Re: [Leica] Black and white printers

["Simon Lamb" <simon@sclamb.com>]

Tina and everyone who offered advice,

Thank you all for the great response to my question.  I have decided to go
with the Espon 1160 with ConeTech BW system for B&W printing exclusively.  I
may (funds permitting) replace my Photo 700 with a new 1270 (or 1290) for
colour printing - this printer has had excellent reviews for its colour
output quality.  I am waiting for a response from ConeTech regarding whether
there is a UK distributor for their BW system.

Thanks again to Tina and everyone else.

Simon


Tina Manley Wrote:

> Simon -
>
> The only reason to go with the 3000 (I have two of them) is if you need
the
> larger size prints or want the large capacity ink cartridges.  The quality
> is about the same for all of the printers with Piezography but the newer
> ones seem to have fewer problems with banding (which I've never had but
> others have.)
>
> The 1270 is on sale now at The Stock Solution web site.  Here is what
Royce
> Bair says about it:
>
> EPSON DROPS PRICE ON 1270 TO $399.00
> EPSON INTRODUCING 1290 INTO THE U.S.A. ON FEBRUARY 11th
> 1290 or 1270? - OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
> Epson has introduced the new 1290 in some parts of Europe. We can probably
> expect Epson to announce it at the PMA convention in Orlando, Florida
(Feb.
> 11-14). Last year at the PMA (in Las Vegas), Epson announced the 1270 and
> 870, but it was over a month before it hit the dealers shelves. Expect the
> same thing to happen this year: The 1290 will probably not be regularly
> available at dealers until mid March 2001.
> You can always tell that Epson is about to phase out a product and
> introduce a replacement, when they drop the price on that product (the
only
> time that hasn't occurred is with the 3000 and 1520 - they dropped the
> prices dramatically, and these old "work horses" still remain in
> production). The 1160 had been at $449 for over a year. They dropped the
> price to $299, and announced discontinued production about three to four
> months later.
> Epson has just announced a price reduction for the 1270 to a suggested
> price of $399.00, so expect it to be discontinued within about 4 months or
> less.
> The specifications for the new 1290 (from the European web sites) show
that
> it, along with all the other new printers Epson is introducing, will be
> capable of a new printing resolution of 720 x 2880 dpi. Going to this
> higher resolution will increase the printing time by about 2X, and for a
> very little increase in quality -- the 1270 is already has the highest
> visual quality of any printer Epson makes (higher than that of a real
> photographic print). This increase in resolution comes only through an
> increase in the stepping motor increments -- it is just advancing the
paper
> a shorter distance (1/2 that of the 720 x 1440 dpi mode) between each
print
> head pass. We also estimate that using the 720 x 2880 dpi mode will
> probably use about 50% more ink (as it currently does when going from 720
x
> 720 dpi to 720 x 1440 dpi). The 720 x 2880 dpi print mode will show some
> improvement for 4-ink printers that is worth the increased wait and ink
> usage, but for the already ultra-smooth 6-ink 1270, going to the 2880 mode
> that will be available in the 1290 is not really worth it. Oh, here's
> another improvement: The 1290 will also print 3% faster in color than the
> 1270. Whoopee! ;-)
> The 1270 has already been out for almost a year now, and has a proven
> record of great performance and reliability (remember, that the "cyan dye
> fading", or "orange" print problem with the ozone gas is a PGPP or
> paper/ink problem, not a "printer" problem). Did you know that on the
Epson
> UK site (they often give much more info than Epson America) they rate the
> 1270's reliability at over 25,000 letter size pages?! Who knows if the
> 1290's new "2880" stepping motor will alter that reliability? Our advice
to
> our customers: Don't wait for the 1290 -- save $100, and buy the 1270 now,
> while they're still available! Remember, that at Inkjet Art Solutions, you
> get FREE shipping on a 1270:
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Tina
>
>
>
> At 05:37 PM 1/19/01 +0000, you wrote:
> >I have searched through the archives and saw many messages about inkjet
> >printers and Quad inks and Cone systems etc.  I wish to print some black
and
> >white scanned images at the higest quality I can, whether that is as good
as
> >or nearly as good as darkroom produced prints.  Can anyone who has
started
> >down this road, and therefore has real world views on using such
technology,
> >provide me with some guidance as to the state-of-the art as it currently
> >exists.  I presume we would definitely be talking about using the Cone
(or
> >equivalent system) but which printer would provide the highest quality
> >prints.  I have seen mention of the 1270 (or 1290 as it now is), the
2000p
> >(although I believe the Cone system cannot be used with this printer),
the
> >3000 and the 1160.  I know that size of print is a question that will
affect
> >the choice.  I will mainly be printing 10x8, but am happy to pay more for
an
> >A3+ printer if the quality is better than others.
> >
> >If you wish to save bandwidth or avoid repetition then please feel free
to
> >reply privately.
> >
> >Thanks.
> >
> >Simon
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Dan Cardish" <dcardish@sympatico.ca>
> >To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> >Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 11:31 AM
> >Subject: RE: FOM2 (was: RE: [Leica] More PAWs)
> >
> >
> > > or you could simply go to
> > >
> > > http://www.familyofman2.com
> > >
> > > dan c.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > At 09:31 AM 19-01-01 -0000, Brian McCarthy wrote:
> > > >
> > > >>
> > > >> The LUG's Family of Man 2 project, a brainstorm of Alistair
> > > >> Firkin's.  The URL escapes me at this computer ... LUGgers, help
> >please!
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >This is the URL:
> > > >
> > > >http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/FOM2%20Folder/fom2.htm
> > > >
> > > >Brian McCarthy
> > > >straightline design   brian@straightline.co.uk
> > > >www.straightline.co.uk
> > > >
> > >
>
> Tina Manley, ASMP
> http://www.tinamanley.com
>
>