Customer Reviews

Slide Scanner Gets History Out of the Shoebox

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I purchased this product to digitize a number of color slides and film negatives to PNE or JPEG image formats. Even though the scanner's imaging CMOS lens resolution is listed as 48 bits, the scanned image quality was very poor (grainy, uneven, out of focus). The editing software included with the package was also rudimentary and not very intuitive. I would not recommend this product; unfortunately, it was a waste of money.

This is a simple product however doesn't provide clear images. If you want blurry pictures this is the product for you. Merchants should be ashamed to sell this product and Amazon should stop listing it. Merchant return policies don't allow for returns. DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT !!!

This is the second item I received. I returned the first item because it did not work and now the second one has also not worked. I have had another person try it on a different computer and it did not work for her. I am going to have a computer expert try it and if it still does not work I will return it and want my money back

I wanted to write about how happy I am with my scanner, since this got such terrible reviews. I scanned over 1500 slides at home with a nice Canoscan slide scanner, and it took forever -- easily 15-20 minutes a slide by the time they were previewed,scanned, saved, then fixed in Adobe photoshop and resaved.
I had to get a scanner for work, and since this was so inexpensive, we ordered it. I was stunned when I found out how easy it was to scan slides -- and I could actually look at them and clean them up before I hit the scan button. It was so simple, and the color quality was excellent, once I made adjustments to each slide (which I have to do with my more expensive scanner, anyway, and not with nearly as good results). This scanner took maybe 2 minutes a slide, including all the color and sharpness adjustments. Maybe it's a fluke that mine worked so well, but I have to say I think it's wonderful!

tried this in lieu of fixing my desktop flatbed, and regretted it. compared the scans side by side after fixing my flatbed, and it was nowhere near close. the quality of this thing really really sucks!

This scanner needs to be explained, because most of the reviews are uneducated rambling.
First of all, the scanner is a plastic box used as a housing for a small webcam. The Chinese did not sneak into your computer and plant a webcam to gain you infinite knowledge.
The webcam is mounted and focused to a specific point where the negative or slide should be. In the bottom of the housing is white LED lights that will shine light through your slide or negative so the webcam can see what to focus on.The other part of this scanner is the carrier. The carrier comes apart and has small plastic spike spaced evenly to match the winding holes on 35mm film. The carrier slides into the side of the main housing between the webcam and the LED lights.
After you install the software and connect the scanner, You need to restart your computer. When it restarts, double click on the QplayCap icon on your desktop.
The first thing the software did was default to my Logitech webcam, so if you have a webcam already on your system it may do the same. If this happens, click on the word "Devices" in the software's menu/Tool bar. A window will pop up with the name of your webcam and something called SMI USB 2.0 WebCam... choose the SMI webcam. It is a 2MP cam produced by Silicon Motion Inc.
You will now see in the window a picture of your slide or negative. Move the carrier back and forth to center the photo you want to capture.
As the instructions tell you, if you don't have steady hands and you depress the button on top of the box it can blur the image. Since I don't have extremely steady hands, I followed the instructions and left clicked on the picture of the camera on the toolbar. If you hover your mouse over this picture a tool tip balloon pops up and says "Snapshot Hotkey: Ctrl-S". You can click the button or depress Ctrl and S on your keyboard at the same time.
Some of negatives have been stored in less than ideal conditions, so the edges of them have an orange tint to them as expected from old slowly degrading film and the chemicals on them used to preserve the image onto a thin sheet of plastic. A lot of my negatives stored in a fireproof safe with a moisture absorbing canister cam out perfect. The camera can only reproduce what it sees.
NOW... for people with problems! I noticed that a lot of negatives start to curl over time. It is NOT possible to focus on all sections of curved film. You have a choice here. Take the slightly curved negative and place it in a book or something similar and add weight. After a few days the negatives will become flat and this scanner will focus on the entire picture and not just the center or edges. ALSO, make sure the reflective side of the negative is facing down towards the LED's as this will reduce glare into the focus lens and the picture will be more crisp.
Now for some of you that still have out of focus photos.......you do not need to be an IT graduate to do this simple fix ! If you remove the four screws on the back of the scanner, the back plate removes and you can see the little camera on the motherboard. USB is 5 volts and will not hurt you! while the scanner is on and a slide or negative in place.... turn the lens on the camera just a little you may need to go right or you may need to go left BUT either way you can focus the cameras lens to you slide or negative. Voila' you have a perfect focus.
Put the 4 screws back on and continue to enjoy this wonderful invention.
The ONLY reason I give this a 4 is because the software sucks. But here is the kicker... any generic webcam picture capture software will work to take the photos and them fix them with your favorite photo software. The best one I use is GIMP. It is completely free and you can do almost anything to any picture with it.
To wrap this up, if want to save money and you are smart enough to put a negative in a book or turn a screwdriver.... this is a great little scanner.

It is easy to use, but the results fail to live up to even the lowest expectation.

The scanned images are distorted versions of the originals and no amount of creative digital fixing can save them. Initially I thought all my negatives were damaged until the slides scanned in the same poor quality, and those show properly in a slide viewer.

This product is a complete ripoff, as it is marketed as a "scanner." This product has terrible image quality (to the point where colors bleed, trees look like fuzz, can't see any details), because it is a webcam. I opened up the unit with a screwdriver, and to my correct judgement, there was a fixed-focus webcam that was glued with adhesive to the inside of the unit. The webcam inside obviously didn't look like a webcam you buy at a store, but it had the same setup: a small spherical low quality lens on a 640x480 vga CMOS sensor.If want to scan your old negatives, just buy a real scanner, then reverse the color in MSPaint, which is very easy. After I took the unit apart, I focused the webcam lens and used the camera inside as a webcam, because that is what it actually is!! If you want to buy a over-priced, over-sized no-name brand webcam, then this is the product for you!!

The software is for a WEBCAM not a slide & negative scanner - so now I have a webcam I don't want or need (I already have one). The manufacturers' sites (there are several) don't mention this product at all.

Have the Chinese embedded a webcam in my computer?

Am a paranoid?

You betcha.

What a disappointing and rather frightening situation this is!

This is a "fixed focus" design, and you cannot correct the focus. It's insanity to market something like this, (it's always slightly out of focus)and promise "Clear Bright Digital Images with Amazing Quality".