Author Topic: New Epson Printer...  (Read 3305 times)

digiboy

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New Epson Printer...
« on: October 13, 2006, 09:48:56 AM »
Has anyone seen one of these in action? what are the results? is at least comparable to analogue printing...? im an old hand at the old school way of printing, and although im in the market for a new printer, $1,600AUD, is well, a big investment...Im dubious...

http://www.epson.com.au/products/inkjet/stylusphotor2400.asp

david b

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Re: New Epson Printer...
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2006, 11:07:29 AM »
The R2400 has been around for a few years now, so it should be possible to get one second-hand, or refurbished from Epson, at a much reduced price.

As for being comparable to analog printing ... well, that's a can of worms. Personally I think it's best to think of darkroom printing and inkjet printing as seperate techniques, both with their own pluses and minuses, rather than expecting one to be just like the other.

outofcontxt

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Re: New Epson Printer...
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2006, 06:47:04 PM »
I've had one since they came out a while ago and really love it. If you shoot b&w film like me, and don't have access to a wet darkroom, it's a real godsend. Bronzing and metasmerism are virtually eliminated. It has an advanced b&w setting which allows you to tweak the settings to your heart's content and add warm and cool tones automatically. If you don't need prints larger than 12 inches in height, it's a great value. And color output is great, too, if you're in to that sort of thing... ;)

Oh, did I mention that archivally speaking, it rivals traditional b&w selenium toned prints? On some papers, it's been tested to resist fading for 200+ years under optimum storage conditions, according to Wilhelm Imaging. Plus it gives you the best of both worlds as you can make digital negatives (using Dan Burkholder's techniques) for contact printing for both silver gelatin prints and alternative processes like platinum/palladium, etc. using Photoshop to clean, tweak and manipulate negatives.

If you need something bigger, check out the new Epson 3800. It will take sheet sizes up to 17x22 inches. It costs more correspondingly (US $1300) but also has the advantage of larger print cartridges (80mL vs 11mL for the R2400) and also makes switching from matte black to photo black (and vice versa) easier on the pocketbook by wasting much less ink than both the R2400 and the 4800.
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digiboy

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Re: New Epson Printer...
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2006, 12:58:50 AM »
thanks guys for your advice...