Inkjet recommendations for photos

  • Thread starter Thread starter louise
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louise

I want to print relatively large photos for exhibition
purposes - A4 might be big enough.

I shoot both color and b & w and want a printer than can
"really" do both well.

I have a Photosmart 8250 and the larger prints simply aren't
crisp enough. I've read a lot about problems with quality b
& w with Epsons.

What are considered the best printers for photographers?

Thanks

Louise
 
louise said:
I want to print relatively large photos for exhibition purposes - A4 might
be big enough.

I shoot both color and b & w and want a printer than can "really" do both
well.

I have a Photosmart 8250 and the larger prints simply aren't crisp enough.
I've read a lot about problems with quality b & w with Epsons.

What are considered the best printers for photographers?

Thanks

Louise
Click to expand...

Hi.

A couple of points.

If you are considering entering Photographic Exhibitions, then while A4
would be acceptable, most people submit at around A3 size.

There is no doubt a good big one will beat a good small one any day.

While you may have heard about poor Epson B & W, almost all the B & W
Exhibition Printers I know use Epsons, and mostly the 2400. The problem with
Epson is not quality, it is Ink cost. One friend got his 2400 at 9.30am and
had run out of ink by lunchtime, but he was ecstatic about the quality.

I must say that there is one very high output, both in quality and volume,
worker who uses the fairly new HP Photo Printer, ( I am sorry but I don't
know its model number), and the Print Quality is superb, with very subtle
tones in the almost highlight areas.

Roy G
 
There is only one realistically priced Epson printer that will meet ALL of your needs.  It is the Epson 3800.  You can print larger than 16x25 and use a multitude of fine art papers and the highest quality ink Epson offers.  The BW is considered one of the best in the business by professional photographers.

People here have no experience with this printer since they cannot afford it.  They have to pinch their pennies to afford lousy generic ink and then out of shame have to defend their purchase.  Read a review on this at luminous landscape.  Do a google for the url.

Roy G wrote:

"louise" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...



I want to print relatively large photos for exhibition purposes - A4 might be big enough. I shoot both color and b & w and want a printer than can "really" do both well. I have a Photosmart 8250 and the larger prints simply aren't crisp enough. I've read a lot about problems with quality b & w with Epsons. What are considered the best printers for photographers? Thanks Louise



Hi. A couple of points. If you are considering entering Photographic Exhibitions, then while A4 would be acceptable, most people submit at around A3 size. There is no doubt a good big one will beat a good small one any day. While you may have heard about poor Epson B & W, almost all the B & W Exhibition Printers I know use Epsons, and mostly the 2400. The problem with Epson is not quality, it is Ink cost. One friend got his 2400 at 9.30am and had run out of ink by lunchtime, but he was ecstatic about the quality. I must say that there is one very high output, both in quality and volume, worker who uses the fairly new HP Photo Printer, ( I am sorry but I don't know its model number), and the Print Quality is superb, with very subtle tones in the almost highlight areas. Roy G
 
If you are not experienced at printing you cannot expect that simply
plugging in a high end printer will yield the results you want.
If you are not familiar with color management then you need to be and get a
monitor calibrating device along with the printer.
It is easy to get a good print, not so easy to get outstanding prints. You
have to know how to work your imaging program and your printer.
The upper end Epson printers are used by more people for hi end printing
than any other brand except for the very large scale HP printers used in
many printing services. Epson printers have to be used properly to avoid
head clogging and the ink is expensive but the results are worth it. An
advantage in using Epson printers is that Epson markets a wide variety of
paper types and has very good canned paper profiles.
Black and white printing is actually harder to achieve than color printing,
I presume because manufacturers know that most users are more interested in
color printing and have tuned their printers/drivers accordingly.
The R1800 would be the least expensive Epson suitable for your puroses,
costing around $500 in the US. It has a 13 inch wide carriage, uses pigment
based inks and uses two tones of black. However if larger format B&W is your
primary concern then you must go up the Epson food chain.
Whatever printer you get expect to face a signficant learning curve to
achieve the results you want.
 
I think that the Canon Pro 9000 dye based printer would be a better
choice producing a print that has more impact but it does not last as
long. The Epson 3800, if one can afford it, is a real good professional
choice.
 
I must say that there is one very high output, both in quality and volume,
worker who uses the fairly new HP Photo Printer, ( I am sorry but I don't
know its model number), and the Print Quality is superb, with very subtle
tones in the almost highlight areas.
Click to expand...

That is probably the HP B9180. There is a pretty active Yahoo group at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hp9100Series/?yguid=35516270 with almost
800 members. You can also order free sample prints from HP at:
http://www.hp.com/sbso/productivity.../IPG/VAcontent/colorprinters/Orderprintsample

You might also take a look at the HP DeskJet 8750.

Your DeskJet 8250 is capable of making excellent prints. Are you using a
high resolution source to print? Are you using the #100 grayscale cartridge
for B&W printing?

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
You might also take a look at the HP DeskJet 8750.

Your DeskJet 8250 is capable of making excellent prints. Are you using a
high resolution source to print? Are you using the #100 grayscale
cartridge for B&W printing?
Click to expand...

