joeswe Posted December 20, 2014 Share #21 Posted December 20, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Philipp, your linked pictures demonstrate very well what the Pakon is capable of! Some people argue against the Pakon on grounds of it having "inferior" resolution (as it gives max. "only" 2000x3000 px scans), but for me the superior resolution of the consumer grade film scanners (Plustek, Reflecta ...) is absolutely meaningless if I have to pay for it with inferior color, exaggerated grain, less dynamic range, less "clarity" and a huge time penalty ... Especially considering that 99% of pictures end up being viewed on a computer display or a smallish print at best. And I would like to add that what amazes me most with the Pakon is that even pictures shot under challenging lighting conditions like contrasty night scenery, contre jour, artificial light etc. usually turn out surprisingly nice without user intervention. IMO, it shows that a lot of Kodak IQ and experience went into the software of these little machines. Also, it has very good ability to get clean detail from highlight and shadow areas with very little noise, and is much much better in this respect than the average consumer grade film scanners (Plustek, Reflecta). It is very telling to compare a roll of film with difficult/demanding motives scanned on a commercial minilab scanner (Noritsu/Fuji), then on the Pakon (which originally is also a commercial minilab scanner) and then on your consumer grade film scanner ... And by the way, I find the Pakon does a very good job scanning b&w, too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 20, 2014 Posted December 20, 2014 Hi joeswe, Take a look here Scan a whole roll in 5 minutes. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
250swb Posted December 21, 2014 Share #22 Posted December 21, 2014 but for me the superior resolution of the consumer grade film scanners (Plustek, Reflecta ...) is absolutely meaningless if I have to pay for it with inferior color, exaggerated grain, less dynamic range, less "clarity" and a huge time penalty ... You should try one for yourself and not listen to the bad workmen who like to blame their tools instead of learning how to make a scan. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth3kpl Posted December 21, 2014 Share #23 Posted December 21, 2014 The Kodak / Pakon F135 Scanner | Street Wolf Photography Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth3kpl Posted December 21, 2014 Share #24 Posted December 21, 2014 Over the last couple of years when Kodak was going down the pan, I was asking why they didn't get together with Plustek and produce a scanner with a big red button with a label that reads "Push this for a perfect scan". Well, this is about as close as we'll get to that dream. Should you not want to just push that button, but would like to take "RAW" files to modify in ColourPerfect and Photoshop, the first part of the process is here: How to get raw data from your Pakon F-135 - CharlesRLawson's library I'm told the ColorPerfect instalment is coming soon, so I'll post that when it's ready. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 21, 2014 Share #25 Posted December 21, 2014 A modern digicam, a slide-copying device with bellows and a good enlarging lens: is this slower or more difficult to use? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
derphilipp Posted December 22, 2014 Share #26 Posted December 22, 2014 A modern digicam, a slide-copying device with bellows and a good enlarging lens: is this slower or more difficult to use? haha, hell yes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth3kpl Posted December 24, 2014 Share #27 Posted December 24, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth3kpl Posted December 28, 2014 Share #28 Posted December 28, 2014 http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m7-mp-film-m/358372-i-have-m4-p-i-have.html#post2854515 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth3kpl Posted December 28, 2014 Share #29 Posted December 28, 2014 I'm told the ColorPerfect instalment is coming soon, so I'll post that when it's ready. Pete Well, it seemed to me he doesn't know how to use Color Perfect properly so I won't repost that instalment Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
derphilipp Posted January 6, 2015 Share #30 Posted January 6, 2015 More pakon stuff. This time Portra 400 at 800 from a trip to Scotland https://flic.kr/s/aHsk6Wwjf2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted January 31, 2015 Share #31 Posted January 31, 2015 Found this thread and began looking for these scanners. You bastards must have so popularized them that none of the listed vendors have any left and a lunatic closeout reseller has eight left on eBay for $900 a pop. I blame you all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeswe Posted January 31, 2015 Share #32 Posted January 31, 2015 Sorry, it seems you are late to the party Prices have been skyrocketing recently, which is sad but inevitable as the market is apparently drying up. For the foreseeable future, you will need patience and/or luck to find a unit at a reasonable price. Maybe AAA Imaging will get another lot at some point and sell for