FujiLove
Well-known
I'm not a Windows user, and it's exactly what I thought. Turns out it's not complicated at all. You just install one program...takes 2 minutes, then double click each script to run it. Dead easy 🙂
Just Bought a Pakon NON-Plus Version
- Thread starter guardado1213
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I'm not a Windows user, and it's exactly what I thought. Turns out it's not complicated at all. You just install one program...takes 2 minutes, then double click each script to run it. Dead easy 🙂
Jon Buffington
Member
My VM machine which was rock solid for 3.5 years suddenly was not. After working through every possible issue, it just refused to work. I even sent my pakon off for a full CLA from AES. It now works VM with another machine I have (Toshiba laptop) however I am now leery of VM. I don't mind swapping jump drives with files between machines. I know the pakon was made for XP. A 10 year old machine only running for XP is not an issue. It won't be hooked up to the internet, no other programs will be running. No issues that I foresee. If the hd fails, I replace the hard drive or spend a little bit of cash for a new/used xp one. As much 35 as a I shoot, I need a dedicated machine.
citizen99
Well-known
Just a few general points to be aware of ...
Whatever you do, hang on to your XP for use whenever you can use it to run your 'legacy' software in a virtual machine (rather than 'upgrading' to e.g. Windows 7 just because you might have got hold of a copy).
This is because W7 in my experience (and, I would expect, other later versions) detects if its host system is changed (whether by a motherboard change if it's a hard drive installation, or by running its virtual machine under a different virtual machine host) and deems it to be 'non-genuine', wipes your licence key from the registry, and gives you a nice black desktop background. To re-legitimise it, if you need to or can be bothered, you have to go through the PITA of on-line activation and hope that it's accepted :bang:.
Once set up, disabling the internet interface (a tick-box in the VirtualBox control panel) will stop subsequent 'infection' or XP programs/bloatware 'phoning home'.
Whatever you do, hang on to your XP for use whenever you can use it to run your 'legacy' software in a virtual machine (rather than 'upgrading' to e.g. Windows 7 just because you might have got hold of a copy).
This is because W7 in my experience (and, I would expect, other later versions) detects if its host system is changed (whether by a motherboard change if it's a hard drive installation, or by running its virtual machine under a different virtual machine host) and deems it to be 'non-genuine', wipes your licence key from the registry, and gives you a nice black desktop background. To re-legitimise it, if you need to or can be bothered, you have to go through the PITA of on-line activation and hope that it's accepted :bang:.
Once set up, disabling the internet interface (a tick-box in the VirtualBox control panel) will stop subsequent 'infection' or XP programs/bloatware 'phoning home'.
Prest_400
Multiformat
+1
I often think that something similar to a Pakon could be manufactured. We have advanced quite a bit in the electronics side for this last decade, right? However I may see there is a lot that added up for those $15K. Or a kind of smallish Frontier type scan adapted for lighter usage. If only the could be cloned for cheap...
2 years ago when they began to be talked about, I recall they were quite affordable until the price rised with the cult status. I have a v550 for MF but no way I am using that for bulk 135. It is too little too slow.
Recently discovered a guy that runs a small minilab and has a Pakon, his rates are fantastic and no problem for EU postage and so I sent up a few rolls to him. Bummer, it broke down as my film arrived and it'll take a week at least to fix.
At least, it is good for casual work. It kind of hurts and adds up, paying high rates for Frontier scans of a casual roll of cheap Fuji c200.
SaveKodak
Well-known
There is another solution. The Primefilm XA scanner from Pacific Image (the brand it's sold under in the USA, Reflecta elsewhere AFAIK) has replaced my need for a Pakon completely. The ONLY area where the Pakon succeeds is speed, and you can't argue with that. However, my Primefilm XA will scan a full roll of film at MUCH higher resolutions (up to 5000ppi), with autofocus, ICE, multi-exposure, multi-sampling, full color controls, all through Vuescan. The quality is pretty much as good as what I was getting from my Coolscan 5000. Now, a single frame takes a little over 2 minutes, so when batch scanning a whole roll you have a walk away for a while. However, with multi-exposure I get a fantastic range of tones and the resolution pulls pretty much everything I expect out of 35mm. My slide scans have been incredible actually. When I'm treating it like an enlarger and making a fine-art scan, I get 33mp files. Plus they're a little over $300 dollars, so cheaper than a Pakon in some cases. I think there is one even cheaper in the classifieds right now. After using it for a couple months I am frankly shocked that no-one has done a major review of this fantastic machine. All the press seems to go to Plustek, who are making inferior scanners by possibly every metric.
