Ion OMNISCAN Document Scanner

When I told an Uncle I could scan and convert his 250+ Korean War slides to picture, I didn't know what I had gotten into. I have scanned and retouched photos and converted film negatives and have become the "family archivist" of sorts. I soon learned 35mm slides are a whole different ball game. I had no prior experience with slides and had to learn how to perform the task I had promised my Uncle. I began by reading information on slide conversion. I read reviews of portable slide scanners and looked at prices. The ION Omni Scan was reasonably priced and seemed to have good reviews. I ordered it and was pleasantly surprised at my first attempts at scanning. The 10 MegaPixel setting gave large scans that were easy to retouch and prepare for printing.(I found out that slides mold and have all kinds of specks that require special cleaning) The slide slot was a little snug as indicated in some of the other reviews, but I think it was more a case of some of the slides being wider. The majority of them were easy to insert and remove, some required a little more force to pull out. The menu was easy to navigate, and the functions are handy, allowing you to reverse and flip the image before scanning. The pop-up screen gave a clear picture and allowed you to adjust the position of the slide prior to scanning. The instructions could be a little more clear, but it was easy to figure out the functions with a little trial and error. I would advise the scanner USB to computer hookup because of its ease of use. I found it faster to save the files to the SD card, remove it from the scanner and plug it into my computer, rather than loading from the Omni Scan. After getting the images off the SD card and onto the computer, I formatted the SD card and plugged it back into the scanner. The scanner had no problem initializing the fresh card each time. I was happy to find the settings for resolution were saved also. I have all 250 photos printed and in a photo album, and I am very pleased with the results this scanner gave. It turned what I thought was a near impossible task into something I am proud of. Of course now all the family is dragging out all those old slides, and it looks like my little Omni Scan is going to come in very handy.

I just got the Omni Scan and have only attempted to do everything with slides. It worked very well and easily for the first 50 slides I did as test -- both to the internal memory and to an SD card. I have thousands of slides that go back to the early '50s (mine and my parents). So far all the plastic (2 types) and cardboard (3 types) frames have fit, though some are a little snug. None have required pliers to remove the slides. The resulting images are not as vivid as the originals, but the overall quality is decent and can be manipulated to enlarge or crop. Some people seem to miss the fact that there is an "exposure" or brightness control (hold the Enter down to activate). Since the most important requirement to me was to simply capture and digitize my pictures, I'm very happy. This REALLY beats the cost (and risk) of sending thousands of precious slides to be processed. The Omni Scan is MUCH faster with it's single frame loading than any flatbed scanner or a scanner that requires repetitive and precise loading of slides into small 4 - 8 slide plastic carriers. What I'm not satisfied with so far is that the small review screen it comes with doesn't give a very good image to determine if the slide is worth preserving -- you must instead check the digitized image. Update: Since I'm adding the TV info, I thought I would mention that though small, the review screen is clear and crisp. MOST slides can be evaluated for focus and content even on this small screen. Also, I haven't been able to figure out how to view the slides using a TV. There is no instruction on that and my attempts did not succeed. I expected to be able to view on the TV BEFORE scanning (which would eliminate the built-in review screen issue, but it looks like you many only be able to view SCANNED slides (if that). I'm waiting for a response from Support. Update: I received a response (see below) from Omni Scan Support that the device will NOT connect to a TV. So any reviews that state they like the ability to view slides on the "big screen" are suspect. Some may want to downgrade my review to 3 stars over this, but I still think the other merits are worth a 4. It was primarily the TV issue that let me to the 4 review to begin. So overall I'm quite happy so far and I'm glad to know that there are folks who have scanned thousands of slide with no major issues. As far as the criticism that it is cheaply made and not as strong as a child's toy: Go buy a $1000 scanner and quit complaining. And don't throw a decent product around like a 4-year-old. From Omni Scan Support received 7/17/2012: Hi, Thanks for contacting us, I will be happy to help. I'm sorry, the information that the Omni Scan can connect to a TV seems to be incorrect. I have forwarded this information to the proper parties and it will be corrected as soon as possible. Sorry for the inconvenience, Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Best Regards, John Davenport Technical Support & Return Authorizations

It was extremely easy to use, transfer from slide to storage drive quick. Has paid for itself , completed about 500 slides one afternoon.

Seems to do the job well. You need a memory card so good idea to order an extra one or two. The controls take a little bit of getting used to switch between modes. The product converts slides to PDF's as advertised.

I'm very pleased with the ION OMNI slide scanner. It's fast, and produces a quality scan. Highly recommended.