A2/3+ colour printers

[ncbuxton]

Hi All,
Not quite Nikon related BUT:
If you were looking for an A2 or A3+ printer, would you choose the Epson 3880 /2880 or the Canon 9500 Mk 2? Any why? I saw that Nikon were developing a relationship with Epson and that Canon declare the 9500 "shares DNA" with the EOS cameras (HMM, DNA is not usually required in a plastic/ metal/ glass object ! - so I worry about their science! <BG>).
I favour the 3880 BUT am very willing to listen to the experts.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Nigel

[ameerat42]

Yeah, the abuse of DNA makes me piooke too. Heck! Even some shoes and cars tout it now(??)
Now what did you ask? Ah, printers. Well, I have always favoured Epson, but a friend always went for Canon.
We're still fighting, though I only had an A3 printer for a couple of years. It broke down twice, the second time I ditched it. While it ran it was great.
I haven't been disposed to do the experiment since, and I've stuck to A4. It is still going after quite a few years. Pity about the ink cost.
(Excuse this more rant than reply.)
Am

[I @ M]

Sorry, but I have to ask why you would want to outlay the money to buy ANY good quality printer when there are so many very capable specialist print labs that can deliver great work in a very short time frame at an extremely good price these days.
Do a very careful examination of how many # x # size prints that you can have printed and delivered to your door before you have even finalised the bill on the new printer and ink cartridges let alone started calculating the price of each print.

[MarkChap]

Andrew, for small order printing, places like RGB are not that economical, at $12.00 or there about to get the order shipped back to Rockhampton/Yeppoon it sort of kills the economy of the process.

IF printing in small quantities.

[Steve Axford]

I recently bought a Canon Pro 9500. Why? Well, after much research I decided that the Epsom and the Canon were very similar, but I was familiar with Canon and it seemed likely to use less ink (in $ terms). All printers are a pain in the arse, and this one is no exception, but it does print very well, and it lets you try things that you would never try with a commercial print shop. I suspect that you really need calibration tools (they cost a significant fraction of the printer cost), but you can live without them.

[I @ M]

Mark, I agree about the delivery fee impacting on the scale of economy when ordering small numbers of prints.
I was thinking more along the lines of the costs associated with larger orders.
A thorough breakdown of the prices involved to print your own versus getting a lab to do it would be very interesting and I am looking at printing 16 x 24 inch prints as that is what you would buy an A2 capable printer for so the factors to me are --

To print your own;
Initial purchase price of printer with one full set of inks.
Cost of paper for each 10 prints you do.
Time and money spent calibrating the printer to your image editing software.

To have your prints done at a lab ( RGB as an example).
No initial outlay on printer and ink.
The cost of the paper is in with the printing.
A monitor calibrator is a must have as far as I am concerned for image editing when preparing to have your prints done at a lab but there is no time spent setting your home printer up to match your editing program and paper.
Delivery cost adds to the print price.

If you only want one or two prints per month then the delivery cost impacts the price from RGB but at the same time if you are printing the same number at home per month then you have an expensive printer sitting idle for quite a long time and your bank balance / credit card depleted somewhat with the ink deteriorating / drying out unused.
If you are printing 10 images at a time per month at the lab then the RGB delivery fee drops to $1.20 per print and I don't consider that a huge hit in the wallet for already reasonably priced prints.
If you are printing 10 a month at home is it enough to justify the initial outlay on printer, ink and paper?
Does the cost of a home print come in significantly cheaper than a lab with delivery factored in?
When we examined ( some time ago ) the price of home printing and investigated on average the number of prints you would get from a full set of inks the lab printing looked a better option.
Obviously it is all going to relate to how often you print and the quantities involved as to whether you can justify either alternative with the other factor of full control of the process by yourself coming into play printing at home.

