Zuma / Photolux SV-3 LED slide viewer review

In the modern world where everything is heading towards digital, the older method of shooting on film feels like a far cry. But whether you’re an old hand with boxes of film transparencies in the attic or a younger generation experimenting with the charm and character of film for the first time – you’ll need some way to see your work and that’s where a slide viewer comes in.

I recently got hold of two popular and very affordable models from Photolux (also called Zuma in the States) – the SV-2 and SV-3, though it’s the larger and slightly more expensive SV-3 model I’ll be assessing here. You can see reviews of the smaller SV-2 amongst other top products in our best slide viewers buying guide.

Photolux SV-3 LED slide viewer: Specifications

Photolux SV-3 LED slide viewer: Price

Costing $39/£24 at the time of writing, the Photolux / Zuma SV-3 LED slide viewer isn't much more expensive than the smaller SV-2 which costs ~$13, and it's definitely worth the extra money if your budget can stretch a little. The SV-3 is a fair bit larger and is more of a desktop model than the portable handheld SV-2, though its build quality and features make it totally worth the extra spend: larger viewfinder, higher magnification, a pass-through for rolls of film, and a much more even light source. The bigger question you should ask yourself is whether to go even more up-market and splash out on the $40 Kodak 35mm Slide Viewer which looks near-identical, though in my tests provides a better user experience with the upgraded build quality, a physical manual, and a USB power cable.

Photolux SV-3 LED slide viewer: Design & Handling

The Photolux SV-3 is the bigger brother to the Photolux SV-2 and takes up a much larger footprint though this comes with the benefit of having a solid base so that the viewfinder is always pointing towards you which could make long image culling sessions more comfortable.

The SV-3 is somewhere between two to three times larger than the SV-2, so if you’re looking for an option that doesn’t take up much space, or you want to travel with it, then the SV-2 could be the better contender.

Compared to the SV-2 this SV-3 model has a larger viewfinder with a more powerful magnification of 3x compared to the 2x of the SV-2. In reality, this meant a 35mm color slide measured across the long side was around 6cm on the glass viewfinder and around 4cm on the smaller SV-2.

There’s a battery door on the bottom of the unit which can take four AA batteries. There’s also a port for DC 6v 500mA power on the left side, though sadly no power adapter is included which does hamper its value a little.

On the smaller Photolux SV-2 you need to press the slide surround firmly down into the device to power on the light, however it’s easier with the SV-3 as there’s a power switch. You also load the slide in via the back and push another button to eject it out the front, it takes about 10 slides before this is full and overflows, though it would have been nice to be able to stack up a batch of them at the rear to save you having to push every slide in individually.

The SV-3 also has the ability to have a strip of negative film passed through it (above) and although this can be a little tricky to push through as it sometimes gets caught on exit, it was a feature I was glad to have and something the smaller, more affordable SV-2 isn’t able to do.

Photolux SV-3 LED slide viewer: Performance

My experience with the Photolux SV-3 was very positive and it was certainly more convenient and takes up less space than a large light box and busting out a loupe. There’s a front tray to catch your ejected slides, though I do wish there was a loading mechanism to tee up several slides in the rear end so you don’t have to manually insert each one, though this is a minor nitpick.

The glass viewfinder provides 3x magnification so you can see your slides and negatives very clearly. The backlight is quite dull and flat which is actually a good thing as it means the slide is lit up consistently from corner to corner – the smaller Photolux SV-2 was notably brighter but with a bright hotspot in the centre that creates the illusion that your pictures have a heavy vignette. The SV-3 uses four small LED nodes spread out evenly so the slide is lit up well across the image, but the SV-2 uses a single powerful LED in the middle of the backlight.

On the SV-3 the display is very sharp and crisp, though it is best used in a dark room as daylight can catch the large viewfinder and cause flare which makes it tricky to see the picture – it could do with a lens hood to block out external light. It would also have been useful to be able to change the angle of tilt as it’s locked.

One issue with both the SV-2 and SV-3 models I looked at is that the large glass viewfinders are exposed and easy to catch dues. The large opening for your slides is also a bit of a dust trap and there’s not soft case provided with them. I resorted to draping a large microfibre cloth over the devices when not in use to stop dust building up.

Plastic slides hold their shape a lot better than cardboard ones and generally the SV-3 coped with both well and I had no problems. However, there were a couple of my cardboard slides that had warped significantly and these did tend to get caught in the Photolux SV-3, but didn’t cause any issues with the very similar Kodak 35mm Slide Viewer, so clearly the Kodak had more forgiving tolerances.

Costing £20 / $26 the SV-3 doesn’t break the bank, though I didn’t expect much in terms of build quality. For twenty six bucks I’m obviously not expecting it to be up to the quality of a Leica or anything – some of the plastic joints have a bit of play in them, though it’s more than good enough to serve its purpose and I was overall happy with the results. Although a mostly plastic construction some of the plastic looks quite thick and I can’t see any problems with it taking a tumble if accidentally knocked off a desk.

Photolux SV-3 LED slide viewer: Verdict

If you’ve only got a super tight budget and you want to spend some time sorting through your old collection of slides and film then this isn’t the worst option for sorting out the keepers, but a question you'll need to ask yourself is what do you want to do after this?

The SV-3 has no ability to scan so you’ll need another gadget to digitize them, or stump up the cash to have them sent off to a lab to be scanned professionally.

The SV-3 is a perfectly fine slide viewer and does exactly what it says on the tin. For this price, you can’t expect too much – it’s a very basic and bare-bones affair and the large exposed glass viewfinder is quite easy to get dusty and dirty so you’ll need to improvise some sort of cover to keep it clean between uses. But if you need a simple device to light up and see your old transparencies and negative rolls then the Photolux SV-3 is a decent shout. If you're after a more stress-free experience, the Kodak 35mm Slide Viewer looks very similar but has the better build quality and is less likely to jam with warped slides, it also comes with a USB power cable so you don't have to faff around with AA batteries.

If however, you want to digitize your old film you might be better off saving up and going for a product such as the Kodak Slide N Scan which admittedly is more expensive but hits two birds with one stone – as it's a slide/film viewer with the ability to scan and digitize them also.

There's also the Kodak Mobile Film Scanner which allows you to use your phone to zoom in and see your film clearly, plus use the app to invert your negatives so you can clearly see them correctly (for both B&W and color). It's not the best device at scanning in the world, but it's decent for going through and culling your old film and transparencies.

Alternatives

Kodak Mobile Film Scanner
This is a low-tech, left-field solution for viewing your slides. This is a cardboard, collapsible device that is designed to help you digitize your transparencies and negatives using the camera on your smartphone. A free downloadable app helps you with the process. 

Kodak Slide N Scan
Compared with the Kodak Scanza Film Scanner, which costs a little less to buy, this one has a larger screen for previewing scans or playing images back once you’ve scanned them, in Gallery view and slideshows. The control panel is rather different but again relies exclusively on push buttons, as the larger LCD still isn’t a touchscreen. Even so, operation is simple and effective, and scanning speed is quick, although the actual image quality isn’t overly impressive.