Digital BW, The Print

My advice is to move in increments.  Quadtone RIP produces excellent results on the 
2200 that are leagues above those using the Epson driver.  With Quadtone you have a 
number of key advantages:  it involves no cost (RIP or printer costs) and uses the 
same ink sets as you use for color.  Try it and see if the improvement is something 
you are happy with.  If not then you might want to look at the work that Carl Schofield 
has been doing re adding a (one) light grey MIS Ultratone ink so that only one ink 
cartridge needs to be swapped when moving to color and back.  If that doesn't tickle 
your fancy then try the full UT set.  Why spend the money up front when there are 
significant improvements to be had for free or at little cost....?

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "John Tarnoff" <john@n...> 
wrote:
> OK, time to stop lurking on this forum, and in my digital photo 
> practice, and start printing B/W.
> 
> I got the 2200 'cause I believed the Epson hype on B/W.  Silly me.  I 
> love the color prints it delivers, but when it comes to B/W, somehow 
> just can't believe that even the IP RIP is actually going to give me 
> B/W from color inks.  It's still just color dots, no matter how well 
> balanced - maybe I'm a purist, but it's not Black And White.  I think 
> I just have to bite the bullet and realize that one printer can't and 
> maybe shouldn't 'do it all.'
> 
> As far as B/W Inks, from what I'm reading about 7 Ink B/W 
> formulations for the 2200, it seems like overkill (and a lot of 
> money).  Do I want such a degree of control over Warmth to Cool 
> tones?  Me personally: no.  I was never much for toning in the 
> darkroom beyond a little selenium here and there, so particularly at 
> the beginning of this learning curve/experience curve, one excellent 
> neutral archival carbon pigment B/W print would be great.
> 
> So what do I really need?  Should I convert my trusty 4-color Epson 
> 980 (I believe MIS still makes carts for it) to B/W?  Is the 
> resolution of the 4-color Epsons sufficient?  Is Quadtone really all 
> I need?  Or should I pick up a 1280 and go 6 inks?  Or is there that 
> much more acuity to the 2200 for B/W work and I should trade-off on 
> inks and clean seven nozzles with cleaner cartridges between B/W and 
> Ultrachromes?
> 
> What's the consensus?
> 
> JT