Allow me to stir up the mud on the subject. First suggestion would be to consider a larger printer than garden variety 13x19 models which will do a 12x18 print only. If you are going LF in my experience you're just not going to see the real benefits and beauty of those large sheets of film until you start printing 16x20 ish and perhaps even larger. I would wager eventually you will want larger prints from those 4x5 film scans and end up with at least the 24" models so you might as well belly up to the bar now for the larger floor models
. With that in mind… consider the following.
I started out with the Epson 10000, then bought the Epson 9600 which after 8 years up until this past week was still chugging along and producing excellent prints. Given its age I decided to buy a new printer vs repairing this one. No anyone who wants an old 9600 for parts? Make no mistake the larger counter parts of these printers regardless of manufacturer are different than the table top versions using the same ink set. The exceptions might be the 3880/4800 models by epson.
During this time I have also owned and operated several smaller printers like the Canon Pixma Pro 9000, Epson 2200 which is still producing excellent prints I might add. And in addition to my own commercial photography & fine art prints sales I run a small printing operation for other photographers as well as reproducing prints for artist in my region. IOW all of these printers have logged a lot of ink and paper through them.
Not sure where you heard of Epson poor customer service but my experience has been the opposite what little I have had to use it. While shopping for new printers off and on over the last year or so (sensing the eminent demise of my aging 9600) I looked at all of the contenders very seriously and ended up with the new Canon IPF 8300. I agree with some other comments all of the big 3 can produce beautiful prints under the right hands and in some cases do so with little to modest differences. That said HP was last on my list since the intro of these newest Canon's and the Epson x900 series. Both the Epson and Canon are a bit more heavy duty industrial like with Epson having a edge over the Canon. I wrung my hands out going back and forth between the two of these printers but at the end of the day chose the Canon for two reasons, cost and lack of ink jet clogs. From what I understand yes even the Epson x900 series still clogs and uses more ink than the HP and Canon counterparts. Right now you can buy the Canon for literally less than half of what the Epson cost due to rebates, ample amount of inks included in the kit and trade-in allowances they gave me for the 9600.
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.
Sorry for the long winded post and diatribe, but hope this helps.
Rob
I would like to have the ability to make my own 11X14 B&W and Color prints, possibly 16x20. I’ve read good and bad reports about Epson inkjet printers. Although Canon and HP have upped the ante, Epson seems to be the printer of choice for exhibition quality fine art prints. Not sure if the negative reports I’ve read about Epson are from those users that are technically challenged by printer setups and profiles, or just getting their hands on a bad printer. BTW - I’m shooting 4x5 and plan on having the negatives scanned.
What really concerns me, are reports of poor customer service from Epson technical support, or lack thereof based on my readings.
I’m considering investing in an inkjet photo printer and would like to hear from those that actually do most of their own print work. I’d like them to share their experiences with inkjet printers – negative or positive. And if they were to start anew, would they continue with the same printer or throw in the towel and outsource their printing.