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New Epson Printers for Contax Images

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Guest

Anyone have or is using any of the new Epson printers to output Contax images?

I'm specifically interested in either the 2200 or larger 24" wide version that's about $3,000.
 
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Diane,

If you are on a budget, the Epson 820 is pretty good for up 8x10 print. It only costs $90 which is about the price of the Epson 2200 replacement inks (total 7 inks).

If you want quality, I highly recommand the Epson 2200.
 
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Guest

I am interested in buying a printer. I note that Albert strongly recommends the Epson 2200, the model I am leaning towards. Two questions:

Has anyone used this with Macintosh, specifically a G4 wih OS X (10.1)?

Does anyone have experience with other printers in this general price range? (US $500-900)?

Thank you
 
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Bernard,

I have an Epson 2000P. I would NOT recommend it for precision color control. I have made many beautiful prints with it but the colors have been often very tough to control. Yes, I have a calibrated monitor. I even attended a color management workshop at Cone Editions. I purchased a profile from Cone. Still I had problems. (I must say Cone offered to work with me more on the profiles).

I am just now setting up a 2200 as a replacement. I will let you know how it goes.

As for Mac versus the PC, you probably should not be concerned. At the Cone Edition workshops, they use a mix of PCs and Macs. Macs have had better color control at the monitor end but even this difference is negligible. As for printing, It appeared Cone used PCs for actually printing to their Epsons 7000s and 9000s.

Fred
 
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I would say buy a non-beta OSX first. I don't think firewire is supported with 10.1 not to mention nothing in the future will be supported for that beta.

> I am interested in buying a printer. I note that Albert strongly > recommends the Epson 2200, the model I am leaning towards. Two > questions: > > Has anyone used this with Macintosh, specifically a G4 wih OS X > (10.1)?
 
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> This is not a beta version of the OS. I was just saying I don=B9t use 10.2. > Sorry if I was unclear.
 
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> Marc, > > Thanks for the opinion. I take it you have one and are quite pleased. Could > you elaborate a bit?
 
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I just purchased the epson Photo Stylus 960 and have printed a number of pictures with excellent results. The model you inquire about is similar except it prints larger format and has some features my doesn't The principle difference between this printer and others is the use of 6 ink cartridges to give the print closer to photo quality. As far as papers and quality I don't think there is anything better than the epson, and the 2200 is perhaps the best one. I am waiting for a free cd printer which was offerred at the time, but still haven't received it. I compared the prints I have with photo prints done on the noritzu photo processor and see very little, if any difference in the quality. There is still a richness to regular photo prints that outshines the computer generated prints, but so far I am happy with the prints. My printer is a lot less, at about 400, and given the market, if you don't have to print large format all the time, the 960 is a great comprimise. RC
 
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Guest

The Epson 2200 is the best photo printer ever offered for less than $2,000. Buy it and don't look back; you WON'T find better in a desktop solution. BTW, it works fine with my dual 1.25 G4 & 10.1 and later.
 
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Guest

That is really a matter of opinion. The ultrachrome inks have a sheen when viewed at an angle and the 2200 is very much about finding the right paper/ink match. You may also want to consider the 1290. It is six ink (although not separate tanks) and prints supern quality photo-realistic prints up to A3+ size.

Simon
 
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I have the Epson 950 which is the UK equivalent to the 960. I produce prints from my Aria via the Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED and a few tweaks from the scanner software and Adobe Photoshop 7.0 which surpasses anything I’ve ever seen from conventional labs. From many years experience as lithographic printer the secret of high quality printing is in the quality of the paper, it luminance, purity of whiteness, the ability to keep the ink on the surface of the paper not soaking into the paper and its inability to alter the colours of the ink through ultraviolet chemical reaction. I use Photoflash Paper, Epson are far from the best photo papers on the market, trust me it makes one hell of a difference which paper you use.
 
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I bought one a few months ago and work under mac Os 10.2.4 now.

well, my experience it is hell ! The firewire and USB connection crashes all the time, the driver that should support A3 printing (larger then US legal) is =20 not ready yet . Thank you epson. Alos borderless printing doesnt work =20=

... and the colors can be perfect but .. You ll have to try a lot. before =20=

finding the good match.

I did extensive color testing as described in the luminous landscape =20 articles and even bought a special book for the occasion but still the colors are different every time (because the ink becomes =20=

warmer ..)