the old price. For 1000$ I would rather get one of the higher end Pakons like the F-235 and F-335, although they are quite bulky. As a lower priced alternative, some of the discontinued Reflecta scanners offer the possibility to scan a whole roll in one go, but I have no idea how well they actually work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted January 31, 2015 Share #33 Posted January 31, 2015 Sorry, it seems you are late to the party Prices have been skyrocketing recently, which is sad but inevitable as the market is apparently drying up. For the foreseeable future, you will need patience and/or luck to find a unit at a reasonable price. Maybe AAA Imaging will get another lot at some point and sell for the old price. For 1000$ I would rather get one of the higher end Pakons like the F-235 and F-335, although they are quite bulky.As a lower priced alternative, some of the discontinued Reflecta scanners offer the possibility to scan a whole roll in one go, but I have no idea how well they actually work. I got an email from the same vendor who now plans to charge $1100 for it with a warranty. At that point, I would save up for a Plustek 120. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted February 9, 2015 Share #34 Posted February 9, 2015 Well, the same vendor relented; he'd started at $330, shot to $1100 and agrees to $500 at the end. For 5 bills, probably still worth it? I even found an old Dell XP machine in a box I'd forgotten about., Go figure... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebarnman Posted May 11, 2015 Share #35 Posted May 11, 2015 There's also the Pakon F335 (I think will also scan whole rolls of film) though from what I've read, they too are now hard to find. https://www.google.com/search?q=Pakon+F335&biw=1595&bih=1101&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=lFBQVciJJJbhoATZ2YH4Dg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAA&dpr=1 I too would like a Pakon F135 plus scanner (or the Pakon F335.) Though it seems there's now more people looking for solutions for quick, high quality scans from 35mm film. This makes me wonder if a company will come up with a solution with a new scanner that can scan whole rolls at a time, achieve results like the Pakon scanners, work with Windows 7 (or up) and utilize USB 3. I like the Pakon solution, however installing a virtual XP compatibility software at least to me seems like too much trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted May 12, 2015 Share #36 Posted May 12, 2015 This makes me wonder if a company will come up with a solution with a new scanner that can scan whole rolls at a time, achieve results like the Pakon scanners, work with Windows 7 (or up) and utilize USB 3. The Pakon isn't a 'high quality' scanner, it makes quick and adequate scans perfectly good enough for web use and printing a 5x7. As for scanning a whole roll at a 'high quality' I congratulate you on having 36 'keepers' to a roll. But many people would argue quality and not quantity is a defining difference between film and digital along with slowing down and taking a break from machine gun photography. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebarnman Posted May 18, 2015 Share #37 Posted May 18, 2015 Well, that's what I'm looking for. I'm not expecting 36 keepers, just something where I can process a roll of film, get scans good enough for web and email use. And then of course, if there's a image I really like; I just might take that image to my local pro lab for a higher quality scan for digital manipulation and ink jet printing. The issue for me has always been getting a decent view of all the images without having to make a contact sheet in the darkroom or using some type of flat bed scanner where in both of those cases, takes lots of effort and time. Time I really don't have. I like the idea of the Pakon, where one can simply pop in the start of a uncut roll, walk away and the scanner does the rest. Then come back later to simply view all the images. There simply does not seem to be a good selection of dedicated film scanners made today that can scan complete rolls of film on it's own. Particularly where with color images supposedly comes out pretty much right on. That a huge plus. I just don't know why a company cannot make something similar that's capable of working with today's latest version of computers (Windows 7 and up) with today's fast connections like USB 3.0. I know, it's about demand. Well, based off from how fast those used items sold (with the price rocketing) maybe there is enough demand for something new. What ever that is, it should at least work like the Pakon where it can scan uncut rolls and get the color right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
juppmain Posted July 16, 2015 Share #38 Posted July 16, 2015 More pakon scans: juppmain.tumblr.com all done with minimal post processing, absolutely adequate scans for my needs. I don't like to spend too much time with pp and this is the main advantage of this scanner in my opinion. Since i use that little machine, shooting dozens of rolls of film on a trip is no problem anymore Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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