Pakon Scanner

[pbo]

My Pakon arrived as well 🙂

Everything is working well! I bought from an eBay seller and the scanner did not come with a warranty, but the price was just too good.

I was able to install PSI on a VirtualBox WinXP, MBP as a host. Everything runs okay after following the instructions on the filmwasters forum and using the software from the facebook group. If anyone is using VirtualBox and the system doesn't seem to even realize that something was plugged in, make sure you go into your Devices menu and activate the scanner as one of the USB devices! Also allocate more than 10GB hard disk space 😀 I am trying to expand my virtual drive because apparently 10GB is not enough.

The PSI software does feel 20th century! The roll numbering got me once, I sat there helplessly seeing my files from pervious roll overwritten with the new ones.. But at least rescanning takes 2 minutes!

A few first scans - some are a little misfocused, not Pakon's fault.. Overall very glad I got the machine!



AB022 by Bo Peng, on Flickr

AA015A by Bo Peng, on Flickr

AA011 by Bo Peng, on Flickr

AA010 by Bo Peng, on Flickr

AA004 by Bo Peng, on Flickr

AA003 by Bo Peng, on Flickr

AA001A (1) by Bo Peng, on Flickr

 

[frank-grumman]

Ben and Dante, thanks for the info on repair. I kinda thought that would be the case. The photos you all are posting make a compelling argument for getting one. Good work 🙂 🙂

 

[ronw]

Just picked one of these f135+ units up from AAAimaging and I must say, impressive. I'm new to the film to digital work flow but have been using an epson flatbed scanner and a recent image I scanned at 2400 dpi took MANY min to scan and still wasnt overly impressive.

After a long battle getting the Pakon software to work with my mbp, success and it scans so FAST! the iq is amazing for this little guy and the price.

I saw a few guides but had to go to several sources to finally get it to work but here is a summary of the steps i went thru to get it working:
1) install vmware fusion 7 on MBP (Mavericks 10.9.5)
2) run vmware fusion 7 and install windows7
3) get window7 to emulate xp in "xp mode", i used this install guide:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7
4) followed the guide titled Installing Pakon software on Windows7 in the FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/koda...g-pakon-software-on-windows-7/753039434715096
-note: i grabbed the updated zip file from FB with the v3.0 files but couldn't install successfully so i installed off the included CD which was v2.4 then install/modified again with the v3.0 after but it worked fine and really i didnt notice the difference.
5) followed the Quick Start Guide again on the FB page.
https://attachment.fbsbx.com/file_d...inline=1&ext=1411893755&hash=ASvUiWdVZ4Xy7cov
-note: when you launch the PSI software, look to the upper left of the XP emulation window and you will see a Pull down tab "USB", in that, if all the above was successful and you plugged the Pakon in and it saw it an loaded the driver, the Pakon should be listed on this, you need to allow the XP emulator access ie "Attached". the PSI application can now see the scanner in XP.
-note: when you are in PSI, in the upper left of the window you will see a button to click to toggle between EasyOrder and Classic View. It defaults to EasyOrder and I couldn't figure out how to save once scanned but in ClassiveView, there is a save button to select where you want it to save.
6) streamlining scanned image save location workflow: under XP ->My Computer->C: (this is the Windows 7 drive)-> Users -> Ron -> Desktop. create a shotcut for that path and put that on the XP desktop. This allows me to save to that shortcut folder which is on the Windows7 desktop, and saving me time moving the output files once done. Then i just drag and drop those into the appropriate MBP folder for editing/manipulation.

I'm scanning film strips and that is a bit of a pain but at the top of the PSI software, there is a shuttle button to make the film feed out more once its done scanning because for some reason, each strip gets stuck at the end of the last frame. Almost no dust clean up in ps as well. best $300 I've spent getting into film 😀

thanks all for posting information to get me to this point!!!

sample image from last weekend.

