Re: Comments on the Current State of Large-Format Printers
Re: Comments on the Current State of Large-Format Printers
- Subject: Re: Comments on the Current State of Large-Format Printers
- From: edmund ronald <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:08:12 +0100
There were still perceptible gamut differences a couple of years ago
(HP had red issues, probably fixed now), and the behavior of the
various makes on some media eg. glossy was very different due to their
inks. Also, the embedded spectro on the HPs can really change the
user experience. The technology has progressed substantially in the
past two years due to aggressive efforts by HP and Canon to chew off
pieces of Epson's fine arts market share.
Edmund
On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 11:16 PM, Scott Martin <email@hidden> wrote:
> Hi Steven. The state of the current line-up of printers is *very* complex. The fact that there is so much discuss is probably why no one has answered your posting yet. A lot of us on this list work with all three brands on a regular basis, and try to stay as unbiased as possible. I personally like and all three brands for different reasons and recommend them all for different situations.
>
> I think the best way of addressing your question is to start by asking "for what purpose do you intend to use your printer?" For high end photographic work, Epson's HDR and Canon's latest Lucia EX inksets have a lot to offer in terms of color gamut, DMax and advanced fine screening. I've been doing lots of side-by-side tests on these printers over the past few weeks and love both of these printers (the 9900 and 8300). The Canon's were just announced on Monday so there's not a lot of public knowledge of them just yet, but I can tell you they offer quite a value for the money. The rebate wars will probably heat up again so we'll have to wait and see what the final street pricing ends up being on these models and their 24" siblings.
>
> If you're not looking for the best-of-the-best, HP's Z3200, Canon's x100 and Epson's x880 printers are affordable and all make fantastic prints. Canon's are popular for their low cost of entry, speed, and excellent printing software. HP's are popular for their built-in, hands free color management capabilities, gloss optimizer and best-of-class archival specs. Epson's are popular for their brand recognition and reliability. Some people dislike Epson's lack of simultaneous dual black support (in the x880 24 and 44" printers), HP's slow print speeds and Canon's unknown factor. HP's and Canon's print heads are replaceable which some like and other's don't for different reasons.
>
> Later in the spring I'll be hosting a private event where people can get hands on with a 9900, 8300 and Z3200 with lots of papers all in one printmaking studio. If you can find an event like that in your area it might be enlightening.
>
> Either way you go it's hard to lose. All of these printers make fantastic prints. Little details like what type of custom camera and printer profiles you employ, what type of print sharpening and media you choose are likely to make more of a print quality difference than the printer itself.
>
> Scott Martin
> www.on-sight.com
>
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