Digital BW, The Print

¡Hi chaps!

My name is Ricardo, I am 41 y.o. and I live in Madrid, Spain.

Being a physician by profession, photography is my long lasting 
passion. I take photos since I was 14 and have been into B&W 
printing since the very beginning.

I have not fully migrated to digital, but I suppose that sooner or 
later I will get a serious D-SLR. I gess that it hasn´t already 
happened due to pity for my beloved Minox 35, Nikon FM2, Kodak 
Retina and Bessa R2. I am shooting so much with the 4MP canon Ixus 
that I fear to condemn my faithful film cameras as soon as the D-
bastard is here.

Anyway, I have no doubt that regarding printing, inkjet is the way. 
I am considering now to buy myself a mostly B&W-dedicated printer, 
but capable of a decent color print from time to time. After some 
tests onto friends Epsons I am pretty convinced that BO printing 
will be most of what I will do.

Now comes the problem. Of course I will prefer a 13' printer (A3 in 
Europe) than a letter sized (A4) one. BUT, neither 1280s, or 2200s 
fit in the space I have (58 cm/ 23 inches wide is absolut maximum). 
It is something I cannot avoid, so a not-so-wide printer is a MUST 
for me.

I have two options: (i)get a R220 and forget about big prints, or 
(ii) consider non-epson printers. Canons seem not to be so wide as 
Epsons. For example, I-6500 and I-9950 will fit in my available 
workspace. I do not know how they fare about BO printing or even if 
the driver is capable of printing in black-only mode. 

¿Some ideas?

Hello Ricardo,

Welcome to the BW Forum.

>After some tests onto friends Epsons I am pretty convinced that BO 
>printing will be most of what I will do.
>Now comes the problem. Of course I will prefer a 13' printer (A3 in 
>Europe) than a letter sized (A4) one. BUT, neither 1280s, or 2200s 
>fit in the space I have (58 cm/ 23 inches wide is absolut maximum). 
>It is something I cannot avoid, so a not-so-wide printer is a MUST 
>for me.

My Epson 2400 is exactly 24 1/16" wide.  Too bad you can't get one
more inch of space.  It's a great printer.
 
>I have two options: (i)get a R220 and forget about big prints, or 
>(ii) consider non-epson printers. Canons seem not to be so wide as 
>Epsons. For example, I-6500 and I-9950 will fit in my available 
>workspace. I do not know how they fare about BO printing or even if 
>the driver is capable of printing in black-only mode. 

I don't know if they allow BO or not.  I have yet to see any positive
comments about Canons for BW printing, BO or otherwise.   Best to do
some thorough research before spending the money.

The R220 will make good BO prints, and also can use the MIS R2 inks
for good full ink BW printing.  It's a good choice if you accept the
size.  Let us know what you end up with.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm