Scan your old slides and negatives easily with the Portable Digital Image Copier Deluxe

I have found the coolest new tool that every photographer of the 90s and early 2000s needs. Introducing the Portable Digital Slide and Film Converter from Hammacher Schlemmer that allows you to bring all those pictures you snapped on film into the digital era. If you know me, you know that I have been my family’s photographer since the nineties. This means that I got my start well before the digital age and I have a ton of pictures in boxes stored in random rooms and closets in my house… just in case.

But, if someone were to ask me to find that one picture I took at their wedding in 1995, I would have a huge project on my hands. It turns out that hoarding “just in case” is a bad way to do things. Go figure.

This past year I was asked numerous times for special pictures in my stash and even just glancing through my negatives made me sad that so many awesome pictures are stuck in boxes, some in picture form and some never printed at all in a stack of film negatives.

Obviously I needed to fix this and get my important pictures saved in digital form, but where to start? I have a flatbed scanner, but it’s clunky and awkward to use for film negatives, which means I never use it. In fact, I’ve used it exactly twice and hated every minute of it. So, I stuck it in my office and it just sits there because who wants to sit in an office for a three week long project?

What I really needed was a film scanner that would allow me to quickly scan negatives and slides to SD card or to computer, while still giving me the flexibility to do my project from anywhere with an outlet.

That’s where the Digital Image Copier from Hammacher Schlemmer comes in. By allowing me to scan negatives right where the family is hanging out, it means I can load a strip, scan it, and still be able to interact with everyone and not feel like I’m sequestered away working on the project that just won’t end.

As cool as portability is, it’s not worth doing it if it’s not easy and efficient to use, and I’m happy to report that it was actually easier to use than I had hoped. The way it works is pretty cool. You can either use it with a computer and utilize the included cord, or without by simply inserting an SD card right into the back of the unit. Since it has an LCD display, you can make all of your selections right on the unit itself, so it doesn’t even require a computer to set it up. The 2 1/2" TFT color display is also where you will view your film before you scan it to SD card or computer so you can adjust it as you’d like.

To start scanning, you turn the unit on and load the film in the film carriers {there are 5 different types/sizes included} and then insert the loaded tray cross-wise into the unit base. If you have multiple film types, you will love that it is programmed with numerous different film options so you quickly select your film type to save all your old negatives – no matter what format you shot in. Most of my old pictures are 35mm, but I do have some 110 film, some slides, and other oddball strips, so I love having options for scanning them all in the same unit. If you have lots of slide like I do, you will love the 25-slide rapid feed tray than scans slide so much quicker than any other method I have ever used. 

The converter provides automatic exposure control and color balance, resulting in clear digital images without loss of quality. Images can be transferred to a computer via USB cable or viewed on a TV {cables included}. Its rechargeable battery provides up to three hours of operation from a 3 1/2-hour charge via AC or USB {adapters included}.The converter has a 14 MP CMOS sensor—the highest available on models of this type—that captures a 3200 dpi JPEG image in 3-5 seconds. It actually goes quicker than you would think, and it’s a task you can do while watching TV, listening to music or podcasts, or having a conversation.

Once I scan in a batch, I can then bring that SD card to my computer to download, label them, and then file them away in my picture library so I can actually print, share, and enjoy my old pictures that I haven’t seen for decades. Since I grew up, got married and started having my own kids before everything went digital, we’re talking about a quarter of a century of pictures.Pictures that I loved so much that I diligently stored negatives, picture copies, and boxes to house all of it in. I then moved them each a handful of times before making them a home in my son’s closet where they sit and never see the light of day. If we’re being honest, I wouldn’t be able to find much in there unless I was given a rare, kid-free day and a bunch of hours to kill.

So, now I can finally ditch those boxes of negatives {P.S. anyone have any fun film negative crafts for me?} and store my precious images on my external hard drive or on my computer. Because I can put them in files that are easily accessible and ready, it means I will actually be able to find those wedding photos from 1995… you know, just in case.

The Rapid Feed Digital Slide Converter is available exclusively from Hammacher Schlemmer for $179.99. You can find out more and read all the rave reviews on the Hammacher Schlemmer site. Be sure and check out their full holiday gift guide to see even more awesome gift ideas.