Digital BW, The Print

Owning both printers I can easily say that the 2200 is a far superior
printer in terms of hardware.  The question is when the empty carts will be
available.  The 2200 loaded with a combination of OEM and 3rd party inks
(Ultratones) will be much more flexible, much, much faster and will give
potentially better performance (at least higher dmax with RC papers) than
the 1280.  The question is whether you can wait for the empty carts.  In the
mean time the 2200 with OEM inks gives nice BW prints with Ink Jet
Control...but...as paul mentioned below you are missing a light gray ink so
hilights tend to be a bit more grainy than you can get with the 1280 and a
3rd party quad set.  But don't underestimate the difference in print
speed...its staggering.

Robert

On 6/12/03 12:03 PM, "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...> wrote:

> Jack,
> 
> You wrote:
> 
> 
>> ...The question is:  1280 or 2200?
>> As I understand, most of the BW inks are archival ...
> 
> There are differences in degree here.  The latest MIS Ultra Tone B&W,
> PiezoTone, and, to a lesser extent, UltraChromes are excellent.
> 
> The older (first generation) pigmented inksets had some dye in them which
> would fade and cause a warm-shift.  (This includes the PiezoBW [now
> Sundance?], MIS quad, FS and VM; although the MIS FS-N and vm-s [neutral] do
> not warm-shift significantly.)
> 
> The second generation pigmented quads do not have any dyes in them, but the
> color pigments fade faster than the black pigment, with the magenta pigment
> showing the fastest fading in my tests. (Read green shift over the long
> run.)
> 
> So, the most archival ink that I'm aware of would be the pure (usually
> carbon), warm black pigment with no color pigment.  The Ultra Tone with the
> warm curve that almost eliminates the color pigments is, thus, probably the
> toughest of the bunch.  The PiezoTone Warm Neutral tests out as the best of
> that set of inks.  (Note that a black-only Eboni or Piezo Museum black might
> tie or even beat these inksets, but you'll have dots and possibly other
> artifacts.)
> 
> The 2200 uses only color pigments for the highlights, having no really light
> gray ink.  Also, the 2200 output I've see uses substantial color pigment in
> the midtone grays.  Wilhelm rates the  color UltraChromes at about 70 years
> but the B&W at 100+.  The UC matte black and light black, like the MIS Ultra
> Tone matte black (Eboni) and light black are much better than even this.
> For example, the Ultra Tone inkset in my tests is more fade resistant than
> the Epson Archival inkset, which Epson still calls a 200+ year inkset on
> their non-US web pages.
> 
>> Of course I am leaning toward 1280 for the price,
> 
> Yes, there is that -- not only printer but inks and software needed to get
> the best image.
> 
>> so I would like to
>> hear any advice against with the advantage of another (2200) if there is
>> any preference toward anything else.
>> I work on PC, so the Bouhaus is OFF LIMITS so far.  ...
> 
> I work on PC and also have no 2200 for comparison.  The 2200 output I've
> seen has excellent tone but some dots in the highlights.
> 
> Frankly, the ultimate setup for me would be a full quad and color printer
> with individually-controllable inks and RC compatibility.  That just does
> not exist yet.  But, when Bowhaus's system is available for PC and Epson
> releases an 8-ink printer ...
> 
> For now, I'll stick with the MIS Ultra Tones and will set up a 1280 soon.
> The vm warm curve for that driver has always been a bit funky, but the 1270
> and 1290 drivers and curves seem to work well.  I'll see if I can get a
> decent warm curve with the 1280 driver and the current UT inkset.  There may
> also be some other options that I'll look at with the 1280 and UT inks --
> especially when the Bowhaus PC system is ready.
> 
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and other
> resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:
> 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> 
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> 
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - Include your full name with your message.
> - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
> them short.
> - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
> - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames
> - Complete your Yahoo profile.
> - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
> resources on the homepage.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> 
> 
>