 

[dfatty]

thanks for the instructions for vmware install, ronw. i haven't been able to get it to work on my windows 7 computer, will give your instructions a try.

i have been able to get it work on an old very underpowered xp netbook - the results are pretty outstanding. very sharp, color is excellent (only scanned color so far), the scanning is super fast, and dust reduction works very well. the lack of instructions other than "informal" ones (which are good but short - thanks to the folks that posted them!) has me a bit flustered. but in one day i've accidentally managed to scan strips for 20 rolls through some trial and error, lol. the results blow away the 35mm scans i tried on the epson v700, and it's so fast even using ICE.

it actually works pretty well on the old xp netbook laptop. i wouldn't really mind continuing to use the netbook, except it's really slow copying the images to a flash drive (so i can do postprocessing on a faster computer with a bigger screen). the old netbook doesn't seem to slow down the actual scanning process too much, although "exporting" the images from the PSI software to the harddrive is a bit slow.

 

[ronw]

Dean,
No worries, I hope it helps.

When I look in my PSI About tab it says v3. but when i select C41/BW it scans and desplays the thumbnails as a Positive image but when it saves, its color file and in revers. I have to batch process all of them in photoshop to RGB to Grayscale then Inverse all of them. doable but a PITA. Am I missing something?

thanks

 

[f16sunshine]

although "exporting" the images from the PSI software to the harddrive is a bit slow.

Actually exporting is just slow. A speedier computer is not likely to help you very much.
I just export to a file on the desktop and then Drag/Drop onto a thumby when I'm done with a scanning session.

There is a certain freedom having a dedicated old XP laptop for the Pakon scanner.
The more I read about using the scanner with a virtual XP setup the less I wish to do so.

I put a want to buy add here on the forum for an XP laptop and was offered a Dell 620 something with 2G of Ram and plenty of CPU for $55. Craigslist has the same sort of deals although... unknown sellers.
This machine performs well beyond the need of the scanner.
Plus it's small enough to sit on a shelf with the scanner out of my way and unaided while it works.


Cheers!

 

[dfatty]

Dean,
No worries, I hope it helps.

When I look in my PSI About tab it says v3. but when i select C41/BW it scans and desplays the thumbnails as a Positive image but when it saves, its color file and in revers. I have to batch process all of them in photoshop to RGB to Grayscale then Inverse all of them. doable but a PITA. Am I missing something?

thanks

I had that happen, it saved negatives when I checked the box that says "Save Raw" or something like that. If you uncheck that box, it'll save the images as a positive.

 

[ronw]

I had that happen, it saved negatives when I checked the box that says "Save Raw" or something like that. If you uncheck that box, it'll save the images as a positive.

Awesome! I think I had checked that thinking Raw means better but I guess they just mean, it will leave it the raw negative and I flip it myself vs its software.

Any recommendation of saving the BW as a BW and not a color scan of my BW neg?

ron

 

[f16sunshine]

Are you taking about the Sepia tone?

There are 3 settings for B+W

Normal
Sepia
Cool

Normal actually has a slight bit of Sepia toning.
If you want pure greyscale , choose "cool".
Rolf here taught me that one.
He and others here on the forum are really very helpful and experienced.

I leave it on normal and then just desaturate during Post.

 

[dfatty]

Any recommendation of saving the BW as a BW and not a color scan of my BW neg?

ron

I haven't scanned any BW yet, only color negs. Looks like f16 sunshine might have the info you need 🙂

 

[dfatty]

Actually exporting is just slow. A speedier computer is not likely to help you very much.
I just export to a file on the desktop and then Drag/Drop onto a thumby when I'm done with a scanning session.

There is a certain freedom having a dedicated old XP laptop for the Pakon scanner.
The more I read about using the scanner with a virtual XP setup the less I wish to do so.

I put a want to buy add here on the forum for an XP laptop and was offered a Dell 620 something with 2G of Ram and plenty of CPU for $55. Craigslist has the same sort of deals although... unknown sellers.
This machine performs well beyond the need of the scanner.
Plus it's small enough to sit on a shelf with the scanner out of my way and unaided while it works.


Cheers!

yeah, the idea of having a dedicated laptop is nice. maybe i'll look into one that's a bit more powerful than a netbook if they can be had for so cheap. at worst, even if doesn't speed up the process, it'll have a bigger screen and keyboard, the netbook is so small it's hard to work on.

