ShivaYash Posted May 10, 2016 Share #1 Posted May 10, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am sure the Pakon is either loved or hated... but after months of researching it, I took the plunge and it arrived all the way from sunny Saudi yesterday. I was scanning within minutes of opening the box, thanks to the useful info on the Pakon Facebook group. I'm running it on my Mac with WinXP. Really the quality is very nice indeed and I hope to make prints next weekend. I'm told some have gone as large as 16x22...! Lets see. Would be happy to hear the view of others and tips. Its a fairly old bit of kit and has some quirks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 10, 2016 Posted May 10, 2016 Hi ShivaYash, Take a look here Pakon - a new love affair. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
rpavich Posted May 10, 2016 Share #2 Posted May 10, 2016 I am sure the Pakon is either loved or hated... but after months of researching it, I took the plunge and it arrived all the way from sunny Saudi yesterday. I was scanning within minutes of opening the box, thanks to the useful info on the Pakon Facebook group. I'm running it on my Mac with WinXP. Really the quality is very nice indeed and I hope to make prints next weekend. I'm told some have gone as large as 16x22...! Lets see. Would be happy to hear the view of others and tips. Its a fairly old bit of kit and has some quirks. I love mine but be ready for LOTS of negative opinions on it. I've printed 16 x 20 just fine from Pakon scans. If I print large, I tend to use Alien Skin Blow up 3 to enlarge the file though. Some folks will say that we only use it because we are impatient and unconcerned with quality but that's not the case for me or anyone that I've ever talked to who used one. Now you have to get a Honeywell Kleen-Dry negative dryer. I got two of them for about $15.00 each. They dry a roll of negs in under an hour. absolutely NO dust. My work flow is: shoot. develop Load reels into a salad spinner to knock 90% of the water off of them. From salad spinner to Kleen Dry. Dry for 50 minutes. From Kleen Dry to Pakon, scanned in 5 minutes. done. (or...into the darkroom we go to make a contact sheet and some prints.) You will be able to go from developing to posting on the web in less than 2 hours. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Lowe Posted May 10, 2016 Share #3 Posted May 10, 2016 I love my Pakon, too. The color output is amazing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShivaYash Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share #4 Posted May 11, 2016 We could set up a love Pakon club, and take photos of our scanners! But it may be a very lonely club ;-) Kodak Tri-X 400 With results like this, what's not to like? 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted May 11, 2016 Share #5 Posted May 11, 2016 … Load reels into a salad spinner to knock 90% of the water off of them. … This is a great tip! I will try this one next time instead of bumping the reels into my hand over the sink. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted May 11, 2016 Share #6 Posted May 11, 2016 (edited) This is a great tip! I will try this one next time instead of bumping the reels into my hand over the sink. I did it this way; Zip tied a rubber band at opposite sides of the salad spinner to "seat belt" in the reels so that the balance stays equal. I put a reel in the opposite side if I only have one. If I remember later today, I'll take a picture of it. Edited May 11, 2016 by rpavich 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted May 11, 2016 Share #7 Posted May 11, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks! I will raid the kitchen for the IKEA salad spinner later for taking measurements - don't tell my dear wife, she is still upset about the entire vegetable compartment and 20% of our freezer space taken up by non-food items ;-) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmradman Posted May 11, 2016 Share #8 Posted May 11, 2016 Thanks! I will raid the kitchen for the IKEA salad spinner later for taking measurements - don't tell my dear wife, she is still upset about the entire vegetable compartment and 20% of our freezer space taken up by non-food items ;-) Good way to eat fresh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted May 11, 2016 Share #9 Posted May 11, 2016 (edited) Here is how I rigged it. The office clip on the opposite side is for counterbalance weight. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited May 11, 2016 by rpavich 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/260328-pakon-a-new-love-affair/?do=findComment&comment=3043115'>More sharing options...
