Digital BW, The Print

Kip,
  I have used the MIS EZ inks on 2 different C84s and found that they
absolutely do not print dark enough in midtones, and adjusting sliders
does not help, on Epson Premium Glossy. I have not yet tried matte. 
   Did you have this problem with the Epson matte paper ?

                    Stuart

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Kip Babington
<cbabing3@s...> wrote:
> I've been making very nice black and white images with my S9000 for a 
> couple of years, using Lyson Quad Black inks.  You can buy these
inks in 
> bulk and refill cartridges just as easily as with color inks.  I
bought a 
> second Canon, an S900, and now have one printer for color and one
for B&W, 
> and can swap the print heads in case the carriage on one of the
printers 
> goes out.  (I also keep a spare print head on hand, in case a head
dies - I 
> think I'm pretty well prepared for any disaster.)  Lyson Quad Black 
> prefilled cartridges are very expensive and not easily refilled, so you 
> wouldn't want to plan on going that way on a permanent basis.  But you 
> could try a set and see how you like them, and if you decide to go that 
> route get some virgin empties and bulk inks and refill your own.  I get 
> virgin empties from Inkjet Goodies, and the ink from Marrutt in
England - 
> good pricing, very responsive and free shipping to the US.
> 
> For the simplest B&W printing that I'm aware of, that also lets you do 
> Black Only printing if you like, look at an Epson C84 with MIS EZ 
> inks.  Except for the need to reset the computer chip in the
cartridge when 
> refilling, aftermarket C84 cartridges are almost as easy to refill
as the 
> Canon ones (Epson brand carts cannot be refilled easily - the
aftermarket 
> models I get from MIS have a sponge compartment and reservoir
similar to 
> the Canon layout.)  Chip resetting really takes just a $20 (or less) 
> hardware item and one extra step in the refill process - you
wouldn't think 
> anything of it if you hadn't already refilled Canon carts without the 
> step.  MIS has announced a translucent cartridge for the C84, which
will 
> make refilling just as simple as with a Canon cart - at the moment the 
> virgin empties they supply are opaque, so you refill until the
reservoir 
> overflows, which is a bit messier than with a Canon.
> 
> The C84 is not as fast as a Canon printer, but it uses pigment inks
which 
> theoretically will last longer than the dye inks that the Canon
needs. I 
> like the results with the C84 a lot.  Tone of the print can be
varied from 
> neutral to quite warm by appropriate placement of neutral or warm
inks in 
> the C, M and Y positions, and the overall tone can also be adjusted
pretty 
> dramatically by the choice of paper - some are very cool while
others are 
> quite warm.  The disadvantage of the C84/EZ ink system is that it
cannot 
> take variable tone inks like you could put in a 1280 - you can vary the 
> tone of the printed output by selecting the appropriate neutral or warm 
> inks to load into the printer, and by the choice of paper, but you
cannot 
> easily change from a cool to a warm print on the same paper with
just some 
> menu selections, like you can with variable ink sets on other 
> printers.  You also have to decide whether you're going to print on
matte 
> or glossy paper, as you have to use a different black ink for each
paper 
> type.  I've decided that matte paper works for me (I used to think 
> otherwise) and have settled on an EZ ink setup that works for me. 
If you 
> decide to go with a C84 you could try a set of the prefilled EZ
cartridges 
> from MIS and see for yourself - if you like the results, you can
refill the 
> MIS cartridges, or go to a CIS if you're going to do a lot of printing.
> 
> Cheers,
> Kip
> 
> At 9/6/2004 07:50 PM +0000, John wrote:
> >I would like to print decent black and white photos. I know I will
> >need to do this with a dedicated BW printer. I plan to purchase an
> >Epson 1280 for this, because I can at least print Black Only with it.
> >I have a Canon 9000 now and it makes really great color but not very
> >good black and white. They have a color tint depending on the paper.
> >I usually use Red River paper. I like the Canon for ease of refilling
> >ink cartridges. I can do that without taking them out of the printer.
> >
> >I use Paint Shop Pro, and Qimage.
> >
> >What ink would be the easiest - just stick in cartridges and print
> >decent black and white prints. I also want to refill my ink
> >cartridges.
> >
> >I have many hundreds of old black/white negatives from a long time
> >ago I would like to print. They don't have to be museum quality and
> >they don't have to last for a hundred years. I have maybe a year to
> >enjoy them. I don't want to spend my remaining time being a techno
> >about this, I just want to make decent black and white prints from my
> >negatives, not somthing with a greenish tint like I get now with my
> >color printer.
> >
> >What will I get the best results from, with the least amount of time
> >and effort put into it?  Lyson Quad Black, MIS, what??