Oops - my mistake, I was thinking of the Photosmart 8450, not the 8250. The
Photosmart 8250 is a fixed six ink system, take a look at prints from the
Photosmart 8450 or 8750 or the B9180.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Roy said:
Hi.

A couple of points.

If you are considering entering Photographic Exhibitions, then while A4
would be acceptable, most people submit at around A3 size.

There is no doubt a good big one will beat a good small one any day.

While you may have heard about poor Epson B & W, almost all the B & W
Exhibition Printers I know use Epsons, and mostly the 2400. The problem with
Epson is not quality, it is Ink cost. One friend got his 2400 at 9.30am and
had run out of ink by lunchtime, but he was ecstatic about the quality.

I must say that there is one very high output, both in quality and volume,
worker who uses the fairly new HP Photo Printer, ( I am sorry but I don't
know its model number), and the Print Quality is superb, with very subtle
tones in the almost highlight areas.

Roy G
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help.

There are some new HPs with 8 inks and 9 inks that can print
as large as 13x19. Might these be what you are are
referring to?

I have an HP Photosmart 8250 now with which I've been pretty
pleased. But it wont go larger than 8 x 11, it only has 6
inks and........I haven't compared output to an Epson :-)

Thanks again.

Louise
 
Bob said:
That is probably the HP B9180. There is a pretty active Yahoo group at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hp9100Series/?yguid=35516270 with
almost 800 members. You can also order free sample prints from HP at:
http://www.hp.com/sbso/productivity.../IPG/VAcontent/colorprinters/Orderprintsample


You might also take a look at the HP DeskJet 8750.

Your DeskJet 8250 is capable of making excellent prints. Are you using
a high resolution source to print? Are you using the #100 grayscale
cartridge for B&W printing?

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
Click to expand...
I didn't know there was a #100 grayscale cartridge for my
8250 - which is, by the way, a Photosmart, not a Deskjet.
And I agree, I'm using the Premium Plus paper and it
performs very well. I am using high resolution images
(Nikon D40X - 10mp) and I'm shooting RAW and using CS3 to
convert.

The real problem with my 8250 is that I can't go larger than
8x10 and that is not considered big enough for submissions.
But I'm beginning to wonder whether I shouldn't work with
it for a while and see if I can at least use it for my
portfolio, promising a larger image if they'll exhibit :-)

I will look for the grayscale cartridge and see what that
does. Are you sure it exists for the 8250? I just went to
the HP site but it is down for maintenance.

I also just joined the Yahoo group - it is very active -
I'll have a lot of reading to do :-)

Thanks for your suggestions.

Louise
 
babaloo said:
If you are not experienced at printing you cannot expect that simply
plugging in a high end printer will yield the results you want.
If you are not familiar with color management then you need to be and get a
monitor calibrating device along with the printer.
It is easy to get a good print, not so easy to get outstanding prints. You
have to know how to work your imaging program and your printer.
The upper end Epson printers are used by more people for hi end printing
than any other brand except for the very large scale HP printers used in
many printing services. Epson printers have to be used properly to avoid
head clogging and the ink is expensive but the results are worth it. An
advantage in using Epson printers is that Epson markets a wide variety of
paper types and has very good canned paper profiles.
Black and white printing is actually harder to achieve than color printing,
I presume because manufacturers know that most users are more interested in
color printing and have tuned their printers/drivers accordingly.
The R1800 would be the least expensive Epson suitable for your puroses,
costing around $500 in the US. It has a 13 inch wide carriage, uses pigment
based inks and uses two tones of black. However if larger format B&W is your
primary concern then you must go up the Epson food chain.
Whatever printer you get expect to face a signficant learning curve to
achieve the results you want.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help.

I do have my Sony 21" CRT monitor calibrated using the
Spyder Pro 2 and it does make a big difference. I agree
with you.

Part of my interest in a new printer is that I want to be
able to make larger prints as they seem to be required for
exhibitions.

Do you have any thoughts about the R1800 vs the HP
Photosmart Pro B9180? The cost of ink etc. is a factor
right now - I've only sold two prints - and neither went for
a very high price. I'm obviously hoping, and working toward
selling more at which point, if I'm lucky, the cost of the
printer will not be such a big issue.

Thanks.

Louise
 
louise said:
Thanks for your help.

I do have my Sony 21" CRT monitor calibrated using the Spyder Pro 2
and it does make a big difference. I agree with you.

Part of my interest in a new printer is that I want to be able to make
larger prints as they seem to be required for exhibitions.

Do you have any thoughts about the R1800 vs the HP Photosmart Pro
B9180? The cost of ink etc. is a factor right now - I've only sold
two prints - and neither went for a very high price. I'm obviously
hoping, and working toward selling more at which point, if I'm lucky,
the cost of the printer will not be such a big issue.

Thanks.

Louise
Click to expand...

You will find that the Canon Pro 9000 will produce of print of greater
impact than the R1800 and the ink cost is less.
 
Bob said:
Oops - my mistake, I was thinking of the Photosmart 8450, not the 8250.
The Photosmart 8250 is a fixed six ink system, take a look at prints
from the Photosmart 8450 or 8750 or the B9180.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
Click to expand...

