Digital BW, The Print

Wow, I hope you can get BO up and running on it soon using
QTR.

Otherwise, your wonderful "Paperchase" paper reviews will slowly
dwindle to just VFA :-)

Scott

Clayton Jones wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> Around the beginning of the summer my 2200 began getting more
> persnickity about paper feeding.  Last Thursday night when I was
> feeding it some paper it made a loud Bang! (a mechanical sound like
> heavy metal meeting an immoveable object) and the paper stopped.  On
> several subsequent tries the paper would go in a few inches and stop.
> Only after turning it off & on did it accept paper again, and
> occasionally made a Clunk sound when feeding.  I got the impression
> something in there was wearing out.  I've had it almost two years and
> have run a lot of paper through it.
>
> I got it at Comp USA with their 2-yr replacement warranty, and it was
> set to expire on Sept 16th.  What to do.  Rather than risk losing my
> investment, I decided to apply the warranty toward a new printer.
> They gave me the full replacement value of $745 (699 + sales tax that
> I paid 2 yrs ago) on a store gift card which I applied to a 2400
> ($849 + tax).  When the dust settled, I paid about $220 for the 2400
> and another 2-yr warranty.
>
> So, like it or not, my trusty 2200 is gone and here sits a shiny new
> 2400.  It's just 2 days now and I have mixed feelings about it, but am
> hopeful.
>
> What I like:
>
> - Fast
> - Quiet
> - smooth prints
>
>
> What I don't like:
>
> - Just the general principle of using color inks.
>
> - Cost!  Man, those inks are dear at $15 per cart, and this thing uses
> a LOT of ink.  Hopefully some refillable carts and 3p inks will
> alleviate that.
>
> - Being dependent on profiles supplied by someone else
>
> - Paper.  The wide range of papers giving different tones and "looks"
> that I've been used to with Eboni BO has been, at least for the time
> being, severely restricted.  The only really acceptable results I've
> gotten so far have been on Velvet Fine Art with the VFA paper setting.
> It is the only one that has produced a print that
>
> 1) doesn't look colorized (the ABW neutral 0/0 setting produces a very
> pretty slightly warm tone that for the most part shows no hint of
> color (in daylight there is a bit of green, but under tungsten and my
> wide spectrum fluorescents it's fine).  I can even go a hair cooler to
> -1/-1 without any obvious degradation, but at -2/-2 it begins to lose
> some dmax and begins blocking up the dark zones.  So there is just a
> tiny zone of acceptance.
>
> 2) has surprisingly good luminance for a full ink print
>
> 3) has dmax approaching that of Eboni BO
>
> 4) Doesn't block up the dark zones too badly (it does a tiny bit, but
> is manageable with an adjustment curve). 
>
> Everything else I've tried so far (various papers with various paper
> and ABW settings) has failed to some degree in all four of these
> categories.  It seems obvious of course that really good profiles are
> needed and VFA being an Epson paper with a specific setting for it
> ought to do well (although I couldn't get a satisfactory print on
> EEM).  So anyway I will look forward to trying other profiles for
> different papers as they are available.
>
>
> Where Does That Leave me?
>
> Well, at least I'm not dead in the water.  For the time being I can
> make at least one kind of acceptable print on VFA.  But I really miss
> the wide range of paper options I had before.  I also miss the BO
> look, which while weak on some prints, is really handsome on others,
> plus all the other advantages.  If possible, I would like to have the
> option of making BO or smooth prints, as needed.
>
> When I'm working on prints I use a lot of paper and ink, which will be
> prohibitive with this printer.  So for proofing I bought an R200 (was
> on sale for $79) and will get some refillable carts for Eboni.  Steve
> Karafyllakis has one and I ran a bunch of BO prints on it on Saturday
> and I think it will do fine for this.  BO is very economical, and I
> now know that my images, worked up previously for BO printing, are
> printing fine on the 2400 (with VFA).  So I think it will be fine as a
> proofing machine and will reserve the 2400 for final prints. 
>
>
> Where To Go From Here?  I look forward to
>
> 1) Getting some 3p inks, especially Eboni, in here and seeing how they
> do.
>
> 2) Trying QTR and seeing what kind of BO I can get from it (I have
> hopes for this small drop size)
>
> 3) With QTR, continuing my quest for an Eboni+LK solution, which I
> still think will be the best compromise of all the above issues.
>
> Ultimately, if possible, I'd like to get away from using color inks.
> That's it for now.
>
>
> Regards,
> Clayton
>
>