Pakon f135 vs f235 vs f335

[Dante_Stella]

On the 235, it's pretty easy to change the bulb. Nothing exciting. Halogen is a lot more forgiving for b/w than LED is, and recall that Digital ICE is nerfed with silver film (and Kodachrome, too). Once you jump to the 235 series and up, these become high-volume wonders.

For scanning 35mm film, the LS-8000 and 9000 are more fun than the 5000 because they can do 12 frames at a loading (and do MF). They won't do bigger than 6x9 in one pass, but there is stitching software for 6x12 and 6x17 negatives.

Dante

I'm biased, but I think the Nikon Coolscan 5000 may be a better option for what you want to do.

F135 - You can get 3000x2000 resolution if you do not use the proprietary PSI software, but I don't think you get automatic color correction. No E6.

F135 Plus - $750 to $800. No E6.

F235 - use halogen light (v. others using LED's) that is reportedly prone to failure. I'd pass on this

F335 - Good luck finding one. 3000x2000, 16 bits/channel, color, E6, B&W. Probably expensive.

 

[2wenty]

On the 235, it's pretty easy to change the bulb. Nothing exciting. Halogen is a lot more forgiving for b/w than LED is, and recall that Digital ICE is nerfed with silver film (and Kodachrome, too). Once you jump to the 235 series and up, these become high-volume wonders.

For scanning 35mm film, the LS-8000 and 9000 are more fun than the 5000 because they can do 12 frames at a loading (and do MF). They won't do bigger than 6x9 in one pass, but there is stitching software for 6x12 and 6x17 negatives.

Dante

Thanks for the info. I ended up with a Noritsu LS 600.

 

[Dante_Stella]

Last night, I rebooted my F235 plus after getting it back from my sister and ran some negatives of unknown provenance. The software is just.... genius. Of course, it's also designed to be operated by people with little training.

My brother and I scanned 300 rolls of cut film one summer. The kickers is that you cannot, must not, should not ever put anything in that scanner that ever had a paper handling strip attached to the edge of the negative. Unless that is cleaned off with negative cleaner, it will gum up the works. That was good for a $300 repair at AES.

If I recall, the Solux bulb is pretty much a commodity item, btw. I would not forego the increased resolution (over the straight 135) and massively higher throughput on the fear that you can't find a 50w halogen bulb. That's way easier than replacing a very proprietary LED that's been run for 8,000 hours in a photo lab and then sold as refurbished. LEDs take a lot longer to burn out, but they also degrade over time. The 235 can also handle two frames at a time for very short strips. I've evn gotten it to handle a single frame of Ektachrome, but I wouldn't recommend that.

As to host vs. virtualization, the PSI software can be crashy with XP when XP is running other apps, so I'd stick with a cheapo dedicated machine for $40-50. It's going to be a lot less than buying Parallels and then trying to buy a legit copy of XP or hacking this into the XP emulator in 7 (which I understand has very limited hardware capability.

The only thing that ticks me off is that I've pretty much run out of negatives to scan (plus I own an LS-8000, a FlexTight, and a PS3650...) so maybe it will make an appearance in the classifieds here. If only it could scan Xpan...

Dante

 

[Dante_Stella]

By the way, you can order the bulbs here, and they are $10 apiece. You just need to know the beam spread, but you could buy all 4 for $40 and be totally covered.

https://www.solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/soluxbulbs.html

 

[splitimageview]

If only it could scan Xpan...

It can.

check the Pakon facebook group for details...

 

[Prest_400]

To OP, glad you found a nice solution. I saw an SP3000 listed around $1000 one ebay in LA. I am in Europe so no avail to that.

Nowadays I got roll (and dev) cost down to 10$/roll sending out to a far away lab. Great results but slow transit. I'm still in a student budget phase so 15+€ a roll is not very sustainable.

I have a v550 for 120 but no way I scan much 35mm with it, it is too little too late (small real resolution, slowish).

It would be really nice to have an update scanner, with all the electronics development a compact machine couldn't surpass a Frontier or Noritsu? Sadly given the niche status I doubt there will be many advancements, and counting that those are pro machines but with depreciated prices.
The development by quejai looks very promising in this area.

Last night, I rebooted my F235 plus after getting it back from my sister and ran some negatives of unknown provenance. The software is just.... genius. Of course, it's also designed to be operated by people with little training.

