Digital BW, The Print

Hello everyone,
 
I apologize in advance for posting questions (below) that are not specific to B&W printing.  However, I believe that I could get the help I need from everyone here.
 
In short, I want to do my own digital printing, but do not know where is a good place to start.
 
I have a Canon FS4000 scanner, a Pentitum III PC that I built myself with adequate amount of SDRAM, Photoshop 7, a Sony 19" monitor, and a Nikon 35mm system.  What I need now is a printer to close the loop.
 
There are two choices for me, Epson 1280 or Canon S9000.  I like the Epson more because of the CFS inking option from MIS, but I am not sure if I should go down that route.  Epson has a $100 rebate on the 1280.  I also like dye-base ink because of the more vibrant color.  Archival quality of 25 years is good enough for me (Epson HW Matte Paper).
 
Roughly, I estimate that I would make about two large prints a week (11x14 or 13x19).  They are for my walls and those of friends' and family's.  I will also use the printer for printing academic material (pictures of histology slides, pathology images, etc.)  
 
My worries:
 
1.  This might be more than my student's finance can handle due to hidden cost of more tools that I might need (monitor profile tool, printer profile tool, etc.).  I can afford the printer, ink and paper but that is about it for now.  That brings up point...
 
2.  Could I get reasonably good prints with the equipment I already have without purchasing all the calibration tools (I will later when I have more money!)?  
 
3.  Given my projected ouput (2 large prints/wk + academic material), does a CFS from MIS make sense?  To me, it is very tempting due to the money saving.  I am a student and saving money is always high on the list (you might wonder why I choose photography for a hobby...beats me!)
 
Those are my main concerns.  I would love to hear pros and cons and recommendations.  Again, I am sorry if this has nothing to do with B&W printing (I have B&W negatives, but they are in 67 format & I have no scanner for that).  I hope you won't mind.
 
Thank you for your time.
 
Regards,
 
Nghi


---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'm very happy printing using only: Minolta Scan Dual II ($250), Epson
1280 ($350 after rebate, but I have added MIS CFS for $120 extra, PS 7
($300 upgrade to PS Elements included with printer) and Vuescan s/w
($40) I could afford to upgrade that $1,000 package or add to it but I
see no real need to. My constraint is still my personal skill level,
not equipment. So you should go for it. 

Use carts until you feel that your ink savings will justify the cost
of a CFS.

Use color carts in the 1280 and you can have color prints and still do
good b&w using black only printing. see:
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm for Clayton Jones' excellent
summary of b&w digital printing with emphasis on Black Only. 

Bob Michaels 

 --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Nghi Hoang
<vnh84@y...> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>  
> I apologize in advance for posting questions (below) that are not
specific to B&W printing.  However, I believe that I could get the
help I need from everyone here.
>  
> In short, I want to do my own digital printing, but do not know
where is a good place to start.
>  
> I have a Canon FS4000 scanner, a Pentitum III PC that I built myself
with adequate amount of SDRAM, Photoshop 7, a Sony 19" monitor, and a
Nikon 35mm system.  What I need now is a printer to close the loop.
>  
> There are two choices for me, Epson 1280 or Canon S9000.  I like the
Epson more because of the CFS inking option from MIS, but I am not
sure if I should go down that route.  Epson has a $100 rebate on the
1280.  I also like dye-base ink because of the more vibrant color. 
Archival quality of 25 years is good enough for me (Epson HW Matte Paper).
>  
> Roughly, I estimate that I would make about two large prints a week
(11x14 or 13x19).  They are for my walls and those of friends' and
family's.  I will also use the printer for printing academic material
(pictures of histology slides, pathology images, etc.)  
>  
> My worries:
>  
> 1.  This might be more than my student's finance can handle due to
hidden cost of more tools that I might need (monitor profile tool,
printer profile tool, etc.).  I can afford the printer, ink and paper
but that is about it for now.  That brings up point...
>  
> 2.  Could I get reasonably good prints with the equipment I already
have without purchasing all the calibration tools (I will later when I
have more money!)?  
>  
> 3.  Given my projected ouput (2 large prints/wk + academic
material), does a CFS from MIS make sense?  To me, it is very tempting
due to the money saving.  I am a student and saving money is always
high on the list (you might wonder why I choose photography for a
hobby...beats me!)
>  
> Those are my main concerns.  I would love to hear pros and cons and
recommendations.  Again, I am sorry if this has nothing to do with B&W
printing (I have B&W negatives, but they are in 67 format & I have no
scanner for that).  I hope you won't mind.

>  
> Thank you for your time.
>  
> Regards,
>  
> Nghi
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]