Digital BW, The Print

Mitch,
You can definitely estimate the output quality of a printer not until 
you have calibrated and profiled the beast. You need profiling 
software and a spectrophotometer.
Hope this helps.
B.A.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Mitch Alland <malland@m...> 
wrote:
> I have been thinking about replacing my 1290 for color and 1160 
(with 
> Piezography) for B&W with a 2200. Subsequently, I started thinking 
> about getting a 7600 with ImagePrint, so that I could make prints 
> larger than 12x18 inches, both in color and B&W.
> 
> I just spent 3-1/2 hours at a local dealer trying out the 7600. 
First, 
> I tried to make a B&W print with ImagePrint. After working on this 
for 
> some 2-1/2 hours, all we were able to get ImagePrint to do was to 
print 
> a "demo" print. Okay, this wasn't the fault of ImagePrint: the 
staff at 
> the dealer didn't seem to know how to get ImagePrint to work. They 
had 
> trouble with the IP address and the "encryption" number for the 
dongle. 
> Yes, the blasted thing has a DONGLE! I am not sure that I want to 
buy 
> software using a dongle as I haven't had good experience with this 
in 
> the past. In the end, I gave up trying to make a B&W print. What I 
did 
> see is that ImagePrint is awfully kludgy on Mac System 9.
> 
> I then made a 12x18 inch color print on the 7600 using the Epson 
driver 
> on Archival Matte and compared it to a 12x18 print I had made my 
1290 
> in Bangkok on Heavyweight Matte. There's simply no comparison: the 
7600 
> print looks washed out in comparison to the 1290 prints.
> 
> I had always read statements on various internet forums that the 
color 
> gamut of the 2200/7600 were close to that of the 1280. Perhaps the 
> particular photo that I printed has a lot of colors that are within 
the 
> gamut of the 1280 but outside that of the 2200/7600: my photograph 
is a 
> close-up of parts of a Thai temple, the colors of which are various 
> gold colors. The 7600 print is much less saturated and much less 
yellow 
> than the 1290 print.
> 
> Now this particular photograph is part of a series of pictures of 
Thai 
> temples for an exhibition that I am preparing. The richness of the 
gold 
> colors, as well as the harmony" of such rich, strong colors and 
shapes, 
> is the major point of this photograph. The 7600 print is so flat 
and 
> dull that I would never exhibit it. While, according to Epson, the 
1290 
> photo is supposed to "last" 25 years and the 7600 photo 100 years, 
it 
> seems to me that the 1290 photo in 25 years is likely to look like 
the 
> 7600 photo, so I'd rather enjoy 25 good years :-)
> 
> So the questions are:
> 
> 1. Am I missing something?
> 
> 2. Has anyone else had this experience? Or have I just happened to 
> print  a photograph that is outside the gamut of the 7600 but just 
> inside the gamut of the 1290? Is this likely?
> 
> 3. From this experience I find it difficult to understand why 
hordes of 
> protographers are rushing to buy the 2200. I certainly cannot 
> contemplate getting either the 2200 or the 7600 after seeing this 
> print. What do you think?
> 
> --Mitch