. If you don't have patience for that kind of stuff, keep searching.
Pros: It is lightweight.It scans quickly. It is easy to use after you figure it out.
Bottom line is that I really don't think that it is worth the price and wish I had a better one.

I bought the scanner in September 2010 and after 2 weeks of use, had problems with it, and had to send it back.
I am still waiting, 3 weeks after sending the scanner to be repair, to receive it back.

As of the quality of the product, it is very simple to use. But I am dissapointed about the options for the resolution of the photos,
it gives me option 5 or option 10; and I dont get high quality resolution photos as I was expecting for the price of the product.