Digital BW, The Print

Mike,

To your last point, definitely go with the 1280 and the MIS Inks, 
you will be very pleased.  I use the MIS inks on the 1280 (and CIS) 
and print using the Piezography software.  I also use a 1270 and MIS 
variable tone inks using various curves, though I do not personally 
get quite as good results and have spent a lot of time tweak my 
curves.  The 1280 renders wonderful greys no matter how you go about 
it.  Best of luck, with the support of this group, you have an 
amazing resource at your finger tips.

Regards,

James Sims
www.jamessims.com
www.lightroomphotography.com

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Botelho" 
<mfractl@h...> wrote:
> Thanks, Paul, for welcoming me and for the very interesting 
> information.  I also checked out your website (which I'd actually 
> visited a few days ago, in fact), enjoyed your images for a while, 
> then ended up at the MIS website checking out the good deal of 
> information there also.  Let's say I'm just starting to learn just 
> how much I have to learn.
> 
> I find your work with the Ultra Tone inkset very interesting, 
> including the prospect of printing with an ink based purely on 
carbon 
> black pigment.  As someone who's quite familiar with pigments used 
in 
> artist's colors, and as someone who is used to using only pure and 
> accurately-identified pigments, I find the whole pigment ink 
> situation a bit disconcerting.  I'm used to knowing how long a 
color 
> will last simply because there are ASTM lightfastness ratings for 
all 
> pigments.  In the world of pigmented inkjet inks, the individual 
> pigments are never identified, leaving you at the mercy of 
(usually 
> exaggerated) lightfastness claims.  Printing with an identified 
> pigment is less disconcerting to me, not to mention that carbon 
black 
> is about as simple, lightfast, and stable as pigments get.  And, 
of 
> course, there is also the fact that this approach excludes cyan, 
> magenta, and yellows that consist of pigments that haven't been 
> identified (to me) and may, for all I know, not be nearly as 
durable 
> as the black they are mixing with.
> 
> Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble, but this is one of my personal 
> reactions to my new involvement in inkjet printing.  I look at 
> pigmented inks as artist's materials, and I'm simply not used to 
> buying artist's materials with unidentified contents and a vague 
> assurance of 'trust me, it'll last'.  As you know, I'm new to all 
> this, but I have to admit that the concept of using CMYK to print 
B&W 
> hasn't sat too well with me since I started to learn about the 
Epsons 
> and the Ultrachromes.  These are just my knee-jerk reactions, 
> though.  I'm sure many people are getting great results with the 
> Ultrachromes, and I'm far from having reached an ultimate (or any)
> decision about my own choices.  I'm just describing initial 
> reactions, that's all.
> 
> Also, the concept of using curves and avoiding a RIP is very 
> appealing, though, of course, I'd have to try the approach out 
myself 
> to see how it suits me.  But, since I've become fairly adept at 
PS, 
> even the concept of experimenting with new media and coming up 
with 
> some of my own curves doesn't seem terribly intimidating.  Also, I 
> like the concept expressed on your website about B&W always being 
> accessible and affordable and your wanting to keep it that way.  I 
> wholeheartedly agree.
> 
> So, obviously, I make no claims about my ultimate choices for 
inks, 
> workflow, media, etc., but this has definitely given me a lot to 
> think about.  Also, it's capsized my notions of what printer I'll 
be 
> purchasing, since it's starting to seems more likely that I'll 
> dedicate a printer to B&W.  Up until about a week ago, I was only 
> concentrating on color, so 7-color Epson printers were my main 
> focus.  Now that I'm considering specialized B&W inksets, and now 
> that dedicating a printer just to B&W seems appealing, I have no 
idea 
> where I stand, particularly if I still want to do a fair amount of 
> color printing too.  I had been thinking about getting a 7600, but 
I 
> can hardly afford to buy one for color and one for B&W, plus it's 
not 
> like the Ultra Tones have a 7-cartridge solution anyway.
> 
> Maybe I'll pick up a 1280 and dedicate just to B&W and use it for 
all 
> my initial experiments and learning and then just go from there.  
In 
> comparison to the costs of photo gear, computers, software, and 
even 
> inks, a cost of under $400 for a great printer to learn on is 
> rediculously affordable.  Plus, only having to mess with 2 
cartridges 
> is convneient and seems to be a great match to the Ultra Tone 
> approach.  One question, though.  Wasn't the 1280 orignally a dye 
ink 
> printer?  Are there any potential problems to using pigmented inks 
in 
> this printer?  I read on your website that you are working on a 
1280 
> plus Ultra Tone setup, so I assume there must not be a problem, 
but I 
> just thought I'd ask.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for rambling, but this is all new, and it's all just 
> starting to sink in.  Like I said, who knows where I'll end up.  
> Actually, that only makes things more interesting.
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> Mike Botelho