[Leica] Replacement printer - off list

[drodgers at casefarms.com (David Rodgers)]

Daniel,

I was glad to read your post. I've struggled to find a good a bw print
solution for a while. But I just purchased a refurbished R800 from
Epson. Like you, I'm going to buy a set of K7 inks and QTR. 

I gave serious thought to larger printers, like the 2200, 2400, 3800 and
R1800. But cost and/or footprint were issues. I thought about the new
HP, but I didn't want to be locked into their expensive inks.

I decided that a letter sized printer is the way to go. I considered the
C86/C88 and MIS EZ, and several other printers. But I finally decided on
the R800. It looks solid. 

I'm not real familiar with the K7 inks. I've only read good things about
QTR and Harrington. The only reason I haven't ordered the inks is that I
can't decide which tone. I think I'm going Neutral. I prefer slightly
warm, but not overly warm prints. I understand you can change tone
somewhat by changing papers. 

I'm one of the early Piezography users. I bought the software and inks
from Cone early on. I had good luck with the inks and the Piezo driver.
I used  an Epson 3000 that was also a refurb. That printer never had the
slightest hickup. Not even a clog. It was a workhorse, and still is, but
showing it's age. My only complaint about the 3000 is that it won't feed
thicker papers. That was a known flaw. 

I went through growing pains with Piezography. It ended up costing more
than I anticipated, and it was expensive to start with. I had photos
turn greenish. Eventually I got inks that behaved. I printed many images
with the original inks on Somerset Enhanced Velvet paper. I did custom
printing for a portrait photographer, who is also a friend until it got
to be too much work. I liked the fact that I could print forever without
swapping carts. I was so spoiled that I bought an MIS CFS on an Epson
1200, which I used for color. That, OTOH, was a disaster.

People complained that the early Piezo inks were too warm. Yet that's
why I liked them. When Cone switched to PiezoTone inks I stuck with the
originals. They were sold by another vendor and renamed Sundance. 

I felt that Cone changed things too often and it always ended up costing
his customers something. I sort of held that against Inkjetmall. OTOH, I
think he's done a lot to pioneer bw inkjet printing. And his stuff is
good.

Change -- such as when a printer breaks down and you need to replace it
or you're forced to change inks or paper due to supply -- is
frustrating. I don't mind spending time learning something new and doing
some setup. But ultimately I want reliability and consistency when I
push the print button. And I don't want to set things up over and over. 

I mention all this because I'll be anxious to hear about your experience
with the K7 inks. Which tone did you buy? I'll let you know what I
experience, as well. We just moved into a new house and I just set up my
office last weekend. I hope to be printing quite a bit. I've got quite a
backlog. Probably a couple of weeks before I can get everything set up,
though. 

Thanks again for your post.

Dave
   
 

You wrote:

A follow-up.

Beside my Epson Stylus C86 I have an Epson Stylus Photo R800. The latter

one has been dedicated to color because when I bought it, there was no 
way to get 5 decent b/w photographs out of it that could be hung side by

side and look like they had been printed according to the same 
specifications. Color casts all over the playing field.

Since then Quadtone RIP has been implemented for the R800. So I 
downloaded it. You can test it for free and pay $50 if you want to be 
honest and want to keep using it. I haven't decided yet.

http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRoverview.html

Quadtone RIP has been implemented for two sets of inks: Epson's original

  Ultrachome and Piezography Neutral K7 Inks.

http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRpiezobw.html

I don't have the latter inks (yet, they are on the way), so I tested the

Epson Ultrachrome inks.

Long story short: if you set Quadtone RIP to "better" printing rather 
than "faster" you can get prints that are very close in quality to the 
MIS Associates Ultratone EZ for the C86. I would say the C86 still has 
the edge, but you would only be able to say that in a side by side 
comparison. There is a bit more snap to the MIS/C86 print.

On the other hand, you can print from cold to neutral and warm (sepia) 
with Quadtone RIP. With the MIS/C86 setup, you have to chose your inks 
(warm or neutral) and live with it.

I've ordered the K7 inks from http://www.inkjetmall.com

If you want to do that and live in Europe, definitely contact them 
rather than just ordering through the web page. The web page will stick 
you with $90 postage for 8 cartridges when they can be mailed for about 
$12 with the standard airmail from the post office rather than the 
outright rip off from UPS.

Daniel