Someone tell me why I shouldn't...

[SwissJon]

Right,, After a lot of umming and ahhing, I'm about to spend more than I've ever spent on a printer.

I've considered lots of options..

Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mk 11 - Reason for rejecting.. No WiFi, no Paper roll, Dye based inks. (If it had wired network or wifi I'd have considered it.. But I need to have my printer a long way from where I normally sit.

Epson R3000 - Reason for rejecting - Cost. Lost ink when changing black ink heads.

Epson R2000- This is the one I settled on.. It's roughly the same price as the Canon. It's got pigment based ink (for fade resistance) like the R3000 WiFi Paper roll. Only downside I can make out is the lack of 2 extra black inks.. But I don't go B&W often.

I've also considered and rejected the R2880 and the 3880.

Somebody stop me.. What options have I missed? Why have I made a mistake on this? I'm going to buy it tomorrow, so long as nobody convinces me otherwise.

[Turd Ferguson]

Why are you needing a printer? Why not just have it printed off site?

I've found that over time it's not worth the hassle and money to print my own stuff.

..........

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by Turd Ferguson

Why are you needing a printer? Why not just have it printed off site?

I've found that over time it's not worth the hassle and money to print my own stuff.

Turd.............love it!

[Jim Bryant]

Turn John, ink and paper is expensive. Then you have to color correct the monitor, which you'll need a device that will do that for you. All you have to do is get the printing profiles of the lab you are working with and load them into the image.

[gturner]

Unless you need to print at an event / fair, home printing is never a good idea.
I have run the numbers and it is at least double compared to a pro lab... plus they won't charge for screw ups.

Use the money for useful gear!

[SwissJon]

The problem I have is that I DON'T print... ANYTHING. I just can't be bothered because it takes soooo long to get anything back.. And more often than not, when I can be bothered, I then wait a week or so the pictures, then they turn out too dark/bright/green/blue/red, and I can't be bothered to ge it redone and wait another week, and having to guess how I should correct the colour.. At least with a local printer, I can print a contact sheet. Figure out what corrections I need to make in PP, then have another print and then do the final one.

I understand everything you're saying about getting stuff printed professionally, but I just don't. And to be honest, it's that which is pissing me off. It's all very nice having a portfoio on line to show people, but I don't print pictures to give to people, so I don't give presents. I have a load of nice frames at home, and they're all empty.

And I do have a Spyder3Express to callibrate my screen.. I don't mind callibrating a printer too.. I just want to be able to have something to show for all this hard work.

[ravncat]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Right,, After a lot of umming and ahhing, I'm about to spend more than I've ever spent on a printer.

I've considered lots of options..


Epson R3000 - Reason for rejecting - Cost. Lost ink when changing black ink heads.

Epson R2000- This is the one I settled on.. It's roughly the same price as the Canon. It's got pigment based ink (for fade resistance) like the R3000 WiFi Paper roll. Only downside I can make out is the lack of 2 extra black inks.. But I don't go B&W often.

I've also considered and rejected the R2880 and the 3880.

Somebody stop me.. What options have I missed? Why have I made a mistake on this? I'm going to buy it tomorrow, so long as nobody convinces me otherwise.

You don't lose that much ink when changing black ink cartriges with the 2880 - but you do lose some. I have the 2880 and find myself printing one type of black till it runs out and switching then, or putting in another of the same, It will only really cost you in ink if you're switching alot.

The multiple black inks are useful in more than just black and white prints, they tend to increase tonality in your blacks / shadows. This also helps with density related issues that lead to (forget the proper term) that copperization in blacks you sometimes see - esp on older inkjets

I like my 2880, but I don't know much about the 2000 or 3000.

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by ravncat

You don't lose that much ink when changing black ink cartriges with the 2880 - but you do lose some. I have the 2880 and find myself printing one type of black till it runs out and switching then, or putting in another of the same, It will only really cost you in ink if you're switching alot.

The multiple black inks are useful in more than just black and white prints, they tend to increase tonality in your blacks / shadows. This also helps with density related issues that lead to (forget the proper term) that copperization in blacks you sometimes see - esp on older inkjets

I like my 2880, but I don't know much about the 2000 or 3000.

I think the term you were after is "bronzing".. Which apparently is better controlled in the 2000 than the 3000. It's probably the different inks. The R2880 uses the same K3 ink system as the R3000 and the 3880. (I've done a little research! )

The reason I rejected the 2880 is simply because it's just an older model of the R3000 without the WiFi.. I have to keep my printers away from where I work for practicalities sake, so a USB printer is a pain in the neck, I have got a USB to WiFi adaptor, but it's not the same.

Anyhow, the R2000 and R3000 work with iPrint so I can waste loads of ink printing from my iPhone.

[Barry Jackson]

I have an older 2200 that I still love. I have friends with the 2880 and the 3880. They are very satisfied especially with the black and white prints.

I like having a printer for times like today. A client stopped by and wanted some prints of a Halloween session I had done. She was in and out with her prints in less than 45 minutes and that included photoshop time.

I'd like to see an online lab do that.

I also enjoy printing. I still run a small test print a lot of times before I print the final just to look at a reflective rather than a back lit image. No matter how well you calibrate your monitor there are always differences in what you see on the screen and what your print looks like. Maybe not enough to matter to most people, though.

Just us super critical control freak types.