Digital BW, The Print

Hi Paul,  It's good to find you on this list.  I wanted to tell you 
about my friend's switch from 3000 to 7000.  His prints are great, but 
when I compare the same file on each printer side by side (cone 
system), I'm hard pressed to say the 7000 is significantly better.  
Through a loup it looks tighter, but that 3000 has held it's own over 
the years. 

Incidently, I just bought an 1160 and have not set it up yet for Piezo, 
but I was disappointed to hear that you think the 3000 is superior. I 
thought I was buying "state of the art" for Piezo work.  The 3000 must 
have the longest production run of any Epson printer.

Frank
http://www.culturalvsions.com


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Paul Roark" <
paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Todd,
> 
> I have not seen any direct, objective comparisons between the 7000 and the
> smaller-dot Epsons to know whether there is a visible difference.  The
> prints and test strips I've seen from the 7000 using the Epson driver are
> excellent, so I assume it will be visually equal to the others and
> presumably better than the alternative for large prints -- the 3000.  (I
> assume no one would buy either of these unless you want to do large prints.
> For me, the 16x20 has always been my target size, so I now have a 3000 as
> well as an 1160.)
> 
> I don't know how the dot sizes of the 3000 and 7000 compare, but I assume
> the 7000 is smaller.  Additionally, the 7000 with the variable-tone inkset
> will be a true hextone -- which does make a small difference; more shades of
> ink allow for smoother outputs.   (Note that the Piezo 7000 inkset is really
> just a quad -- 4 total shades, not 6.  The nozzle checks with Piezo ink
> indicate that the light/photo shade inks are the same densities as the
> others.  That is, the magenta and light/photo magenta are the same.)
> 
> As good as I expect the 7000 to be, I want to add that I've been pleasantly
> surprised at the high quality of the 3000 output.  That printer has large
> dots and a bad reputation for paper handling and banding (especially with
> the Piezo driver).  In test strips using the variable-tone inkset I can see
> some graininess, but in 16x20s, I don't see any evidence of it.  My medium
> format Tmax 100 negatives appear to be the limiting factors, not the 3000's
> dots.  Using Archival Matte fed from the front, the printer feeds perfectly
> and has no banding.  (I think it is actually better than my 1160.)  (I have
> a pre-release 24" roll of Archival Matte.  It'll be released next month by
> Epson.)
> 
> You'll notice that for the 3000 I have two "NC" (neutral-cool) curves.  What
> I found is that different curves produce dots at different places.  Contrary
> to my expectations, the dots are not visible in the highlights (where the
> Epson ink in the 3000 shows bad dots).  Rather, the dots show up in the
> midtones or dark tones.  On most of the curves, the dots are so mild as to
> be irrelevant.  With the NC curves, however, I decided to make two versions
> so that if the dots do show in a print, the other curve can be used and the
> dots may then be in a place where they will not show.
> 
> So, to get back to the 7000, I expect it will be a great printer with the
> variable-tone inkset.  However, if one can't afford the 7000, and if you can
> live with paper thin enough to feed from the front, I would not hesitate to
> buy a 3000.  For 16x20s it is the cheap way to go, and my 16x20 Archival
> Matte prints look great.  (I may need to remove a pizza wheel, but I haven't
> bothered yet.)
> 
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com
> 
> 
> 
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: Todd Flashner [mailto:tflash@e...]
>   Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 10:20 PM
>   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...
>   Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Greetings
> 
> 
>   Welcome back Paul. Alaska Huh? Lucky boy.
> 
>   Looks like MIS is up to good things.
> 
>   Question: with Piezo, the 7000 seems to be the top of the line from a
>   quality-output point of view (as well as everything else too, I suppose) -
>   is that true with your variable-tone method too, or with it's larger
> droplet
>   size than some of the smaller printers, does the 7000's output suffer
>   relative to them?
> 
>   Todd
> 
>   > Hi,
>   >
>   > I'm back, and glad to see that there is a new and independent forum for
>   > discussing B&W printing technologies.  The Piezo forum has lots of
>   > knowledgeable people, but it's really only for Piezo inks.  The
> Epson-inkjet
>   > forum is also very useful, but I'm really just into B&W, and most of the
>   > discussions there are not that relevant.
>   >
>   > How does this forum compare to the DigitalSilver@t... forum?
>   >
>   > At any rate, I'm back.
>   >
>   > It looks like MIS has posted some of the variable-tone (their "variable
>   > mix") materials.  I'll be finishing the 1280 curves soon.  The 7000 is
> also
>   > now in the works. (Interestingly, a 2000 user is switching in the
>   > variable-tone inkset.  I had never though of that as a 3rd party ink
>   > machine.)
>   >
>   > Paul
>   > http://www.PaulRoark.com
>   >
>   >
>   >
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