I bought this particular digital converter based upon a number of generally favorable reviews compared to other similar products. After rummaging around my attic and pulling out boxes of 35mm photos with negatives and color slides, I began the tedious task of sorting through the thousands of images to determine what I wanted to save. Anxious to put the Wolverine to the test, I selected about 50 slides and 40 negatives to get started.
Wolverine F2D 35mm Film to Digital Image Converter with 2.4-Inch LCD and TV-Out
I read the instruction manual a couple of times, and then connected the USB cable (supplied) into the unit and then into my computer. Before powering it on, I put four slides into the tray (there are separate trays for negatives and slides), being careful to blow dust away. I used the small cleaning tool provided on the light table, which entails inserting the tool into the opening with the soft side down (if it's upside down, the tool will catch on the cover). I then powered it on, followed the easy instructions, selecting `slides', inserted the tray into a slot in the side until the first slide appeared on the LCD screen, pressed `ok/copy' to scan, then pressed it again to save. I then pushed the tray until the next slide was in place and repeated this procedure. It took mere seconds per image to scan and save.
Before you scan an image, it can be rotated 90 degrees right or left and saved.
I then placed four 35mm negatives into its tray, selected 35mm from the menu (it will also scan b & w negatives, but I've not tried them yet), used the cleaning tool again, inserted the tray and repeated the process described for slides. Again, about five seconds per image. So it's fast, what about image quality?
Wolverine F2D 35mm Film to Digital Image Converter with 2.4-Inch LCD and TV-Out
While I bought a SD memory card for the unit, I've yet to use it. Instead, the Wolverine will store images that can be pulled on your computer screen, acting as a memory card. It won't hold much (about 40 images or so, depending), but it is handy to use. Selecting the USB icon and hitting `go/copy' twice sent the images to my computer. Pulling the images up, I noticed immediately that it is essential to clean the light table as well as possible, as every bit of dust shows up, causing speckling. I think every other reviewer mentioned this, for good reason. As for how faithfully it reproduces, my overall grade is `B+'. Setting aside the dust issue, I think the Wolverine does a pretty good job of it, better than I anticipated, actually. The colors were fairly accurate, including flesh tones; image sharpness and contrast did not seem to be diminished from original photos. I did find that (not surprisingly) original images, whether slide or negative, turned out good or not so good depending on the original image. In particular, shots in low light, especially indoor photos seemed too dark. Conversely, shots in well-lighted areas or outdoor daytime shots looked really good.
I sent the images I wished to keep to a folder on my hard drive, and played around a bit with some imaging software (ArcSoft PhotoImpression). I was able to apply some fixes to the darker images, which should be a snap with most any imaging software. I then deleted the images from the Wolverine, and repeated the process. I will probably insert that SD card I bought once I really get into some major conversion sessions, but for relatively small batches, it does well enough.
I do think that the Wolverine does a slightly better job on 35mm negatives than slide; whether this is due to the fact that negatives are usually kept stored and rarely touched compared to slides, or whether the Wolverine just does a better job on negatives, I don't know. The difference is not very noticeable, but overall I do think negatives fare slightly better.
While I haven't spent that much time using the Wolverine, so far it has performed as well as I had hoped. Keeping foremost the importance of trying to keep as much dust away as possible, this device is easy to set up and get started, feels solid in construction, requires no software, can be powered either by a USB adapter (supplied) or directly from the computer, and really does a great job. I don't know how it will hold up in the long run, but so far, I'm pleased.
