Opinions On Epson Printers Sought

[Sheetshooter]

What is the concensus regarding these two Epson printers given that I would be far more likely to be printing B&W than colour:

STYLUS PHOTO R2400 / STYLUS PRO 4800

and will probably only be printiung on rag stock papers?

I have been advised that the principal operational difference is that the 4800 uses the far more economical large ink cartridges and that the costs saved will make up the difference in price in no time. Any other oberservation?

I have not completely disregarded the possibility of dye printing with the Canon i9950 and would welcome comments in that regard also. Especially from Leigh of the many 'N's who a search revealed to be a bit of a fan of the Canon.

Cheers,

[gstark]

What's the largest size print you're likely to be doing?

Both of those Epsons are excellent printers, as is their cheaper sibling, the R1800, which I have, and which Leigh is also a fan of.

The R1800 happily - and bloody quickly, and very economically, prints up to A3+, which is more than enough to satisy most needs.

I readily accept that your needs may well dictate even larger prints, but I offer the alternate suggestion just in case.

[Onyx]

Don't (immediately) dismiss HP. As of late they've come up with some pigmented inks targetted at photographers, including light black inks and stuff - which may or may not live up to expectations for black and white photo printing.

Although Epson is sorta the defacto brand for pro photographers - which Epson themselves are quick to point out in their marketing literature.

I'm a Canon printer fan myself, altho they are fussy with papers...

If you're intending to undertake serious volumes of inkjet printing, look into continuous ink systems. Mr Poon of HKSupplies fame, the official supplier for DSLRUsers' lusts has one for his personal photo inkjet printer, I was mightily impressed that it was one of the better things to come out of China...

[gstark]

HP are still having serious driver issues, which means that their printers don't actually work all that reliably when you get right down to it.

Epson or Canon are it.

Unless you can find a nice, pre-loved Fuji minilab somewhere.

[sydneywebcam]

I do a lot of B&W inkjet printing.

I have found it's best to have a dedicated printer for b&w work. I have an Epson 1290 (bought secondhand on ebay for $250) that I have converted to a quadtone printer using this company's ink system:
http://www.inksupply.com/

The use of pigment quadtone inks mean you have a full range of greys & blacks and are not mixing colour inks to achieve a proper range of tones. This ink works really well on rag papers.

I also have a HP 7660 which is a cheap A4 printer that uses a mix of grey & black dye based inks to achieve a result identical to RC paper that I used to use in the traditional darkroom. Using HP glossy pro paper gives it achival properties similar to pigment inks. The quality of the prints are terrific. (I am a former pro b&w darkroom printer)

An option could be to buy the Epson R1800 A3 (fabulous colour printer)
and use the savings from not buying the R2400 to buy a dedicated b&w printer.

Here is a forum that specialises in b&w printing and deals with all these issues: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBl ... eThePrint/

They also have lots of info on the printers you were interested in, just run a search.

Best of luck,
Paul.

[Nnnnsic]

In fact, as much as I love Canon's printers, the Epson inks are better off for colour that lasts.

[petermmc]

I too have the R1800 and it is brilliant. Everything about it makes it worth a look. The software it comes with is really easy to use. Its bigger than Ben Hur in 3D and sits in the corner of my untidy office like the Taj Mahal. It prints particularly well...and even comes with some of those print role thingos that I havent figured out how to use...they look a bit like trainer wheels. What more could you want.

Regs

Peter Mc

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[Nnnnsic]

It's slow?

What the hell were they smoking?

I've found it pretty fast when you're not printing over a network.

[gstark]

Sure, it's a little on the slow side,

They're kidding, right?

Mine will do an A3+ on Ilford Photo paper - that's as high quality as you can get, and expect - in under three minutes!

Slow? My arse!

[Heath Bennett]

What is the concensus regarding these two Epson printers given that I would be far more likely to be printing B&W than colour:

STYLUS PHOTO R2400 / STYLUS PRO 4800

and will probably only be printiung on rag stock papers?