Joshua Lowe Posted May 11, 2016 Share #10 Posted May 11, 2016 What is Kleen Dry? I tried searching the term on Google and got back ads for dry cleaning companies, mostly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbealnz Posted May 12, 2016 Share #11 Posted May 12, 2016 What is Kleen Dry? I tried searching the term on Google and got back ads for dry cleaning companies, mostly. This had me too, I had never seen one in the 50 years or so that I have been in a B&W darkroom, but different areas of the globe have differing things. Did a quick search. Found this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honeywell-Kleen-Dri-35mm-120-Film-Dryer-Free-Shipping-/231938330598 Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted May 12, 2016 Share #12 Posted May 12, 2016 That's a neat device! There is also film dryers, made later by JoBo, available on eBay (I doubt they still make them). For now I dry my film hung in the shower cabin. It is a nice feeling looking at all the rolls hanging for dry while brushing your teeth, knowing that by the next time you brush your teeth, the film is dry and ready to be cut and sleeved with a strong morning coffee. No need to rush this process for me. How do you fellas with film dryers feel the difference in curl between blow dried or hung dried film? With Neopan in 135 (now almost extinguished my stock) and Tri-X in 120 I have no curl issues nay longer (I weight the hung film with two weights made of the curled up 120 film backing paper clamped to an office clamp). Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted May 12, 2016 Share #13 Posted May 12, 2016 How do you fellas with film dryers feel the difference in curl between blow dried or hung dried film? With Neopan in 135 (now almost extinguished my stock) and Tri-X in 120 I have no curl issues nay longer (I weight the hung film with two weights made of the curled up 120 film backing paper clamped to an office clamp). It does curl more but since I'm using the pakon it doesn't matter. One one thing to note, by using the film dryer you get zero dust, none. Also I would like to mention, I have made a film dryer out of 4 inch diameter PVC pipe and a duct fan taped to the end with a filter. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelwj Posted May 12, 2016 Share #14 Posted May 12, 2016 I love the salad spinner! But 50min in a dryer? That still sounds like a long time. Just move to Queensland, it took about 15min hanging up on the clothes line on Monday. No time for dust! Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted May 12, 2016 Share #15 Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) I love the salad spinner! But 50min in a dryer? That still sounds like a long time. Just move to Queensland, it took about 15min hanging up on the clothes line on Monday. No time for dust! Michael it's probably relative, drying negatives by hanging where I live takes at least eight hours, but I'd love to visit! Edited May 12, 2016 by rpavich 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelwj Posted May 12, 2016 Share #16 Posted May 12, 2016 it's probably relative, drying negatives by hanging where I live takes at least eight hours, but I'd love to visit! I see why the dryer is used! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted May 12, 2016 Share #17 Posted May 12, 2016 Dust is not an issue in humid Shanghai. I also develop and hang film after the shower cabin has been used so dust has never been an issue. The salad spinner is a great idea though, as I hope to reduce the odd water stain. Our water is usually great (no water stains at all) but I had the occasional fluctuation which having less water on the drying film to begin with should solve. Squeegees are a big no go for me - I hate the things and had my share of scratches from them. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted May 12, 2016 Share #18 Posted May 12, 2016 I have a Kleen Dri, and it works fairly well, but only if you bother to put the metal canister of silica gel crystals in the oven to dry out on a regular basis. Chris 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted May 12, 2016 Share #19 Posted May 12, 2016 I have a Kleen Dri, and it works fairly well, but only if you bother to put the metal canister of silica gel crystals in the oven to dry out on a regular basis. Chris Yes...lol I believe that the directions say after 20 or 25 rolls it should be dried for 2 hours at 450f. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil U Posted May 13, 2016 Share #20 Posted May 13, 2016 (edited) I have a Pakon. Great for it's intended purpose and a pleasure to use. I haven't got many tips because it's so simple and straight forward but sometimes it can be worth lowering contrast to get a "flatter" scan then refining the TIFF output in lightroom afterwards. It depends on the image. I find that often the Pakon output is good as is but sometimes an image can benefit from some extra work. Here are the keyboard shortcuts. Credit for these to the incredibly knowledgeable and helpful "tkmedia" at the lovely filmwasters forum. http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=6842.0 I think he was one of the first to pick up on this scanner. Kudos. Keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+S = Add Roll from scanner Ctrl+O = Add Roll from file Insert = Accept Delete = Reject A = Select Brightness Tool E = Select Red R = Select Green T = Select Blue S = Decrease Value D = Reset to Zero F = Increase Value C = Copy settings V = Paste settings Ctrl+R = Rotate right Ctrl+L = Rotate left Ctrl+C = Color Adjust Ctrl+F6 = Convert to B&W normal Ctrl+F7 = Convert to B&W cool Ctrl+F8 = Convert to Sepia Image display count 2 = 2 wide 4 = 4 wide 0 = fit all Select Crl+A = All Home = beginning of row End = end of row Edited May 13, 2016 by Phil U 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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