I looked at the specs etc. for the B9180 and it looked great.

Then I started reading the Yahoo group. Apparently the
Photoshop plugin is not compatible with CS3 (which is what
I'm using).

I find this disturbing because it would, of course, create a
problem in getting prints and monitor to agree. But, almost
more importantly, it speaks to a concern that HP doesn't
work to keep it's software, drivers, plugins etc., up to date.

What are your thoughts about this?

Thanks again.

Louise
 
I looked at the specs etc. for the B9180 and it looked great.

Then I started reading the Yahoo group. Apparently the Photoshop plugin
is not compatible with CS3 (which is what I'm using).
Click to expand...

See http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hp9100Series/message/1201 which says
"The engineers worked with Adobe engineers on the printing capabilities of
our printer and the features that were available for the pro plugin are not
built into Photoshop CS3. There is no need for the plugin as the features
are built into CS3."

Also, Neil Snape has some information on installing the plugin in CS3 at his
site http://www.neilsnape.com/HP9180_review.htm, it is near the end of the
"Added information after one year" section.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Depending up how large you wish to go, for accurate B&W and Color, first
choice would be the 2400. This model uses relatively small cartridges,
but a CIS can be installed (and you can then use the inks designed for
some of the larger bulk ink printers). It can print to about 13" wide,
as I recall. Going larger, with much larger ink cartridges and
therefore considerably less costly ink, are the 3800 (17" wide using
80ml cartridges, with a much smaller footprint than the other 17"
models), 4000 (now discontinued) and 4800 (17" using 110 or 220ml
cartridge). They then go up in size and price from their.

These all use pigment inks which have been tested to have long expected
fade-resitant results, and they print on many types of paper surfaces.
All use the K3 ink system, which has a black and two grays.

For your use, although less costly, I would not consider the R1800.

Art
 
Arthur said:
Depending up how large you wish to go, for accurate B&W and Color,
first choice would be the 2400. This model uses relatively small
cartridges, but a CIS can be installed (and you can then use the inks
designed for some of the larger bulk ink printers). It can print to
about 13" wide, as I recall. Going larger, with much larger ink
cartridges and therefore considerably less costly ink, are the 3800
(17" wide using 80ml cartridges, with a much smaller footprint than
the other 17" models), 4000 (now discontinued) and 4800 (17" using 110
or 220ml cartridge). They then go up in size and price from their.
Click to expand...

This pro Epson poster did not tell you that on the 2400 you have about a
$60 round trip wasted ink cost when changing from matte to glossy paper
and back and you have 8 ink channels for 9 ink carts and that means
swapping. The 3800 (costing more) also has 8 ink channels for 9 carts
but loads all 9 at once and the ink waste swap cost is about $5.00
according to all reviews and uses larger carts. It is clearly better.
And to spend that much for a printer you want to use the Epson
professional inks.
 
Arthur said:
Depending up how large you wish to go, for accurate B&W and Color, first
choice would be the 2400. This model uses relatively small cartridges,
but a CIS can be installed (and you can then use the inks designed for
some of the larger bulk ink printers). It can print to about 13" wide,
as I recall. Going larger, with much larger ink cartridges and
therefore considerably less costly ink, are the 3800 (17" wide using
80ml cartridges, with a much smaller footprint than the other 17"
models), 4000 (now discontinued) and 4800 (17" using 110 or 220ml
cartridge). They then go up in size and price from their.

These all use pigment inks which have been tested to have long expected
fade-resitant results, and they print on many types of paper surfaces.
All use the K3 ink system, which has a black and two grays.

For your use, although less costly, I would not consider the R1800.

Art
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help in sorting this out. Epson sometimes
has refurbished printers on their site at prices more
affordable - do you think it's worth it or would I be taking
too big a chance?

Also, do you know anything about the HP Photosmart Pro
B8350? It seems like the only other option and is somewhat
less expensive both for initial purchase and inks etc.

Louise
 
louise said:
Thanks for your help in sorting this out. Epson sometimes has
refurbished printers on their site at prices more affordable - do you
think it's worth it or would I be taking too big a chance?

Also, do you know anything about the HP Photosmart Pro B8350? It seems
like the only other option and is somewhat less expensive both for
initial purchase and inks etc.

Louise
Click to expand...

I meant the HP Photosmart Pro B9180

Louise
 
measekite said:
This pro Epson poster did not tell you that on the 2400 you have about a
$60 round trip wasted ink cost when changing from matte to glossy paper
and back and you have 8 ink channels for 9 ink carts and that means
swapping. The 3800 (costing more) also has 8 ink channels for 9 carts
but loads all 9 at once and the ink waste swap cost is about $5.00
according to all reviews and uses larger carts. It is clearly better.
And to spend that much for a printer you want to use the Epson
professional inks.
Click to expand...
I know that in a previous post, you recommended the Canon
9000 Pro. I am under an impression that Canon colors are
overly saturated (by my standards). For example, I much
prefer Kodak papers to Fuji.

Is this sometimes a complaint or a concern with the Canon
printers?

Thanks

Louise
 
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