Digital BW, The Print

I have just read a glowing article in the July/August issue of View Camera
by George De Wolfe about the Epson 7000 & 3000 with Cone's Piezography. He
wrote in that article: "Piezography with the 7000 pushes us beyond what we
have known as the best in black-and-white photography. He ended the article
by stating: "If Ansel were alive, he'd be into this big time. Big time."

Based on this I am tempted to serious consider buying this set-up. As
everyone knows this is an expensive way to go in order to make first class
B&W prints--which I would love to do. But, is this the "state-of-the-art"
today? I am looking forward to the knowledgeable opinions that reside on
this very enjoyable list.

Peter  Palmer

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Peter" <peter139@h...> wrote:
snip...
> Based on this I am tempted to serious consider buying this set-up. As
> everyone knows this is an expensive way to go in order to make first class
> B&W prints--which I would love to do. But, is this the "state-of-the-art"
> today? I am looking forward to the knowledgeable opinions that reside on
> this very enjoyable list.

That depends on what "is" is...
I'd strongly advise seeing some output first hand. For warm tones, matte papers, great paper handling, ease of operation, 
it's pretty great. For that kind of investment, I'd talk to as many actual users as possible and look at some prints.
Tyler

..
>> Based on this I am tempted to serious consider buying this set-up. As
>> everyone knows this is an expensive way to go in order to make first class
>> B&W prints--which I would love to do. But, is this the "state-of-the-art"
>> today? I am looking forward to the knowledgeable opinions that reside on
>> this very enjoyable list.
> 
> That depends on what "is" is...
> I'd strongly advise seeing some output first hand. For warm tones, matte
> papers, great paper handling, ease of operation,
> it's pretty great. For that kind of investment, I'd talk to as many actual
> users as possible and look at some prints.
> Tyler
> 

Tyler is right. You should ask on the PiezoBW list if there are any users of
that setup in your vicinity, and ask them if they'll give you a peek.
Actually I think that setup has a list of their own, which is only open to
those who've purchased the system (sadly, I am not one), but the Cone folks
might forward a request onto the list for you.

Todd

Peter,

I echo Tyler and Todd's recommendations. Get a look at it before you 
buy. There are several labs and service bureaus that can provide 7000 
output using the Piezo system including Cone Editions which would 
give you the chance to see how your images will look with Piezo.

You didn't say, but I assume you are coming from a silver fiber 
background. If this is true, Piezo or any ink jet can take some 
getting used to. It has a lot of pluses, most of them in Photoshop, 
but it is not silver. The biggest difference is a much more 
compressed dynamic range with print maximum blacks in the 1.5 - 1.7 
range as opposed to the 2.4 - 2.6 that can be achieved with a 
selenium toned glossy silver print. If you are printing on matte 
silver paper you may gain dynamic range.

The print color is also different. Most people like the color of the 
Piezo ink set but not all. A new "selenium" Piezo ink set is due out 
in the near future so there will be some choices in this area.

Sometimes I think that we are not on the cutting edge with this or 
even on the bleeding edge. I think the edge is struggling hard to 
catch up to us.

Martin Wesley


 
--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Peter" <peter139@h...> 
wrote:
> I have just read a glowing article in the July/August issue of View 
Camera
> by George De Wolfe about the Epson 7000 & 3000 with Cone's 
Piezography. He
> wrote in that article: "Piezography with the 7000 pushes us beyond 
what we
> have known as the best in black-and-white photography. He ended the 
article
> by stating: "If Ansel were alive, he'd be into this big time. Big 
time."
> 
> Based on this I am tempted to serious consider buying this set-up. 
As
> everyone knows this is an expensive way to go in order to make 
first class
> B&W prints--which I would love to do. But, is this the "state-of-
the-art"
> today? I am looking forward to the knowledgeable opinions that 
reside on

> this very enjoyable list.
> 
> Peter  Palmer

There is a Yahoo group:  'Epson 9000', which covers the 7000 series (and up)
This address should get you where you need to go to join:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Epson9000


Harvey Ferdschneider
partner, SKID Photography, NYC


Todd Flashner wrote:

> ..
> >> Based on this I am tempted to serious consider buying this set-up. As
> >> everyone knows this is an expensive way to go in order to make first class
> >> B&W prints--which I would love to do. But, is this the "state-of-the-art"
> >> today? I am looking forward to the knowledgeable opinions that reside on
> >> this very enjoyable list.
> >
> > That depends on what "is" is...
> > I'd strongly advise seeing some output first hand. For warm tones, matte
> > papers, great paper handling, ease of operation,
> > it's pretty great. For that kind of investment, I'd talk to as many actual
> > users as possible and look at some prints.
> > Tyler
> >
>
> Tyler is right. You should ask on the PiezoBW list if there are any users of
> that setup in your vicinity, and ask them if they'll give you a peek.
> Actually I think that setup has a list of their own, which is only open to
> those who've purchased the system (sadly, I am not one), but the Cone folks
> might forward a request onto the list for you.
>
> Todd


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