 

[ronw]

I'll check on those settings when I get home tonight.
My last bw scans i did yesterday looked a little soft. I will rescan scan then with my flat bed for comparison since I also change form D76 std dev to hc110 with 60 min semi stand development. I also read that Digital Ice doesn't work for true bw film because the silver tricks it so that could be also an issue so i'll try it with ICE off for comparison. Still learning and will have to see what works best.
thanks for all the info.

 

[ronw]

you guys are awesome, unchecked the SAVE AS RAW, unchecked the Digital Ice (since the silver doesnt work with the infra red i guess) and changed the neck to cool and every thing is perfect. its a bit grainy for 125 box speed and semi stand. what do you guys do for setting for sharpness?

 

[android]

ronw, that shot looks great! Can I ask.. where do you set the B&W output to cool? All I see is colour or C41 so have been converting to B&W in Lightroom. Is there a way to scan straight to B&W within the Pakon UI?

 

[Balto]

Ronw, sharpen the file in photoshop if you have it, the sharpening algorithm used in PSI is very rudimentary compared to the modern adobe systems.

Android, I don't think there is, I haven't found one, set an import preset for lightroom that converts everything to B&W if you use LR

 

[ronw]

Android, I set the bw to cool after the scan and before the save. look to the lower buttons on the PSI window titled "More Options" iirc. it should be there.

Balto, I do have ps and will play with it. I was messing with the sharpen slider in PSI and wondering, when it scans if it applies that sharpness level to the image then when i adjust it down in PSI, if applies an unsharpening algorithm vs reducing the amount of sharpness that was initially applied, in effect getting a copy degradation. is there a way to get a true RAW unmolested scan and i apply the sharpness, contrast, saturation I want later in PS?

 

[android]

Android, I set the bw to cool after the scan and before the save. look to the lower buttons on the PSI window titled "More Options" iirc. it should be there.

Aha..! Yes, thanks. So in effect, the PSI software is just converting the colour scans to B&W, just as you would do in Lightroom (or other).

Thanks again ronw.

 

[rolfe]

you guys are awesome, unchecked the SAVE AS RAW, unchecked the Digital Ice (since the silver doesnt work with the infra red i guess) and changed the neck to cool and every thing is perfect. its a bit grainy for 125 box speed and semi stand. what do you guys do for setting for sharpness?

If you are going to sharpen later in PS or LR, turn the Pakon sharpening all the way down. If you'd like to do a sort of hybrid workflow, turn it halfway down. In no case should it be left at the default, which is way too aggressive.

Rolfe

 

[bence8810]

Just a quick update to my last post, despite getting the scanner without hassle from Fedex, 2 weeks after delivery I got an invoice by mail to pay $12USD customs tax. Of course this is very little but it only is as AAA somehow magically marked the value down to $100 despite refusing to do so in an email.

So just remember, even if you don't have to pay the delivery guy, you may get an invoice later to pay the import duties.

The Pakon is going strong otherwise, scratching my negatives so I use it with the lid off and hand feeding the film which is annoying a little.

Any of you getting scratches?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[xavoy]

I found a reasonably priced F-235+ right here in Sydney and picked it up today. It came with a Windows 2000 PC too!

I'm still experimenting, and after getting everything set up, managed some very reasonable colour scans right off the bat. Problem is I barely ever shoot colour, and after hours of playing just cannot get B&W files to scan properly.

I've got version 2.4 of the software, and am hoping the F235+ is supported by version 3.0 as some people in this thread (ronw especially) mentioned a few tools in PSI that I currently don't have in my version, but that would be very handy (like the ejector button for the strips of film - mine seem to be getting stuck every time too).

I can't find a download for version 3.0 yet, but here's to hoping I can get my hands on a copy, and eventually get some reasonable B&W scans out of this thing. I'm shooting a lot of film these days and this thing could potentially save me hours every week. I've just requested to join the Facebook Pakon F135 group in the hope that someone might point me in the right direction.

P.S - LOVE your work ronw. Really beautiful stuff!