Datacolor User to User Support Group.

>Before the B9180, I had (and still have) a Canon i9100.?




Yes, and you certainly don't see me recommending the i9100 either (though I do own one, from way back). In fact, even the Canon Pro9000 has gotten the pan from me in the last week. Fortunately the Pro9500 is now available as an alternative. Similarly, Epson offers the 1800/1900 models, which are great color printers, especially for gloss and luster papers. But I don't recommend them, as they are very weak for black and white, and not ideal for matte.




> The difference on B&W is like day and night.




But that is because you are comparing it to an inferior printer, not the current competition...




>I have also reprinted some of the scans from my 4x5 B&W Tri-X on the B9180, using the semi-matte paper, and found them to be comparable to the originals printed on Oriental. ?I had to tweak them a bit in LightZone, but that has been good enough for me.




>I should add that I prefer the color rendered as B&W to the straight grey colors. ?I find the former closer to a selenium toned print and the latter more like an untoned print with a faint olive caste. ?That may be why I am happier with the B&W prints than you are.




B&W should be dead neutral until you ask it for a tint or cross-tint, and then offer exactly the tint of cross-tint you ask for. A printer that offers selenium and olive as its B&W options is a failure as a black and white printer, which was the basis of my comment in the first place...




>I have not tried matte p
aper, so I have no comment. ?I have been very happy with the HP semi-matte.




Despite the name, semi-matte is a type of gloss paper, not a type of matte paper. So you have qualified yourself as someone who's preferences line up with what the B9180's limitations. Others may have different needs.




>I did consider Epson, but rejected it because of its reputation for clogging. ?I go away for two weeks at a time and the HP has never given me a problem when turned off.




In fairness to Epson, I have a number of their printers which work flawlessly, with no clogging issues, for years at a time, despite my on-again, off-again usage. Yes, they can clog, but no, that doesn't mean they will for you...




> OTOH, I have an Epson R200 that never seems to clog, so that may be more of a problem with some Epson printers than others.




That mirrors my experience, but in my case with a wide range, and differing sizes...




>Lastly, for a non-pro, such as myself, a 12x18 print on 13x19 paper is an almost perfect size. ?I wouldn't know where to hang a larger print




As the saying almost goes, you can never be too rich, too thin, or not need a bigger printer. ?Thats one of the beauties of the Epson 3800; its affordable, compact, and makes big prints. There are certainly things I prefer about some of the HP and Canon models, but they are bulky!




C. David Tobie
Global Product Technology Manager
Digital Imaging & Home Theater
Datacolor
CDTobie@...
www.datacolor.com/Spyder3


-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Peirce <bob@...>
To: datacolor_group@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, Aug 22, 2009 10:20 am
Subject: Re: [datacolor_group] Re: Best ink printer to match with Spyder3Print














        














On Aug 22, 2009, at 9:20 AM, CDTobie wrote:


       


 

In what way is it deficient? ?Nobody has ever commented that my prints are so bad they must have been made on an HP!
No, without context they wouldn't do that; but side by size, the B9180 is more of a glossy color printer, not handling matte media, or black and white, quite as well as the alternatives. For instance, it has only one gray ink, instead of two. And its B&W strategy is to print only black and gray inks, which results in different tonality of different media. And its almost identical in size to a 17 inch wide Epson 3800, while only printing 13 inches wide..


   
           
         

                 

Before the B9180, I had (and still have) a Canon i9100. ?The difference on B&W is like day and night. ?I have also reprinted some of the scans from my 4x5 B&W Tri-X on the B9180, using the semi-matte paper, and found them to be comparable to the originals printed on Oriental. ?I had to tweak them a bit in LightZone, but that has been good enough for me.




I should add that I prefer the color rendered as B&W to the straight grey colors. ?I find the former closer to a selenium toned print and the latter more like an untoned print with a faint olive caste. ?That may be why I am happier with the B&W prints than you are.




I have not tried matte p
aper, so I have no comment. ?I have been very happy with the HP semi-matte.




I did consider Epson, but rejected it because of its reputation for clogging. ?I go away for two weeks at a time and the HP has never given me a problem when turned off. ?OTOH, I have an Epson R200 that never seems to clog, so that may be more of a problem with some Epson printers than others.




Lastly, for a non-pro, such as myself, a 12x18 print on 13x19 paper is an almost perfect size. ?I wouldn't know where to hang a larger print. ?But, it would likely do better in competitions. ?Size does seem to be important there!