Digital BW, The Print

All:

I am considering upgrading my B&W system from an Epson 1280 using 
Piezography and MIS Full Spectrum inks.

Leaning towards Septone and an Epson 2200.  I found that I can put 
it all together for ~a grand.  The Septone blows my current system 
away--shadow separation is terrific, and there are NO DOTS--even 
under a loupe (as far as I can see).

My question is:  What might be the benefits of switching my 1280 
over to MIS UT2 instead of Septone?  Are any of you using Septone?  
It makes beautiful prints, and I have seen a beautiful limited 
edition book printed with it ("Darktown" by Steve Mulligan).  I have 
not had the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of the UT2 
inks and Septone, though.

Thanks for any input you might have!

Chris

I use both 1280 w/UT2 and 2200 w/Septone both with CIS.

Septone prints are pretty good but the setup was a nightmare. What is
your tolerance for dealing with a company that refuses to admit that
they can make a mistake. It took six weeks to get the system running.
Lots of unanswered emails and lots of test patterns being snail mailed
back and forth across the country. The problem was the wrong inks in
the bottles and cartridges. The bulk inks and the CIS came from
different sources and both sources had defective goods and both
sources refused to acccept responsibility. Finally they sent
replacements and it works fine now but I would not go through that again.

With the 1280 I ordered the UT2 CIS setup from MIS. It arrived in two
days and I had it running in about an hour and no problems since. You
have a lot of control with the 1280 if you stay in grayscale and use
the Epson driver. You can also use Paul's curves.

For my money, the UT2 prints look better, especially in the shadows,
than the septone and no proprietary software and dongles are required.

The 2200 is a great printer but so is the 1280 for a lot less money.

 





--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "petroscans"
<chris@p...> wrote:

> 
> All:
> 
> I am considering upgrading my B&W system from an Epson 1280 using 
> Piezography and MIS Full Spectrum inks.
> 
> Leaning towards Septone and an Epson 2200.  I found that I can put 
> it all together for ~a grand.  The Septone blows my current system 
> away--shadow separation is terrific, and there are NO DOTS--even 
> under a loupe (as far as I can see).
> 
> My question is:  What might be the benefits of switching my 1280 
> over to MIS UT2 instead of Septone?  Are any of you using Septone?  
> It makes beautiful prints, and I have seen a beautiful limited 
> edition book printed with it ("Darktown" by Steve Mulligan).  I have 
> not had the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of the UT2 
> inks and Septone, though.
> 
> Thanks for any input you might have!
> 
> Chris

From the FWIW dept.:  I tried the Septone system on my 2200. After a couple 
hours of getting it installed properly, and then having to wait overnight for 
the ink to "settle" before getting an almost perfect nozzle check, I ran some 
test prints and they were superb. Clean, grainless, neutral color, full of fine 
detail and rich D-max. I was hooked and ordered more inks as backup. After two 
days of not using the printer, I started it up again to make some more Septone 
prints. More nozzle check nightmares! About six hours later, I got an almost 
perfect nozzle check, and subsequent gorgeous prints. A week later, it was 
nozzle-check hell again. I could not get even an "almost" perfect check print. I 
waited 24 hours and tried it again... worse! By then, the new inks had arrived, 
so I replaced all of the existing ones with the new ones, and went through the 
same nozzle check craziness again, but no amount of wait-time, no amount of 
trying every trick in the book would give me better than a very crappy nozzle 
check. Finally, I yanked all the inks and tossed them in the trash. Then I 
downloaded QTR just for the hell of it, knowing full well that a little $50 
shareware RIP was worthless with Epson Ultrachrome Inks. I was shocked by how 
wrong I was. I sent-in my $50 that night, downloaded QTRgui, and that was all I 
needed to make very good b&w prints without switching inks. The Septone prints 
look slightly better through an 8X loupe.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello Chris,

>UT2 vs Septone

Unless something has changed during the past year, the Septone inks
still use dye in the black and it fades and color shifts.  A Septone
test print on my windowsill began fading at 125 days.

UT2/UT7 inks are Eboni-based and are very stable.  I have a BO/Eboni
print on my south windowsill getting some direct sunlight every day
(and indirect bright daylight all day) and at 13 months now still
shows no signs of fading.

I have also heard numerous tales over the past year from Septone users
similar to the other reports in this thread re clogging, etc.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the cartridge version of
septone absolutely does not work. You will use all of your expensive
ink trying to get a good nozzle check but you will never get a good
nozzle check. If you feel that you must use septone then you will have
to invest in the CIS version. It actually works well with regard to
stability and good nozzle checks. Of course there was that horrible
customer service and the six week nightmare to get to the point where
I could actually make a print. Then there are the lingering doubts
about ink stability. With so many other better options available I
can't recommend Septone. I really like the 1280 with UT2 ink.



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com,
"xspamxken.schuster" <xspamxken.schuster@e...> wrote:
> From the FWIW dept.:  I tried the Septone system on my 2200. After a
couple 
> hours of getting it installed properly, and then having to wait
overnight for 
> the ink to "settle" before getting an almost perfect nozzle check, I
ran some 
> test prints and they were superb. Clean, grainless, neutral color,
full of fine 
> detail and rich D-max. I was hooked and ordered more inks as backup.
After two 
> days of not using the printer, I started it up again to make some
more Septone 
> prints. More nozzle check nightmares! About six hours later, I got
an almost 
> perfect nozzle check, and subsequent gorgeous prints. A week later,
it was 
> nozzle-check hell again. I could not get even an "almost" perfect
check print. I 
> waited 24 hours and tried it again... worse! By then, the new inks
had arrived, 
> so I replaced all of the existing ones with the new ones, and went
through the 
> same nozzle check craziness again, but no amount of wait-time, no
amount of 
> trying every trick in the book would give me better than a very
crappy nozzle 
> check. Finally, I yanked all the inks and tossed them in the trash.
Then I 
> downloaded QTR just for the hell of it, knowing full well that a
little $50 
> shareware RIP was worthless with Epson Ultrachrome Inks. I was
shocked by how 
> wrong I was. I sent-in my $50 that night, downloaded QTRgui, and
that was all I 
> needed to make very good b&w prints without switching inks. The
Septone prints 

> look slightly better through an 8X loupe.
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]