Digital BW, The Print

THM,

I realized you got some answers to your Icefield question but not the 
others.


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., thm@b... wrote:
> Just joined the discussion group and I hate to ask something that's 
> probably already been discussed but.....I'm looking at at a digital 
> B&W darkroom in the near future and among all the things there are 
to 
> be confused about, I've got questions about the software set-up. 
> Piezo has had well documented problems, most seemingly related to 
> hardware compatability (banding, etc.)and is expensive. On the 
other 
> hand, MIS (presumably with an Epson driver) looked like Tri-X in 
> Rodinal vs. a 4X5 negative compared to the Piezo system in 
the "blow-
> ups" on Cone's website.

I had the same reaction to this comparison and it was a very big 
deciding factor in my starting with Piezo. I now have the MIS VM in a 
1280 and Piezo in a 1200, and I just don't see anything looking like 
that kind of difference they show in that comparison. I have to say 
that I find it extremely misleading.

My own opinion on the two, and I am sure there are many others, is 
that the Piezo driver pushes the Epson printers to the limit in order 
to obtain maximum dpi, sharpness and smooth tone. I have seen some 
wonderful Piezo prints off of different 1160's that were entirely 
free of dots, bands or any kind of pattern under magnification. My 
1200 has never come close. Despite all my effort there is some 
microscopic banding and window screen pattern.

I believe that the problem is that, if the specs of an individual 
Epson printer is not dead on or start to drift, the Piezo driver 
reveals the flaws and those flaws can show up on your prints. I think 
the Epson driver is perhaps a more realistic driver that better takes 
into account the printer-to-printer variation of the mechanical 
capabilities of the Epson desktop printers.

With everything working properly and at normal viewing distances, I 
do not find that one is better than the other. Under magnification a 
good Piezo is slightly better, a Piezo with microscopic banding is 
worse. I will take the dots over the banding myself. This in not to 
say the Epson drive is perfect in regards to banding. Close 
examination of a print will show you the direction of print travel in 
very smooth areas. With the Epson driver I see this in the 75% tones 
as a dark linear texture and with the Piezo in the 25 to 50% tones as 
light lines.

I have not yet tried the new Piezo software so perhaps there have 
been some improvements.

> The MIS website snipes at Piezo - even saying 
> one of their workflow authors preferred the Epson workflow to 
Piezo. 
> Who knows what to believe. It would be nice if the MIS inks offered 
a 
> real alternative using Piezo software.

I agree but that does not seem likely at this point. The end users 
seem to be building up a pretty good set of workflows and curves for 
the MIS VM and the workflow is pretty simple if not as elegant as the 
Piezo.

> I didn't think most people 
> were too impressed with any Epson driver.

I think it is pretty good myself and well matched to the hardware.

> The MIS website also 
> mentions a coming B-curve plug-in. Is it a new driver than replaces 
> the Epson?

I am not familiar with this and was not able to find it on their 
site. Can you point me to where you found it?
> 
> Finally, I saw a website with a program called Icefields that 
> predated Piezo and looked like serious stuff but it may have 
required 
> a third party RIP to work at its peak. The website has since 
> disappeared. Anyone know anything about it? 
> 
> Has anyone used MIS and Piezo together? 

I have seen prints made using the MIS Full Spectrum ink set and the 
Piezo driver on an 1160 in prime condition. There was some small 
differences in brightness/contrast but the quality was equal to the 
print with Piezo inks. Two big problems here are the fact that MIS 
only sells the FS set in quad and not hex. Since there are no longer 
any new 1160 or 3000's available in the U.S. this is limiting. The 
other issue is that ConeTech does not sell the software without a set 
of cartridges or a CIS. 

Piezo is a very good way to go especially if you have not experience 
in quad printing. I would still be using it if I liked the color of 
the ink set but I don't. I think this is one of the main motivations 
for some people to move to other ink sets. Other people love the 
color of Piezo inks. It is a very individual decision and the number 
of choices is growing. 

Martin Wesley