[ncbuxton]

Thanks to all for their input.
Guess the choice between the 2 main manufacturers is carried on mRNA! Heaven prevent mutation -or incomplete penetrance.
I appreciate the wisdom of costing the number of prints against the benefits of a Pro printer against a home printer. Shipping to Rocky / Yeppoon can be slow - and we live away from Yeppoon so have to travel to the local Auspost agency to collect anything bigger than a DVD!
Colour calibration: We use a Spyder monitor / printer calibration system, this has worked well for us.
After the advice, it is time to dig out the slide rule and do some basic maths.

[ameerat42]

Gasp! For this ...

penetrance.

... you should do PENNANTS!

[soulman]

I have an Epson 3800 which I find to be excellent in every way. I don't use it anywhere near enough to justify having it from a purely financial perspective, but I prefer to have complete control over the process and the overall equation works for me. I didn't buy a Canon because at the time Epson was considered to be the pick and the 3800 seemed like a great printer at a very good price considering how much ink it comes with.

Mine can go for months without being used but it fires up every time and prints without issues. I shake the cartridges before use and print a nozzle check first up, but that's about it. I have had occasional clogging issues with it but that's only ever been when I've been using it in extremely hot weather. There are good quality ICC profiles available for it from most major paper manufacturers and I have found these to be pretty good. Custom profiles can also be made once you decide what paper you want to use, if you want to get the best possible performance from it.

If you need to get the costs down to their lowest point, it is possible to purchase inks from the US and they are much cheaper than here. A number of retailers, like B&H, won't ship them to Aus, but some will and the cartridges are well under half price.

[ncbuxton]

Just simple genetics! Some genes don't always fully show their characteristics. Just hate biological terms for non-biological items. Pedantic perhaps.

[olegusan]

My 3/4 cents:

I had similar delema few months ago and ended up getting Epson 3800.
Very happy with the purchase. Fantastic result every time.

It does not print on rolls with the stock driver but with a little persuasion it can bee arranged too.

[ericd]

Folks,
Purchased the Epson Pro4900 back in December and have as yet to put it to commercial use. However, for the few prints I have produced to date it has as one would expect exceeded expectations.

I live in Townsville, North Queensland and have the printer in an air-conditioned room. I only mention this as you stated the 3800 had a couple of clogs in hot weather. Not sure as I haven't had the air off for about 4 months now, but feel that the heat and humidity are something that would still affect Epson printers.

Other than that, the 4900 with spectro proofer is a bloody big and nice machine.

Regards
Eric
Blue Ice Pix

[ncbuxton]

Thanks for the advice. Glad to see the input from Townsville (thanks Eric) as you will get similar weather conditions to us. (We store the cameras etc in a dry cabinet) so will look at that for the paper.

[Sobriquet]

I adore my Epson 3880 but had bad experiences with a canon large format printer previously so was turned off. I have got through 1 set of inks in the last few months and I really love the prints. It doesn't have the quality and technical issues I experienced with Canaon. I am a canon shooter. Works just fine with the epson.

[katiedransfield]

I'm considering the new Epson R3000. I had a Canon Pixma Pro 9500 (mark I) and it stopped working a couple of weeks ago without warning. Apparently the print head has gone. With the new print head and set of inks (that were drained in the declogging process) it was going to cost $900 to fix. I've only had it a couple of years and it hasn't had that much use...so now I'm thinking either Epson or use the labs. The Epson R3000 only came out in March I believe...how does anyone rate this against the R3880 or R2880??

[ncbuxton]

I love my 3880. The colours are good and it works well with the iMac and Photoshop. We are using Canson Baryta paper out of choice but have had good results with the Epson Matte finished. Used some of the fibre art papers (Canson) in B&W and they look great. Th e3000: not sure, having just bought the 3880 I was scared to look at the later model!!!

[I @ M]

.how does anyone rate this against the R3880 or R2880??

What size do you want to print at?
The R3000 is an A3+ as is the R2880 whilst the R3880 is an A2 size.
Whilst the quality of the product and its output may be very similar between the 3 it is bit hard to compare them against each other size and price wise.