I have been advised that the principal operational difference is that the 4800 uses the far more economical large ink cartridges and that the costs saved will make up the difference in price in no time. Any other oberservation?

I have not completely disregarded the possibility of dye printing with the Canon i9950 and would welcome comments in that regard also. Especially from Leigh of the many 'N's who a search revealed to be a bit of a fan of the Canon.

Cheers,

I think the advice you have received is correct. You can get 180ml (approx.) ink cartridges with the 4800 - any model below they don't even specify the quantity of ink you are purchasing.

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[birddog114]

It's slow?

What the hell were they smoking?

I've found it pretty fast when you're not printing over a network.

They're kidding, right?

Mine will do an A3+ on Ilford Photo paper - that's as high quality as you can get, and expect - in under three minutes!

Slow? My arse!

Hey you guys!
Don't shoot the messenger.
I gather they were using the slowest printing option for the best image results.

The review claims "...it took approximately six minutes on average to produce a borderless A4 colour print on glossy media, and around nine minutes for a borderless A3 print under the same conditions...".

These statements has been writing without seeing it in real, normally they copied from other sources, most of the editors in the mags never had of any real/ physical review on the products or did not understand what they are writing, I never read and count on any review at all! I buy and I do review the equipments by myself!

[Glen]

Sheetshooter, this review may be of some help. Unfortunately I use the non pro R1800 so don't know anything about the bigger units

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/revie ... -1st.shtml

[gstark]

It's slow?

What the hell were they smoking?

I've found it pretty fast when you're not printing over a network.

They're kidding, right?

Mine will do an A3+ on Ilford Photo paper - that's as high quality as you can get, and expect - in under three minutes!

Slow? My arse!

Hey you guys!
Don't shoot the messenger.
I gather they were using the slowest printing option for the best image results.

Yep.

And that's exactly what I was saying too. See the bit where I said "as high quality as you can get," ??

The review claims "...it took approximately six minutes on average to produce a borderless A4 colour print on glossy media, and around nine minutes for a borderless A3 print under the same conditions...".

They must be using funny clocks, or perhaps they're in Queensland, but here in Sydney, 3 minutes or thereabouts does A3+, borderless, on high end Ilford and Epson glossy or pearl paper, with quality that compares with lab produced prints.

[Sheetshooter]

Thanks folks,

Lots for a sleepy boy to consider while awaiting the sandman.

My coinscience about splurging on the 4800 is a little clearer also because I met a lady this arvo who is in the market for a 4x5 enlarger. If I can sell her one of mine that will justify all manner of madness.

Cheers,

[wendellt]

Thanks folks,

Lots for a sleepy boy to consider while awaiting the sandman.

My coinscience about splurging on the 4800 is a little clearer also because I met a lady this arvo who is in the market for a 4x5 enlarger. If I can sell her one of mine that will justify all manner of madness.

Cheers,

If you would like to spend a neat amount get the Epson Rx340 it's a multifunction gem, being a scanner, compact flash card reader, photocopier and A4 printer all in a tight little package

http://www.epson.com.au/products/multifunctional/stylusphotorx430.asp

it cost me $220 about 5 months ago from harvey Norman.

I went cheap because at the time i was saving up for the d2x

[Sheetshooter]

Glen,

Thanks once again for a poignant link - it made a lot of sense and dispelled a couple of gossipy rumours I had been fed with regard to ink economy. Changing the black cartidge from Gloss to Matte certainly chews through the bucks if MR is to be believed.

Perhaps I should have made it clearer that a pre-condition of choosing the Epson option was the use of K-3 inks sets.

Yesterday I was shown a large format Canon printer (imagePROGRAF W6400) that sells for about the same price as the 4800 but does large prints beautifully in lightniong fast time without all the fuss of needeing a RIP.

That one can wait until later but I guess it looks like it will be the Canon i9950 in the meantime.

Cheers,