Digital BW, The Print

Although I also have Nikon glass, as a "Canon guy" going back to the Kodak 
520/Canon 2000 ($15,000 for 2 megapixels, how soon we forget), I have been 
through the evolution of TTL flash.

As a general practitioner, Weddings are a small part of my repertoire. I 
currently have the 1D Mark II and the 20d, upgraded to these as they became 
chronologically available simply because of ETTL-2. It will NOT blow out the whites 
like the 10d or 1d did, which is death in digital capture. I can easily fix a 
shot that's up to 2 stops under.

I actually use those cameras at the Medium jepeg fine setting, which is a 4 
Megapixel file. Anything more than this on a Wedding is overkill for an 8x10 or 
smaller print and this file will easily print a 16x24 on a 7600.

So you can look at a 1Ds mark 2 as having a 4x oversampling characteristic in 
capture. Downshifting in the camera will increase the pixel quality because 
is samples 4 native pixels ahead of color interpolation and downsampling. It 
wil also have a better selective focus characteristic, for obvious reasons.

On the issue of the R800, that unit is a fantastic color printer and does an 
"acceptable" job on B&W, but you CANNOT use it in BO mode. I own lots of Epson 
and have had every major unit since the original Stylus in 1994, and this is 
the first one that does this.

I have yet to see a better color output than the R800 from any printer 
including the 4000, which does a fantastic job on BO, posted a few days 
ago.........no comments or replies.

Claude Jodoin
Tech. Editor, Rangefinder


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

Claude,

Yes, your experience and mine with the ETTL-II is consistent.  
Thanks for the info on the R800.  Looks like I'll just stick with 
the 400 for my B&W.  Agree that it is an incredible printer 
overall.  I suspect we'll see the R800 technology and inksets in 
larger formats from Epson soon.

Thanks,

Tony Bonanno

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, claudej1@a... 
wrote:
> Although I also have Nikon glass, as a "Canon guy" going back to 
the Kodak 
> 520/Canon 2000 ($15,000 for 2 megapixels, how soon we forget), I 
have been 
> through the evolution of TTL flash.
> 
> As a general practitioner, Weddings are a small part of my 
repertoire. I 
> currently have the 1D Mark II and the 20d, upgraded to these as 
they became 
> chronologically available simply because of ETTL-2. It will NOT 
blow out the whites 
> like the 10d or 1d did, which is death in digital capture. I can 
easily fix a 
> shot that's up to 2 stops under.
> 
> I actually use those cameras at the Medium jepeg fine setting, 
which is a 4 
> Megapixel file. Anything more than this on a Wedding is overkill 
for an 8x10 or 
> smaller print and this file will easily print a 16x24 on a 7600.
> 
> So you can look at a 1Ds mark 2 as having a 4x oversampling 
characteristic in 
> capture. Downshifting in the camera will increase the pixel 
quality because 
> is samples 4 native pixels ahead of color interpolation and 
downsampling. It 
> wil also have a better selective focus characteristic, for obvious 
reasons.
> 
> On the issue of the R800, that unit is a fantastic color printer 
and does an 
> "acceptable" job on B&W, but you CANNOT use it in BO mode. I own 
lots of Epson 
> and have had every major unit since the original Stylus in 1994, 
and this is 
> the first one that does this.
> 
> I have yet to see a better color output than the R800 from any 
printer 
> including the 4000, which does a fantastic job on BO, posted a few 
days 

> ago.........no comments or replies.
> 
> Claude Jodoin
> Tech. Editor, Rangefinder
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> On the issue of the R800, that unit is a fantastic color printer and
> does an 
> "acceptable" job on B&W, but you CANNOT use it in BO mode. I own lots
of 
> Epson 
> and have had every major unit since the original Stylus in 1994, and 
> this is 
> the first one that does this.
> 
> I have yet to see a better color output than the R800 from any printer 

I appreciate Tony's original question, and the replies...

I've been lurking and learning, and have a related question:

I need to do both b&w and color.  I have a 1280 and am getting an 800.
If I use Lyson quad inks on the 1280, and dedicate it to b&w, since my
b&w prints have to be larger than my color prints, and dedicaate the 800
to color, am I making the "soundest" choice?

I realize this is a question that has lots of subjective stuff in it,
but I would like some input from folks who've had more experience than
I.

TIA

Ken Frazier
Weston, CT  USA