Still I won a photo contest some time ago (my first) with a black and =20=

white print of the epson ..

conclusion : The good news is that the printer is capable of doing great, the bad =20 news is that is is Epson, so if you dont find it out yourself you are lost. (epson support line people are good for selling thats =20 all, they dont know Mac system at all )

Jan
 
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Guest

Hi Bernard,

I have not used the 2200, but I have an Epson 1280 which I love. I have made fabulous photo quality prints on it up to 13 x 19. I scan my slides with a Nikon Coolscan IVED (4000 dpi). I also use Ilford Smooth Pearl and Smooth Glossy Paper. Their (Ilford's) "Classic" series needs a magenta adjustment when printing and I haven't been too successful with it, although I admittedly have only tried two or three prints.

You have to be careful buying paper because only certain papers are compatible with pigment inks, which is what the ultrachrome inks used on the 2200 are (as opposed to the dye inks used on the 1280.

Epson's ads are definately misleading (borderless prints can be made on the 1280 at 8 1/2 x 11, 4x6, and 13x19 only)as they imply borderless printing on all sizes.

I have used this printer on OS 10.1 and there is also a 10.2 driver out there on their support site. No problems.

Whatever you do, DON'T GO TO HP. I used to recommend HP all the time (I'm a computer consultant professionally), but they sort of dissed the Mac about 6 years ago and they couldn't care less. Epson's software is far superior and every printer they bring out is both Mac and Win compatible. They are better constructed and don't feel like they came out of a crackerjack box. For a laser printer HP is fine, but that's it.

Good luck

Gary
 
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Bernard,

Just read my post and it was confusing in one area. I used the 1280 on 10.1 and now use it on 10.2. Powerbook G4 1 Gig processor.

Gary
 
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My experience is with the 7600 (the 2200's big brother), using the ultrachrome inkset configured for matte paper ( I hate glossy). My computer is an Apple G4 Powerbook which runs both OS 9 and OS X. Since I'm an old dog who still isn't comfortable with OS X, I boot up in OS 9. What I see on my little monitor is virtually identical to what comes out of the printer, no matter what paper I have used. My choices in that regard would be the Somerset Velvet Photo Enhanced and the Crane Fine Art papers thaty Epson markets for this printer. My ultimate paper is Hahnemuhle's Photo Rag, which produces 13 X 19 and larger prints that are to die for. Epson's enhanced matte and watercolor radiant white are OK for proofs because the color gamut is the same as the higher priced papers.
 
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Thanks to all for comments and advice on the 2200, possible alternatives, and paper. Many Mac users here are saying the 2200 works fine under OS X, either version. I have an Oct issue of MacWorld, which reviews the 2200. They like it a lot, but complain that many of the features, including matte black ink, roll feed, and borderless printing, do not work under OS X. Do I understand that the driver has been upgraded to take care of these problems?

Bernard
 
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> [With the exception of one Kodak Dye-sub printer, all the prints in the digital lab at my University are Epson including two 2200's. The printers are excellent and produce very high quality prints but I agree with the previous points that the colour configurations are touchy and that it is very important to choose your paper and ink well. The only problem with the printers is when printing black and white. Just as the Kodak Dye-sub printer ads a hint of purple to black and white prints, the Epson ads a hint of green. I have not personally attemped to adjust the colour configurations to get rid of the green but my professors have told me that they and the lab techs have been trying for a long time to get rid of the problem without success. The green is VERY subtle but with a contrasty print it is noticable.

Hope that helps
 
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Guest

Owners of the 4- and 6-color Epson printers listed below might be interested in a continuous inking system (CIS). This replaces the normal cartridges with special cartridges that connect, via a ribbon of fine tubes, to little ink bottles; this is basically a miniature version of the ink reservoirs on large roll-fed inkjets. You buy ink in bulk and simply refill the bottles as necessary. You no longer throw away unused ink because one color in your cartridge is used up; the bulk cost of ink is very, very small compared to how expensive cartridges are. I've got one of these on order for my 1280. The systems are designed to install without making any permanent changes to your printer.

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There are models for the Epson 740, 750, 760, 860, 870, 875, 880, 890, 900, 980, 1160, 1200, 1270, 1280 and 1290.

You also have the option of changing your printer over to a different kind of ink (such as switching from dye-based inks to pigment inks), but this is complicated because your device profiles will change.
 
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Guest

Bernard,

The latest driver for the 2200 is version V1.3aA which was posted to their web site in Dec 2002. It works with OS10.1.3 to 10.2.1 (officially). It may work with versions higher that 10.2, but you'd just have to try it.

Also whether or not it addresses the issues you are concerned about, I don't know. There's probably a read-me file in the download.

The epson site also has a page specifically devoted to OSX compatibility issues.

Since anything you read in a magazine is one to two months old, and at the rate things change today, especially updating drivers, I find most of the magazines relatively useless in this regard.

Gary
 
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