If only there was a medium format Pakon-style scanner for a Pakon-like price. 🙂
best option in 2016 for scanning an entire roll of B&W
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Yes, exactly what the OP was looking for...although in the years I've had the Pakon, not once have I needed to send off for a higher res scan.
yossarian123
Sam I Am
Yep. This was exactly it. My preferred flow would be to scan all 36 as quickly as possible, pick the good ones (if any) then run those through my better scanner. This will save me a lot of time.
Does anyone service the Pakons?
Bob Michaels
nobody special
While everyone else discusses the best way to "scan a roll of 36 b&w negs" I ask WHY?
I have never scanned an entire roll of b&w negs in 12 years. I simply lay the negs on a light box and edit down to the ones I really want, typically 1, 2, or 3 at the most. Then I can devote time and effort necessary to making the best scan (use a Minolta Multi Pro) and processing those.
I find working with negs gives me the most data. It is simply not a problem that the image is reversed in black / white. It is just like looking at an inverted image in a view camera or a TLR. And I see more looking at the neg with a loupe than anyone can ever see with even a medium rez scan.
I have never scanned an entire roll of b&w negs in 12 years. I simply lay the negs on a light box and edit down to the ones I really want, typically 1, 2, or 3 at the most. Then I can devote time and effort necessary to making the best scan (use a Minolta Multi Pro) and processing those.
I find working with negs gives me the most data. It is simply not a problem that the image is reversed in black / white. It is just like looking at an inverted image in a view camera or a TLR. And I see more looking at the neg with a loupe than anyone can ever see with even a medium rez scan.
lrochfort
Well-known
Do people find that using a DSLR to scan the neg produces an image that looks more digital than more traditional scanning techniques?
anerjee
Well-known
Shooting with color, the Pakon is the best option. I used to have a Pakon for quick scanning and a Minolta 5400 for high-res output. With the Pakon, colours are very nice, nicer than anything else I can do with Film or Digital, and I've tried.
anerjee
Well-known
I would do this, but I'm always changing my mind. Returning to a roll after 1 year, I seem to like a different set of captures than what caught my eye immediately after processing the roll.
Perhaps my sense is not mature enough yet.
I always find surprises after looking at a scan, as opposed to using a loupe on a neg. After narrowing down images from negs, I'll find some are much poorer than I originally anticipated, and sometimes rejects end up being keepers. I suppose this is due to trying to work my brain in a negative manner...
Scanning an entire roll in full res in only 5 minutes, is probably in the range of the same time it takes to arrange negs on a light box and use a loupe.
But by then all the scanning is already done...
Scanning an entire roll in full res in only 5 minutes, is probably in the range of the same time it takes to arrange negs on a light box and use a loupe.
But by then all the scanning is already done...
No. But I found the dynamic range a serious challenge. I used a full frame system and a light box, and spent a couple of months fine tuning everything, giving it all the time and effort required to make an informed decision, and spent a lot of time streamlining the workflow...and in the end, it was no contest. The Pakon won in every single measure.
I could get the DSLR scan to match the Pakon, but the time spent to do it was not worth all the extra effort and time in Photoshop.
Indeed. I have found this to be the case as well. Some worthy images are simply overlooked.
benmacphoto
Well-known
Yes.
It's why I've stuck with using my CoolScan 4000.
It captures the film grain in a unique and accurate way.
The Pakon as mentioned is a good scanner, but it's lack of resolution and mini lab quality puts it in the class of a flat bed scan, which I found to be inferior when compared to a dedicated film scanner.
If I'm shooting with good cameras and glass, why compromise in scanning?
I haven't found that to be the case at all. I've owned almost all the Coolscans including the 4000, 5000, and 8000. I even did the mod that would enable scanning of a complete roll😉 it worked but was extremely slow. These scanners require Vuescan which is not optimized to specific hardware like the Pakon software is.
After acquiring the Pakon and putting things thru an exhaustive test, the Pakon easily won. That's when the Nikon moved to a new owner. I still have the 8000 for larger negs and a Dimage for mounted slides.
The Kodak color smarts built in to the system are unmatched.
Scanning a 35mm neg via flatbed cannot be compared to any dedicated scanner, period, Pakon or otherwise.
A Pakon is no compromise unless you want to scan mounted slides. It can do everything else, and the fact it was designed for minilabs is one of its greatest strengths...speed. The rest is up to the operator...put it in the hands of an untrained low-paid clerk, and yes, you might not be pleased. 🙂 But that is the case with all scanners. I don't think anyone here would not put in the time to properly learn the system, such as using 'portrait' mode, to get the optimum result.
