Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Phil Bard" <phil@p...> 
wrote:
> Martin,
> 
> My experience so far shows the 7000 prints to be markedly better 
that 
> both those with my 1160 and some I made a while back on a 3000.  
Very 
> sharp and the banding, which is invisible on watercolor stocks, is 
only 
> barely discernible on EAM, which I find the most revealing paper in 
> that respect.  You definitely need a loupe to see it, however.  I 
was 
> never able to get rid of it completely with my 1160, although 
again, on 
> the rag stocks it's hardly noticeable.

That's been my situation with the 1200 too. I have seen prints from 
several other peoples 1160's that are completely flawless on EAM 
though.

> It's true that at arm's length 
> there is not so much difference between the printers' output.  Of 
> course if you need 24" wide output...
> 
> I also think that this difference is something that is more obvious 
> with sharp, highly resolved images with very smooth tonal range, 
such 
> as those from large format negs. Smaller format images seems to 
mask 
> the differences in the hardware

I see this too. Microscopic banding and window screen that shows up 
in the skys on images from my 4x5 negs disappear if there is any fine 
pattern in the image, even the grain of a 35mm neg will completely 
mask it.
 
>  This was also true for me when using 
> the Epson driver with the 7000 and comparing with PiezoBW prints 
from 
> the 1160, ie. less difference.

Same situation with the Epson driver on the 1280. The patterning is 
less than Piezo on the 1200 and falls in a darker tonal range and 
once again is only visible in smooth tonal areas and with 
magnification.

> The Pro24 RIP really shows off what the 
> 7000 can do.
> 

Phil,

Thanks for the data point on the 7000. I haven't had a chance to see 
any output myself. As I recall the earlier comments were from George 
DeWolfe and Ron Landucci back in the first few posts to the list. 
There were questions about moving up to the 7000 just for print 
quality even if you didn't need 24" width and only intended to print 
in the 8x10 to 13x19 range.

If you were making that decision, would you feel the quality 
improvements alone would justify the cost?

Thanks,
Martin

> 
(snip)