Pacific Image PrimeFilm XAs Automated Super Edition 35mm Slide & Film Scanner, 10000 dpi

2021-11-27T02:25:13

Simply put, this is the best 35mm prosumer film scanner you're going to find short of getting a Nikon Coolscan 9000 (a legendary old scanner that costs thousands and may or may not be a pain to sync to your new computer). Pros: - High DPI resolution (it says 10K, but it really maxes out at like 4-5K, which is still great ? gives me huge 300mb DNG files) - 4.2 DMax (Epson's flagship V850 is only 4.0, and costs over twice as much) - Will scan an entire roll in one sitting (most have trays that will only scan 6, 12, sometimes 24 frames tops?just don't cut your negatives up until after you scan them!) - Relatively small and lightweight, doesn't take a huge amount of space on my desk - Has infrared scanning technology to detect and remove dust/hairs/etc.?might not be as good as the ICE technology on Epson scanners, but pretty good. Cons: - When batch scanning, it doesn't automatically detect the frame edges, it just advances a set amount. This is usually fine, but if your camera doesn't advance the film perfectly every time, you may need to make adjustments along the way (which thankfully it can do using the forward/backward buttons without interrupting the batch scan). - It's not a super sealed design, so dust can definitely get in there. I ended up buying a custom dust cover for it, but I don't always remember to put it on, so I'm worried it could become an issue down the road. Some keyboard cleaner compressed air might help though if it does. - It's only for 35mm film and slides, no 120 scanning. So if you're doing both, you can either decide that quality is everything and use this for 35mm and a flatbed for 120 film, or just get a flatbed and skip this. - This has never been a problem for me, but you can't scan an individual negative (unless you put it into a slide) with this scanner. I only mention it because if you're cutting your film into strips of 6, you'll likely end up with one or two extra frames per roll?if you need to re-scan something after the fact, and don't have a flat bed also, you might be SOOL. Overall, this thing is great. I chose this after hundreds of hours of research, and I'm not at all disappointed with my purchase. If you know you're only going to shoot 35mm film, look no further. Just be aware though that the challenge of trying new things in film photography can be addictive, and if you're going to venture into medium format, you're going to need to start from scratch on the scanning side with a whole new machine. But even if so, I still think this thing is worth the price of admission.

ZACHARY W.