Jon Buffington
Member
More than just speed with the pakon though. That is key with shooting a lot of 35mm but remember, you get the built in Kodak color profiles. If you shoot negative film, good luck trying to get good colors straight out of the scanner. It is such a convenience to get great, accurate colors without any tweaking in PS or LR. Aside from the speed headache with consumer scanners, there was trying to get accurate color headache. Remember, this is a minilab scanner. Consumer scanners will not have these profiles. One needs a lab scanner such as one from Kodak or Fuji that has accurate profiles baked in. On the FB pakon group, there are numerous side by side comparisons with Noritsu's and Frontiers. Many prefer (I am one of them) the colors from Kodak straight out of their scanner (others profer the frontier or noritsu look, however Kodak is usually more accurate though this may not be what one wants necessarily. That airy pastel wedding look with pushed film is actually a defect of the scanner, you won't get this with a pakon). It is a closed group so one has to join to see the comparisons but one can't argue that Kodak was one of (and maybe still is) the best at color management.
I think this reason alone is why we will never see a solution such as the pakon again. What we have is what we will get. You can jump up in price and get a noritsu or frontier (and I may just for the medium format capability...or get another Kodak such as the hr500) but even those are legacy. Speed in scanning does not necessarily mean speed in workflow. One needs both scanning speed and accurate output. Not such a big deal with monochrome/bw or color chromes (slide film) but with color negatives, one is just battling with constant headaches in the color management department.
And lastly, the 3000x2000 output of a dedicated scanner is much different than 3000x2000 with a flatbed. Your actually getting real resolution with this. Again, I would refer anyone back to the FB group for numerous/thousands of full rez examples.
I think this reason alone is why we will never see a solution such as the pakon again. What we have is what we will get. You can jump up in price and get a noritsu or frontier (and I may just for the medium format capability...or get another Kodak such as the hr500) but even those are legacy. Speed in scanning does not necessarily mean speed in workflow. One needs both scanning speed and accurate output. Not such a big deal with monochrome/bw or color chromes (slide film) but with color negatives, one is just battling with constant headaches in the color management department.
And lastly, the 3000x2000 output of a dedicated scanner is much different than 3000x2000 with a flatbed. Your actually getting real resolution with this. Again, I would refer anyone back to the FB group for numerous/thousands of full rez examples.
Jon Buffington
Member
For slides and black and white, I am sure this is an excellent solution and one could make a good argument over a pakon for, especially if one primarily shot slides (which some do and looks like you do to). Slides are not pakon's strong suit as they were designed for negative film.
traveler_101
American abroad
This brings up a question that has been rattling around in my head ever since I read about these scanners. If i plunk down all this money on a Pakon and it breaks, to whom do i turn to have it repaired?
shawn
Veteran
Was it the VM that was messed up? If so just roll back to a working snapshot and you would have been all set. Assuming you had a snapshot of a working system.
Shawn
Jon Buffington
Member
Tried that. Think it was a combination of things. Still doesn't play nice on that other machine.
Jon Buffington
Member
AES in North Carolina will fix them. Relatively cheap to fix (cheaper than a new/used unit).
Quick communication, quick turnaround.
http://www.aesintl.com/
Prest_400
Multiformat
It may be possible to do some reverse engineering/porting of the profiles in software and adapt it to new hardware. That's something that Kodak or Fuji could do as an initiative. OTOH, In software there are fantastic things done by small teams of "modders" in videogames, so it may take not that much time for a few people working on it.
Completely agree about the true 3000x2000 output. My epson V550 doesn't get real resolution in there. It holds its own for 6x9 but it also makes me think how much that huge neg is losing, given what it does not do with 135. Then, for negs it can be a PITA to get good color; Portra does fine though.
I didn't have details about what issue that particular Pakon had, yesterday he told me it was good to go again and tomorrow he's posting back the negs and scans on CD... I want to see how it'll have scanned Superia and Ektar.
I have to admit that I enjoy the frontier-noritsu look (slightly airy) and it is rather appropriate for my Mediterranean environment. Probably due to mere overexposure (what a pun) I ended liking it. I stumbled upon a weeding pro blog that had a Frontier and the airiness is down to density adjustment.
Neither my V550 can do an overly airy look, it has difficulty in the shadows/highlights, and aggressive settings-curves show its pitfalls. I think that shows what these (Noritsu-Frontier) scanners can do, even underexposed film looks airy!
I don't think it's anymore that time, but when minilabs were put out of service, it may have been a fantasic time to get such scanners rather cheap.
guardado1213
Established
So i got he Pakon Running on my desktop using Virtual Box. Using the TLX client Demo, i can get pretty nice scans and there is the added benefit of being able to scan my Xpan negs! So far I'm quite pleased with the quality of image the scanner produces and i love the fact that i can feed the whole roll of film and just walk away for a few minutes while its scans. I have yet to try B&W but i have a roll from my Xpan shot on TMAX 100 that i am going to run later tonight...
Fjäll
■̷̛̈́̉̓́̽&
I've scanned various B&W films as well as color negatives without any major issues, but TMAX 100 is the only film my Pakon just won't scan.
SaveKodak
Well-known
The Primefilm XA is not a flatbed, it is a dedicated film scanner. I have compared scans of negative film from the Frontier and the XA, and the XA quite clearly has more detail and less noise at the pixel level, and you also get visually greater color depth. It basically matches the Coolscan 5000 IMO, and if you've spent any amount of time with the coolscan you will know the difference between a lab scanner and a pro desktop scanner. They are slower but the quality difference is beyond subtle. The Pakon does ok with getting a better starting point SooS for color but my Primefilm also has great color profiles. I've had to do very little tweaking to get them where I want. Plus the primefilm is now half the cost of the Pakon.
brennanphotoguy
Well-known
If only there was a way to get film edges with the Pakon. Then I wouldn't be as interested in selling mine haha. That's the biggest bug for me.
kena
Established
Panoramic scans possible?
Panoramic scans possible?
SaveKodak, Can the Primefilm XA scan panoramic negs from Xpan or widelux?
Panoramic scans possible?
SaveKodak, Can the Primefilm XA scan panoramic negs from Xpan or widelux?
guardado1213
Established
Oh thats too bad. I ran my Xpan roll yesterday and they seemed to come out alright...
SaveKodak
Well-known
No, you would need to scan them in two bites and then stitch. That would be time consuming, but OTOH, you would have a really high quality file after you did the stitch.
Redseele
Established
I've had a Pakon 135 plus scanner for a while and it has been heaven-sent! What has been said above is true: It's not only about scanning speed, but where it is worth every penny is in the amount of time (and stress, especially for those perfectionists) that it saves you dealing with trying to get accurate colors. Apparently it has good profiles for older Kodak C41 film (older Portras, Ektar, Gold, etc.) and some Fuji and Agfa. Black and white also scans very well, but I do reduce all contrast by default (to -40) because otherwise BW pictures are always too contrasty.
That being said, I've always had problems scanning Portra 400 (I think this was because this particular film was released after the Pakon scanners were already sort of considered obsolete). How do you guys deal with this? Are there any extra film profiles that one can download somewhere or do you do your corrections manually?
That being said, I've always had problems scanning Portra 400 (I think this was because this particular film was released after the Pakon scanners were already sort of considered obsolete). How do you guys deal with this? Are there any extra film profiles that one can download somewhere or do you do your corrections manually?
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