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New Epson LF printers 9900 and 7900

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Ten buckets of ink on the wall, ten buckets of ink and when the matt is switched in you have
Ten buckets of ink on the wall
That 7900 looks pretty interesting...
-bob
 

Dale Allyn

New member
I think it's nice that the integrated spectrophotometer is optional (for those who wish to keep profiling a separate operation).

Any word as to whether the black inks require line clearing when switching between matte and photo black? This, to me, was a problem in previous designs in the Epson line because I use both frequently.
 

LJL

New member
I think it's nice that the integrated spectrophotometer is optional (for those who wish to keep profiling a separate operation).

Any word as to whether the black inks require line clearing when switching between matte and photo black? This, to me, was a problem in previous designs in the Epson line because I use both frequently.
Dale,
It appears as though these new printers are utilizing the new print heads that were developed for the 11800 series printer. It has separate nozzles and feeds for both ink types, I believe, so lines do not need to be flushed.

This design existed on the older Epson 4000 printer, and it was the only one until the recent models that had both matte and photo black inks with the older Ultrachrome inks and did not require flushing lines or changing carts.

If the machine holds both inks (matte and photo black), then it will have separate line and feeds. Only when you swap carts using the same slot and line feed, does it need to be flushed.

Have folks looked at the size of those new ink carts (350 and 700ml, compared to the 220ml of the older models)? I am trying to imagine how much it would cost for a full set of carts....probably near the price of the printer :eek:

LJ
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I think the biggest thing is the addition of the orange and green inks to expand gamut in those areas -- green has been a shortcoming of digital output.
 

LJL

New member
I think the biggest thing is the addition of the orange and green inks to expand gamut in those areas -- green has been a shortcoming of digital output.
It will be interesting to see how the prints from these new printers look. If they really do fill the gaps and extend the gamut, plus be able to handle files at 16-bit, they could make using a RIP a lot less needed, except for fancy layouts and stuff.

Just think....loading up 11 carts of ink in the 700ml size is going to be like filling the printer with nearly a case of really, really good wine :D

LJ
 

LJL

New member
Anyone see pricing yet? I bet the 9990 won't be $5K.
Doug,
I asked my preferred vendor about that yesterday.....no announced prices yet, on printers or ink. The "guess" was $4K on the 7900 versus the $3K of the 7800, and not sure if that was factoring in the optional spectro.

Epson is still pretty much "king of the hill" with printers, but is feeling the heat from Canon and HP, so I would not be surprised to see these new printers come in at prices pretty close to where the present line is, but accounting for the newer inks. That raised the question as whether they would ship with full ink sets (350ml carts), or some special "starter size" to charge the lines, etc.

Nobody knows just yet, as Epson has not posted a release date, nor pricing on things. I think you are correct, they are going to cost more than the present models, but just unsure how much and how they will be configured. As always, the ink is still very expensive, and these new models are now taking on even more capacity, so that has to impact pricing for a rig ready to go.

LJ

P.S If you simply scale up the present ink costs at discounted rate, the 350ml carts could cost about $150 each. Toss in eleven of those and you have nearly $1,600 in ink alone. The present line ships with 110ml carts, and those are about $600 of the printer price approximately. So you already have at least a $1000 differential based on estimated ink costs alone. Add in the printer improvements, and it is easy to see that they may price at $1000-1500 higher than present models. This is all guesstimation at this point, so if anybody has added info to share, that would help our planning ;-)
 
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Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I would not be at all surprised to see the new printers ship with 100ml of each color and have the entry price at just under $4K (for the 9900), knowing that we all will buy a set of 300ml inks at say $149 per, or another $1500...
 

LJL

New member
I would not be at all surprised to see the new printers ship with 100ml of each color and have the entry price at just under $4K (for the 9900), knowing that we all will buy a set of 300ml inks at say $149 per, or another $1500...
Jack,
I keep getting tripped on this also....they say "ten color", but they talk about having 11 inks onboard. (Photo Black, Matte Black, Light Black, Light Light Black, Cyan, Light Cyan, Vivid Magenta, Light Vivid Magenta, Yellow, Orange and Green) In any event, it be a lot of ink, and that will impact the pricing for sure. I thought it would seem a bit disingenuous if they shipped with anything less than the smallest available ink cart, which seems to be 350ml for these two models, but as you point out, they may include special charger carts and expect folks to buy a full set, just to keep the "base price" low enough for marketing purposes ;-)

LJ
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Yes, pretty sure the 10 is Black, Light Gray, Light-light Gray, Magenta, Light Magenta, Cyan, Light Cyan, Yellow, Green and Orange. Anyway, the Mk and Pk do not get used together, so makes sense they aren't both counted in the total ink laydown. However, we still don't know if they share the nozzle position in the head and require the flush, or if there are dedicated Mk and Pk nozzles so we can select on the fly -- let's HOPE Epson was not so stupid this time around and forces us to purge. If they are still playing that game, I'm looking into HP for the next printer..
 

LJL

New member
Jack,
I asked about that, and from what I was told, there are separate feeds and nozzles for the Matte and Photo Black inks, so there is no line flushing to be done. Epson actually had this right on the 4000 printer, but then stopped when they switched over to the newer K3 inks. Lots of complaints from folks about that, and it appears they have listened. We will have to see more details, but I think they will fly from one to the other without issue.

As an aside, I installed the Image Print Phatte Black configuration on my 7800, and that has the profiles handling things for matte or photo black media. I had to remove the Light Light Black ink cart and use a specially chipped "Phatte Black" ink cart to preclude doing the feed line flush and all, and I have to say that it has been working great. I would like to have use of ALL of the Epson inks, so the 7900 and 9900 both look attractive, and might not require using a RIP any longer, especially if you get the optional spectrophotometer to create you own profiles.

LJ
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
That's good news LJ -- they'll keep me then :) -- I see a 9900 in my studio as soon as it's available! As for the spectro, that deserves some consideration since I already own an i-1. It's an older, non-UV unit and has always does a superb job building profiles, though probably due for an upgrade...
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
That's good news LJ -- they'll keep me then :) -- I see a 9900 in my studio as soon as it's available! As for the spectro, that deserves some consideration since I already own an i-1. It's an older, non-UV unit and has always does a superb job building profiles, though probably due for an upgrade...
Jack,

How'd you like an i1 XT for $1,695 (normally $2,800)?


David
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Awesome Doug, congrats! Can't wait to hear your report. I am still saving for the 9900. ($5795 now, and hopefully less when I get around to actually buying it!)
 
D

DougDolde

Guest
Just loaded the ink in my new 7900. Except for light black, there is between 50 and 60% ink left. Maintenance tank is 69% full from the charging.

So far just one test print made and it came out very nice. Also upgraded the firmware. Among other things this gives you the ability to turn off the auto nozzle check every time it's turned on. So far this printer seems really sweet.
 
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