ImageBox-MF Film Photo Scanner

The product arrived on time and intact. I have been using it for 2 days off and on, mostly on slides that needed to be transferred to digital format. It works very well. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars, is that the included instruction booklet is missing some details that would make "out of the box" use a bit easier. (make sure the slides are centered perfectly before attempting to lock the holder frame or it will not go into the slide holder slot)This seems trivial, but I almost damaged my slide holder frame trying to lock it shut.The copies are great - they transfer to the SD card easily and quickly - I suggest getting a 8 GB SD card to eliminate having to download so often. The bulb replacement could be an issue if one burns out, and a on/off switch would be handy, but have been pulling the plug to save on the bulbs. It's a good product for the $$ and I would buy it again.

This product is perfect for those folks (like me) that have 30 years worth of prints and slides sitting in a box, never looked at, and taking up space. If you are like me, you also didn't want to pay 60 cents or more per slide for professional conversion - in my case the photos in question are important but absolute perfection was not critical. In my opinion this product produces photo conversion results that a typical family member would think are fantastic - especially given the age of the original prints and slides. I also wanted a solution that was fast, reasonably priced, with great results - and this box does all that. This product takes a photo of the slide or print, digitally processes (45 seconds), and stores the photo files on an SDHC card (which you must purchase separately - I'd recommend 8GB or more). You can then move the SDHC card to your computer (Mac or PC) and offload/move the files from your SDHC to your computer photo software for later cleanup, adjustment, and organization. If you don't want to move the SDHC card to the computer, you can instead hookup the USB cable (but I found this just adding complexity to the workflow). After all, the cool part of this box is that it does all the conversion without having to be connected to the computer. You can covert photos while watching TV sitting on the couch, etc. The best part is you can do your final date organization and photo detail adjustments later on your computer using your photo software. You must keep in mind that this device is not expensive and the output is excellent for that cost. I have only tested the 35mm slide and prints conversion process and I am pleased with the cost point vs results/speed.Pros: Quick, easy, good quality, and consistent/predictable results. FYI: The color accuracy on slides and prints of this 9MP device is superior to the similar/higher spec ClearClick (and Wolverine) 20MP device. I don't know why, but it just was. I returned the ClearClick. I believe true slide scanners can give you additional resolution/clarity, but they cost much more, will require much more time, computer storage space, and must be connected to your computer during the workflow.Cons:-Poor manual, but you can figure it out after playing with it for a while. I wish the manufacturer would provide info on the the whats and whys of the Quality setting (S Fine, Fine, Normal), the Resolution setting (has 9MP sensor but has a 12 MP setting - interpolation?), the Auto Crop function, and lack of Power Button/impacts (leave it in sleep mode? pull the plug every everyday? etc).- 35mm Negative film clips (not the slides) were slightly off in the TINT - but I only had a small test source of negatives. I decided to just use the Slide Positives and the Prints instead - which produced very good results.-Dust can collect under glass (unaccessible) which can impact both the slides and prints conversion (but remember you can remove these artifacts with most computer photo software - not provided by this box). I have found that the included hardware cleanup - called magic touch - does some cleanup but not all. Wish manufacturer would provide a means to easily remove the glass to clean it (and blow off the camera lens) if necessary.Tips: If you have 110 film slides (Kodak Instamatic, etc), just convert them as 35mm slides using the box and then crop the resultant files later in your computer software. Turn off the auto-crop function during 110 slide conversion otherwise you might end up with different size files due to the auto crop selecting different portions of the photo.

I purchased the imagebox primarily for 120 negative scans.The results have been horrible. while 35mm scans LOOK OK to the naked eye, they are in fact almost just as bad. Contacted tech support via email and was told that this is not a scanner in the true sense. Rather, it is essentially a digital camera mounted under the scan plate to photograph whatever is being scanned. Since I am primarily interested in 13x19" prints, This isn't the scanner to use. The mechanics of loading, "scanning?", and transferring data to a PC for processing are essentially flawless. Nice idea, but the results are really bad.Nowhere in the Amazon listing does it say that 120 scanning is of limited quality, yet the manufacturer will provide this info if queried. The manual is essentially useless for problem solving and barely covers setup - though this is really easy to figure out. The manual also does NOT talk about the expected quality of results.Finally, I tried to return this to Adorama for credit. Turns out that return shipment is on the purchaser and is anywhere from $40 (USPS) to $70 (UPS)... If shipping is close to half the unit cost, it looks like I am going to eat this thing. Caveat for purchasers; if it isn't Amazon Prime, don't go there. If the Vendor offers free shipping, find out if this is BOTH WAYS before you purchase. And, if it is something big, maybe buying in person at the local retailer might be a preferred option. Right now, I am going to pursue that remote possibility that my "scanner" is somehow defective and can be made better. I don't expect this to come to a successful conclusion. Can always put it on the shelf with other famous mistakes I have made.I called tech-support and left my number. They called me back this afternoon. The lady was very polite and assured me that this scanner is indeed a digital-camera-in-a-box as opposed to a conventional scanner. It is classed as a CMOS scanner. She further assured me that high quality scans for negatives would be extremely difficult with this type of device. I know other reviewers have rated this higher than the 2 stars I gave it; have to figure out why. Anyway, the manufacturer does not see any way to make this thing deliver a high quality scan of any negative format. My bad. Think from now on, gotta see this in the store before I purchase it will be a good rule to follow.On a subsequent call, tech support advised me that the camera part was out or line based on their evaluation of scans I emailed to them.They agreed to send me a brand new unit at not charge. Fair enough I think.October 22,2015I was going to raise my rating from 2 stars to higher, because they replaced the defective unit They were prompt with diagnosis and replacement. The replacement scanner sat under my desk unopened for three months. Today I decided to give it a shot.Opened it; set it up; scanned a roll of 120 black and white negatives. To say the results were bad would be understating the results.The scans were noisy, not at all sharp. and no way of setting or adjusting to correct the problems. This is automatic pilot all the way to the scene of the crash. It's indeed a camera in a box, taking unsharp images with no user intervention that I could find. Flat negatives work somewhat better than contrasty negatives, but normal contrast is still pretty bad.I rescanned the entire roll on a Canon 9000f Flat Bed Scanner to make sure the negatives were not the problem. The flat bed scans came out very good. Gotta give the old image box one star. Wish half star was available.

Well, not the best scanner around, but it does do a reasonable job of scanning 35mm negatives. I had to return the first one I received, as it had a HUGE glob of something on the scanner lens. The replacement seems to be a bit better. I wouldn't try to print from these scans, but they are passable for Facebook.