Attention Inkjet Fine Art Printers

[Paul_Kerfoot]

Dseelig & lilmsmaggie

Here is a pertinent thread with respect to ink costs of the 2880 & 3880.

http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12470

"Atlex is selling the 3880 for $799 with the $300 rebate. Good deal."

This is an excellent price assuming no games are being played. I have been burned via Epsons rebates so carefully note the effectivity dates and make copies of everything and obtain a delivery signature on the rebate paperwork.

I own a 3880 and am very happy with mine, the only problem I have encountered was the printer couldn't find one of the ink cartridges upon power up. I removed the offending cartridge and reseated it and the problem was solved.

I have found the Atlantic Exchange (Atlex.com) folks good to deal with, their prices are competitive and they pack the papers well (no bent corners).

Paul

 

[routlaw]

Just a few more thoughts on the various printers. If cost is an issue consider the following, the 3880 comes with only 80 ml cartridges which you will go through fairly quickly if you're using the printer to any degree. Ongoing, paper and ink will far outweigh the initial cost of any of these printers before the first year of ownership.

The big 3 manufacturers all know this and if I had to guess the printers themselves be it desktop or floor standers are lost leaders. For instance my 44" Canon IPF 8300 only cost me $3000.00 after rebates, trade-ins, discounts etc. There is no way Canon could have broken even on the cost of this printer at that price, but they know it will be more than made up by the price of ink and consumables over the next umpteen years. The one overwhelming advantage in my case with the Canon vs Epson 9900 printer was this very issue. The Canon came with 330 ml cartridges while the 9900 came with a measly 100 ml give or take a few ml but it takes over half that just to prime the lines and inkjet heads. IOW, buying the Epson meant I also needed to buy an entire set of larger cartridges at the same time which would have added another approximate $1500 to the initial startup cost.

How this plays out for your situation only you can determine. The point is I would be willing to bet you dollars to donuts within less than a year a 24" floor standing model (especially from Canon at the moment) will be cheaper than the Epson 3880 to own and run. This is not a disparaging remark about the 3880, far from it, as others have pointed out its a great printer and can do things others can't, such as stack loading sheets.

Having had the time now to thoroughly test my new Canon I can also say with a great amount of confidence it does produce the best prints compared to the Epson x900 series, HP 32000Z, and definitely compared to the x800, x880 made by Epson.

In summary, if you need stack loading, will not be doing any volume printing or have space constraints get the 3880. But long term it will cost you more to operate than a 24 inch printer and you will give up some image quality compared to the newest iteration of printers from HP, Epson and Canon.

If you want the absolute best output today (IMHO), have the space and initial budget for a 24" printer, (but the least expensive ongoing cost) and can deal with the worst user interface of the big 3 get a Canon IPF 6300. You can get used to the working this printer but initially the Epson's are easier to work with. And once again my urging for the larger printer is strictly due to your ambition with LF photography. Had you stated from the beginning you were going to use a 12 mp camera the 24" floor standers would have never come up in the conversation.

What ever you decide on, do yourself a favor and look at the FULL cost of ownership not just the initial cost of a printer. You might be surprised by the numbers.

Other purveyors of this gear I highly recommend are Spectraflow in the Bay area, and Shades of Paper in NJ.

Hope this helps.

Rob

 

[lilmsmaggie]

What ever you decide on, do yourself a favor and look at the FULL cost of ownership not just the initial cost of a printer. You might be surprised by the numbers.

Rob

Very sage advice -- Thank you. :salute:

 

[dseelig]

I just bought the epson 3880 for 819. I got it for a desktop printer and an emergency back up for my 24 inch hp. We will see me I will never buy another used printer again. Nothing but troubles. David

 

[Valentin]

I've owned the 3800 for a few years now. Never clogged and always spot on with the provided profile and Epson paper.

The only problem I had was using a canvas (it will not load).

If I would have the space (and money), I would go for a bigger one since you always want to print bigger than what you have .

 

[GMB]

All that out of the way, Epson printers are simpler to operate, by an order of magnitude and this is an issue I can't stress enough for someone just starting out with a digital darkroom. They are just so much more intuitive, logical and straight forward compared to Canon printers. Canon manuals are next to useless and in this regard HP rules the roost with Epson a close second. Truth be told not sure I ever read any of the Epson manuals, certainly not cover to cover. No way you can do that with a Canon printer from my experience.

Rob

Rob,
Thanks a lot for your very helpful comments. I was almost decided on the Epson 7900 (just waiting for a rebate to come) but then read many good things about the Canon and am nor seriously considering them. The price difference is quite important in Europe (where, for whatever reason, prices are quite a bit higher than in the US).

If you don't mind, could you elaborate a bit more on the above point on user interface. I am an amateur and thus not printing daily (although I know have some 4 years experience with the R2400 an think I know what I am doing).

I am also scheduled to get a demo soon. Any specific questions you suggest I should ask regarding operation?

Thanks.

Georg

 

[routlaw]

Rob,
Thanks a lot for your very helpful comments. I was almost decided on the Epson 7900 (just waiting for a rebate to come) but then read many good things about the Canon and am nor seriously considering them. The price difference is quite important in Europe (where, for whatever reason, prices are quite a bit higher than in the US).

If you don't mind, could you elaborate a bit more on the above point on user interface. I am an amateur and thus not printing daily (although I know have some 4 years experience with the R2400 an think I know what I am doing).

I am also scheduled to get a demo soon. Any specific questions you suggest I should ask regarding operation?

Thanks.

Georg

Just noticed this post Georg and will try and answer as succinctly as possible.

Paper loading, I will just cut to the chase and say Epson is way easier especially when it comes to roll media. You can learn to use and load the Canon but its a cruel joke compared to Epson's path from the top down rather than Canons path from the bottom up into a hidden cavity.

OSD at the printer, once again Epson is just so much more intuitive IMO. One almost feels as if they are on the star ship enterprise with Jean Luc in order to get things done with the Canon. After a series of convoluted hoops one has to jump through, then and only then will Canon issue a "make it so" command.

The manual is just ridiculously difficult to read and understand, not sure I ever read an epson manual completely or needed to for that matter. Canon has taken something that is fairly basic and turned it into a science project. On a scale of 1 to 10 Epson's might be a 9, Canons a 2 at best.

Now having vented off all that, I still love the Canon for its image quality and as much as I hate to admit, have gotten used to its idiosyncrasies… more or less. Its very fast, much quieter than my old Epson and produces some of the best color prints I have yet to see. No gloss differential on any media I have tried, very deep blacks and convincing b&w prints and unparalleled shadow detail, no metemarism. In the 3-4 months I have had this printer only once have I had ink clogs and have yet to need to purchase any additional inks, with only two of the 12 showing some 20% or so usage. Simply put the prints are just gorgeous. Its really hard to get a bad or mediocre print off these things, even with its difficult and convoluted UI.

The print plug-in module is nice and has lots of potential but still needs some refinement. None of the other printers have this attribute, but its a dandy even as is.

I hope this helps.

Rob

 

[GMB]

Thanks, Rob. Very helpful. Georg