My brother and I scanned 300 rolls of cut film one summer. The kickers is that you cannot, must not, should not ever put anything in that scanner that ever had a paper handling strip attached to the edge of the negative. (...)

The only thing that ticks me off is that I've pretty much run out of negatives to scan (plus I own an LS-8000, a FlexTight, and a PS3650...) so maybe it will make an appearance in the classifieds here. If only it could scan Xpan...

Dante

I once had a batch of film scanned by a small store who ran a minilab and a Pakon as a Scanner.
Kodak Ektar is a bit of a crazy film but the Pakon had really accurate scans. Wish I'd known about it before it achieved cult status (200$ then) and from a EU seller.

 

[brbo]

Thanks for the info. I ended up with a Noritsu LS 600.

Are you happy with the scans from this scanner? How does the workflow look like (using it as a standalone scanner)? How is the software?

Thanks!

 

[2wenty]

Are you happy with the scans from this scanner? How does the workflow look like (using it as a standalone scanner)? How is the software?

Thanks!

Its okay. Ive been able to match scans that I was getting from Richards Photo Lab Noritsu 1800.

It takes a little getting used to. Its old technology so its not super streamlined. I would imagine the same could be said for most of these scanners.

My setup is VMware Fusion on my iMac to run Windows 7 and then I use Photoshop CS4 to important from the scanner.

Sometimes I wish I would of gone with the Fuji Frontier but thats a lot more. I think they are about $1800 right now.

The quality of the scans are good. The files from the LS 600 really highlight the grain (there is a grain suppression setting) and have their own color to them which I don't know if I like or not. They have an old feel to them.

It is fast though. The details in the files is pretty good. I scan everything on the highest setting which is around 24 megapixels. The Pakon seems cool but only scans around 6MP if I recall correctly. Which is not big enough for me.

So far for the money I like it. Just keep in mind its old tech so going to require a little bit of patience.

 

[Prest_400]

Sometimes I wish I would of gone with the Fuji Frontier but thats a lot more. I think they are about $1800 right now.

The quality of the scans are good. The files from the LS 600 really highlight the grain (there is a grain suppression setting) and have their own color to them which I don't know if I like or not. They have an old feel to them.

Isn't it? I have only a couple rolls scanned on a Noritsu and they seem to be warmer and have a more prominent grain than the Frontier. The Frontier seems to have cooler-greener shadows and a softer look to it.
135 I send out nowadays and have it scanned on Frontier. I decided to include a couple rolls of 120 in one batch and could only be scanned on the Noritsu; Sharper than my v550 thankfully, but the 400 C41 seemed quite grainy even for 6x9, maybe slightly oversharpened.

 

[brbo]

Thanks for the feedback 2wenty and Prest_400!

There are a few comparison shots Fuji vs. Noritsu on the net and they look virtually the same to me (it doesn't say which models, software, etc.)...

 

[2wenty]

Thanks for the feedback 2wenty and Prest_400!

There are a few comparison shots Fuji vs. Noritsu on the net and they look virtually the same to me (it doesn't say which models, software, etc.)...

The Noritsu 1800 is a lot more of a high end scanner than the LS 600. They are still making it today. Even in the 1800 the grain is still accentuated. I dont mind it, but I need to find a happy medium with the suppression setting. It just sucks because you have to rescan the roll (or strip) every time to get a new scan if you didn't like the settings on the previous scan, so it can be quite time consuming.

I was taking my time at the very beginning but now I just bang through it and want to get it over as quick as possible.

Either way I love it. I was paying $25+ a roll at the lab before and now it cost me $1 to do it myself. The really nice thing is, now I have control over my exposures. I used to get really frustrated with the lab because they just average exposures. I would bracket, back light and shoot moody stuff and it would never come out right. All the bracketed shots would be the same exposure. Now I have control to make it how I like.

 

[Prest_400]

The Noritsu 1800 is a lot more of a high end scanner than the LS 600. They are still making it today. Even in the 1800 the grain is still accentuated. I dont mind it, but I need to find a happy medium with the suppression setting. It just sucks because you have to rescan the roll (or strip) every time to get a new scan if you didn't like the settings on the previous scan, so it can be quite time consuming.

I was taking my time at the very beginning but now I just bang through it and want to get it over as quick as possible.

Either way I love it. I was paying $25+ a roll at the lab before and now it cost me $1 to do it myself. The really nice thing is, now I have control over my exposures. I used to get really frustrated with the lab because they just average exposures. I would bracket, back light and shoot moody stuff and it would never come out right. All the bracketed shots would be the same exposure. Now I have control to make it how I like.

