Digital Photography Now said:
I repeat - sure there can be good inks out there, but how will know, with
confidence that what you are buying is any good?
Do you deny that there are plenty of bad inks out there?
It's not like buying gasoline for your car. The specifications for
gasoline are strictly defined and the product is carefully monitored
during the manufacturing process.
The technical requirements for inks are much more complex; viscosity, the
ability to survive transient super-heated temperatures, the ability to
resist mixing with different coloured inks, the ability to resist
oxidation and light energy, colour accuracy, stability while in storage,
the design of the cartridge itself where third parties manufacture their
own - did you know that the latest Epson cartridges have a complex
internal desgn that maintains the liquid pressure inside the cartridge
throughout its duty cycle, for example?
Blanket rejection of my many points looks rather like being in denial
today. I'm not saying that your experience with third party inks is
untrue, I'm only saying that your isolated experience is not a guarantee
of trouble-free third party ink usage elsewhere.
And I'm not speaking theoretically either - I have personally bought and
attempted to use several third party cartridges for different printers and
all caused varying degrees of problems.
Ian
Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com
Ian, I'm a fan of your site and am glad to see you participate on this
newsgroup.But before you get the undeserved reputation of being a Measekite
clone, please be aware that this newsgroup has been nearly destroyed by
Measekites hysterical ranting and falsehoods about all third party inks. He
makes no differentiation between cheap imported Chinese cartridges with ink
of unknown origin and refilling with quality third party bulk ink from
respected manufacturers such as Formulabs and Image-Specialists. Look at
their web sites and I'm sure you'll agree that these companies are not mom
and pop food coloring operators. You talk about using several third party
cartridges, but you don't mention if you have attempted refilling in lieu of
using aftermarket cartridges. That makes a huge difference in results - as
does the type of cartridge. There are many inferior products on the market
and ink cartridges are only one of millions. Refilling with quality bulk ink
from a supplier such as Formulabs or Image-Specialists solves the problem of
using ink of unknown lineage. I'm aware that you are UK based and these inks
may not be as readily available over there as in the US, but I urge you to
investigate these brands before making blanket statements about third party
vs. OEM labeled inks. Please take a look at the following thread which I
started on the Nifty-Stuff forum
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3914#p3914 It discusses
who makes the bulk ink sold in the US for Canon printers. For a professional
photographer selling prints the situation is far different from those of us
with consumer grade printers for personal use. In addition, as a customer of
professional photographers I don't want the prints I purchase to be printed
on ANY inkjet printer. Proofs are OK, but not the final portrait. If that is
the case, they may as well give me a CD and let me print my own copies. I
also don't want the prints they sell me to be from an inferior lab using
poor chemicals and papers. OTOH, the pictures I take using my Olympus C-765
(wish I had an Evolt) are not intended to be professional quality but rather
as items for immediate or short term usage. If they fade down the road
(which none of mine have going back to the late 1990's) and I need reprints,
I can always reprint from a backup copy on DVD.