After acquiring the Pakon and putting things thru an exhaustive test, the Pakon easily won. That's when the Nikon moved to a new owner. I still have the 8000 for larger negs and a Dimage for mounted slides.
The Kodak color smarts built in to the system are unmatched.
Scanning a 35mm neg via flatbed cannot be compared to any dedicated scanner, period, Pakon or otherwise.
A Pakon is no compromise unless you want to scan mounted slides. It can do everything else, and the fact it was designed for minilabs is one of its greatest strengths...speed. The rest is up to the operator...put it in the hands of an untrained low-paid clerk, and yes, you might not be pleased. 🙂 But that is the case with all scanners. I don't think anyone here would not put in the time to properly learn the system, such as using 'portrait' mode, to get the optimum result.
Coolscan scanners require Vuescan? Nikon Scan works just fine for me. I tried Vuescan one time but quickly found I preferred Nikon Scan so went back to using that. My Coolscan 5000 takes about 45 minutes to batch scan a full roll of B&W film, but it only takes me two minutes to set up and start the scanning, and I find something else to do while the scanner does its job.
That said, while I'm mostly happy with my Coolscan 5000, I also wouldn't mind giving a Pakon 135 Plus a spin. A shame they're going for almost the same prices that Coolscan 5000s are these days.
On a different note, has anyone tried the NEXX NFS-220 or NFS-230 film scanners? They look like they can scan an entire roll in one go.
What version and what OS?
Yes that sounds about right for my mod'd Nikon, 45min. Which is great for uncut rolls. The Pakon works well with strips, prompting when to insert the next one. This is very helpful for old stuff, of which I have quite a lot...inserting a strip takes but a second; far less time than using a neg carrier.
I wasn't able to use NS...Vuescan is quite capable, if convoluted. 🙂 Kinda like using Windows XP...heh
Yes that sounds about right for my mod'd Nikon, 45min. Which is great for uncut rolls. The Pakon works well with strips, prompting when to insert the next one. This is very helpful for old stuff, of which I have quite a lot...inserting a strip takes but a second; far less time than using a neg carrier.
I wasn't able to use NS...Vuescan is quite capable, if convoluted. 🙂 Kinda like using Windows XP...heh
>What version and what OS?
I'm currently using Nikon Scan 4.0.3 on Windows 7 Professional. Except for ICE (for color negs and slides), Nikon Scan works just like it did on Windows 2000 and Windows XP (which I've also used it on).
There is a workaround to make ICE work on Windows 7. You first have to preview all the images with ICE turned on and then scan all the images with ICE turned on. If you just go straight to scanning with ICE turned on, a scanning error occurs. Its possible to batch preview and then batch scan, so I let the scanner batch preview first, and once that's done I come back to the scanner and start the batch scan. For a roll of color neg film, batch previewing with ICE on takes about 30-35 minutes and subsequent batch scanning with ICE on takes about the same amount of time again.
I'm currently using Nikon Scan 4.0.3 on Windows 7 Professional. Except for ICE (for color negs and slides), Nikon Scan works just like it did on Windows 2000 and Windows XP (which I've also used it on).
There is a workaround to make ICE work on Windows 7. You first have to preview all the images with ICE turned on and then scan all the images with ICE turned on. If you just go straight to scanning with ICE turned on, a scanning error occurs. Its possible to batch preview and then batch scan, so I let the scanner batch preview first, and once that's done I come back to the scanner and start the batch scan. For a roll of color neg film, batch previewing with ICE on takes about 30-35 minutes and subsequent batch scanning with ICE on takes about the same amount of time again.
aizan
Veteran
^this. you'll have to pry my cabin light panel and mamiya loupes from my cold, dead hands.
another proofing tool to consider is a tamron fotovix, which will reverse color negs for you.
I see. I use a Mac, and Nikon Scan hasn't worked on OSX for the last 5 releases or so; hence Vuescan.
So about an hour.
I think I like the (5 minute with ICE) Pakon even more now. 😉
Actually, I use a Mac too, a dual boot Mac with both OSX and Windows 7 installed 😀 I use Windows 7 for translation software only available for Windows so it was convenient to install Nikon Scan 4.0.3 on the Windows 7 OS already on my Mac.
True, the scanning takes an hour, but you don't have to sit in front of the computer the entire time (not that ICE or colour management is a consideration for the OP anyway since he's specifically asking about scanning an entire role of B&W film) 😉
Since I already had a Vuescan license, I didn't bother doing a Windows install for any of my Coolscans. I'd have had to find a copy of Nikon Scan, too But I did have to scrounge around for my ancient XP CD for the Pakon as there is no other option... 😉
It can be downloaded from multiple Nikon group company websites.
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