Digital BW, The Print

Hi All; 

As they say, 'Hope Springs Eternal'... Has anyone bought a NEW (not 
refurbed) R1800 from the Epson store in the last few months? I would 
appreciate a report on the microbanding issue as I'm thinking of 
replacing my ageing unit soon. I guess I'm hoping that Epson has either 
adressed the microbanding problem (quietly) or is keeping the better 
units to sell on the own stores. Too much to hope for?

Steven Karafyllakis

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Steven Karafyllakis" 
<stevekphoto@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All; 
> 
> As they say, 'Hope Springs Eternal'... Has anyone bought a NEW (not 
> refurbed) R1800 from the Epson store in the last few months? I would 
> appreciate a report on the microbanding issue as I'm thinking of 
> replacing my ageing unit soon. I guess I'm hoping that Epson has either 
> adressed the microbanding problem (quietly) or is keeping the better 
> units to sell on the own stores. Too much to hope for?

Hello Steven, I've been thinking about an 1800 also.  From my understanding of 
manufacturing methods I don't think any new 1800s have been made for some time.  I 
think the 1800 is on it's way out and I'd hazard a guess that any new units are remaining 
stock.  I could be wrong but I think the consumer end things like small printers are run in 
batches with projected sales determining the run size and discounting used to eliminate 
remaining stock.  That fits in with Epson's program to keep cart technology a step ahead 
of third party suppliers and differentiates the larger Pro (hand tweaked) models as well.

That said, I think the microbanding can be resolved within the workflow with curves and 
dithering patterns.  I'd be interested in hearing from others.  From your post I take it you 
have an 1800 currently.  Where exactly do you experience microbanding?  Color? B&W 
inksets? Epson inks vs third party? Highlights? Midtones? All of the above?

Cheers, Robert

Hi Robert; 

You must be a relative new-comer, or you wouldn't do something so 
foolish as give me an opening to bitch more about the R1800 (G). 
Regular list members however are likely bored to tears with the 
subject, so I'll only say that this is my 4th R1800, and they all had 
the problem to one extent or other. Hardly shows at all in most units 
with all inks firing, but cutting back to 2 or 3 and a couple toners 
makes it much more of a problem. 

 

> 
> That said, I think the microbanding can be resolved within the 
workflow with curves and 
> dithering patterns.  > 

A small amount of that can be dealt with in this fashion, but if you 
don't have a majority of your channels printing cleanly, microbanding 
will always rear its ugly little head. 

I suspect Epson will not make second intermediate-level 8-ink printer 
now that they have Claria inks on the one hand, and the R2400 on the 
other. This was after all an attempt to address the longevity issue at 
the advanced enthusiast level, and the R1400 and its successors will 
now fill that niche. Too bad my preferred setup requires 7 channels.

I think perhaps I'll just run this one till it quits, Then shift the 
burden to the 3800. Refillables for that are not too far away, and it 
prints beautifully. But don't get me started on the paper transport 
mechanism-what where they thinking?

Steven Karafyllakis

To all my friends, I've just posted an interesting group of new photos that
focus on cars and decay.  If you have any interest in vintage cars returning
to nature check them out.
Click the WHITE button on the index page "New photos updated monthly" to see
the photographs.


http://www.daschkenasphoto.com

As always, THANKS for looking.

David
-
-- 
David Aschkenas
915 N. Euclid Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
412-363-3458

www.daschkenasphoto.com



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I have r1800 and bought refurb from Epson and it is fine.

Steven Karafyllakis <stevekphoto@...> wrote:                               Hi All; 
 
 As they say, 'Hope Springs Eternal'... Has anyone bought a NEW (not 
 refurbed) R1800 from the Epson store in the last few months? I would 
 appreciate a report on the microbanding issue as I'm thinking of 
 replacing my ageing unit soon. I guess I'm hoping that Epson has either 
 adressed the microbanding problem (quietly) or is keeping the better 
 units to sell on the own stores. Too much to hope for?
 
 Steven Karafyllakis
 
 
     
                               


 Rob 
  
  
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Great shots, David.  I know the attraction.  Here¹s one of mine:

http://www.pbase.com/hlockwood/image/17115908

Harry


On 10/1/07 12:35 PM, "David Aschkenas" <Daschkenas@...> wrote:

>  
> 
> To all my friends, I've just posted an interesting group of new photos that
> focus on cars and decay.  If you have any interest in vintage cars returning
> to nature check them out.
> Click the WHITE button on the index page "New photos updated monthly" to see
> the photographs.
> 
> http://www.daschkenasphoto.com
> 
> As always, THANKS for looking.
> 
> David
> -


-- 

Harry F. Lockwood




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