The exposure part of scanning is very important and the interpretation factor that comes down to the scanner operator. It also happened to me, when eg. photographing late light and sunset and scans coming way too light and washed out. Moody stuff also happens to be difficult with lifted shadows.
I liked chrome film because of is rawness but C41 has its strengths.

A bit of a funny thing for me - I am still living on a student budget and $15 per 35mm roll ads up quick. I discovered a lab in Russia who had great prices for Dev+Scan and use both Fuji and Noritsu. Normal 3600x2400 35mm scans for about $8 and quite happy so far.
The thing that it takes 2 weeks for film to arrive, but it's more like a month usually. Not a perfect solution, but I have affordable Frontier scans for casual 35mm and becomes a time machine. 😛

I like the look of Frontier scans, because they seem to be gentle and even if sometimes incorrectly cooler shadows, it looks nice and doesn't accentuate grain.

Indeed a good scanning solution improving on Nikon's and Minolta legacy would be fantastic. Looking forward to quejai's concept because of its possibilities.

 

[aizan]

does anyone know the differences between the f235, the f235c, and the f235+?

 

[majerkeu]

The exposure part of scanning is very important and the interpretation factor that comes down to the scanner operator. It also happened to me, when eg. photographing late light and sunset and scans coming way too light and washed out. Moody stuff also happens to be difficult with lifted shadows.
I liked chrome film because of is rawness but C41 has its strengths.

A bit of a funny thing for me - I am still living on a student budget and $15 per 35mm roll ads up quick. I discovered a lab in Russia who had great prices for Dev+Scan and use both Fuji and Noritsu. Normal 3600x2400 35mm scans for about $8 and quite happy so far.
The thing that it takes 2 weeks for film to arrive, but it's more like a month usually. Not a perfect solution, but I have affordable Frontier scans for casual 35mm and becomes a time machine. 😛

I like the look of Frontier scans, because they seem to be gentle and even if sometimes incorrectly cooler shadows, it looks nice and doesn't accentuate grain.

Indeed a good scanning solution improving on Nikon's and Minolta legacy would be fantastic. Looking forward to quejai's concept because of its possibilities.

Prest Can you tell me the name of the Russian lab ?


Wysłane z iPhone za pomocą Tapatalk

 

[predicolous]

does anyone know the differences between the f235, the f235c, and the f235+?

sorry for reviving this old thread, but this still seems better to me than opening a new one.

F235 & F235+ seem to have a difference in speed @3000x2000px:

Model (D-ICE off / D-ICE on)

F135 plus (477 / 387)
F235 (400 / 250)
F235 plus (800 / 400 )
F335 (1053 / 790)

Source 1, 2

For the difference between the F235c and non-C models seems to be marginal.
I've seen that there was a F335 and a F335c model, as well.

Maybe they have share the same differences?

The F235c / F335c seems to be able to automatically read information provided by magnetic coded APS-Films with it's Cartridge Handler.

• "Cartridge load APS with magnetic code reader available on F335C"
• "Cartridge load APS with magnetic code reader available on F235C"

[Source 1, 2, 3]

• "but the F-235C model has an automated APS adapter where you simply insert the canister and it pulls the film, scans and returns it to the container"
• "The F235-C adds a mechanism for APS cartridges to automatically extract, scan and return the film."
• "The F335-C adds the APS mechanism."

Source

general difference between F235 & F335:

• "The F235 is 14-bit color with a halogen lamp. It does color negative, color transparency and black and white films."
• "The F335 is 16-bit color and uses an LED light source"

Source

common characteristics:

• "All of these require a minimum film strip of two frames to operate. Single frames will not work"
• up to base-16 (2000x3000 px)

Source

Any further knowledge on this floating around here? I would be specifically interested in differences between the F335 and F335c model 🙂

 

[meloV8]

I tested my Pakon f235c plus with a halogen bulb for 50 cents and the scans were identical to the original Solux bulb.

 

[predicolous]

I tested my Pakon f235c plus with a halogen bulb for 50 cents and the scans were identical to the original Solux bulb.

great to know!

Do you know if the the F235c comes in plus and non plus variants?

 

[meloV8]

great to know!

Do you know if the the F235c comes in plus and non plus variants?

Look here https://themachineplanet.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/the-kodakpakon-f235-plus-revisited/


f235
f235 plus
f235c
f235c plus