Comments about Pacific Image Pacific Image Automated 35mm PowerSlide Scanner with 3600 dpi, USB Interface, Digtial ICE3 Technology, Mac & Windows.:

I have used this unit now for about 4 months, and in that time scanned some 15,000 slides (35 mm and 127 super slide). Overall, the unit has performed very well indeed. The colour rendition is excellent (even on badly faded slides and slides with some very odd colour casts); the resolution is excellent (although there is an odd tendency to produce what must be sharpening artifacts on very high contrast edges -- not a problem on any reasonable print size (say up to 20 inch on a 3600 dpi scan); the slide feed is very reliable (I have had perhaps 50 jams in 15,000 slides -- all with old mounts).

Only minor gripe is that the software (CyberViewX) lacks instructions or help, and is -- to put it mildly -- quirky. Manageable, but quirky.

Highly recommended

Comments about Pacific Image Pacific Image Automated 35mm PowerSlide Scanner with 3600 dpi, USB Interface, Digtial ICE3 Technology, Mac & Windows.:

I have been running this slide scanner continuously since I got it shortly after Christmas (it is now mid-February). It has actually made it possible to scan a large heritage collection of slides for a local non-profit under an April deadline and with a considerable cost savings. There has been about a dozen jams during that time, out of thousands of slides processed. At first many of the slides did not fully load, so I slightly bent the push bar to better line up with the edge of each slide. The scanner has loaded every slide perfectly since then. Old style square edged slides have some tendency to jam, but the scanner gracefully attempts to clear the jam and then quits with an error message. On one occasion I fished a slide out of the works with tweezers. I found it useful to order two additional cartridges so that I can preload and keep the scanner working more or less continuously. I am estimating around four hours to process fifty slides at 3600dpi. It is good not having to frame each image - the scanner automatically detects the slide orientation and adjusts the scan accordingly. I am using the Cyberview scanning software, reserving Photoshop Elements for image correction after the rush. Photoshop Elements has resurrected some very bad images with "Auto Smart Fix". Scanning causes a big slowdown on the PC but using the PC for other purposes does not affect scan image quality. The PC software processes one image while the hardware is scanning the next, with a resulting speedup in batch mode. Some of the noises that the scanner makes are alarming at first, but become soothing background over time. Right now it is chugging away next to me.