epson vs canon

[false_Aesthetic]

Hey,

Has anyone compared the 9800 with the iPF8000?

Any thoughts on the differences between these machines?

input and info is greatly appreciated.


T.

[Bruce Watson]

Yes, several people have compared them. Check the archives for these lists:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/EpsonWideFormat/messages
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/LargeFormatInkjet/messages
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanonWideFormat/messages

[Ted Harris]

I'll be doing a detailed comparison of the Epson, Canon and HP wide format printers later this year. Likely for publication in July and (possibly) with a Roland as a reference printer.

[Bruce Watson]

I'll be doing a detailed comparison of the Epson, Canon and HP wide format printers later this year. Likely for publication in July and (possibly) with a Roland as a reference printer.

I'm interested in a particular issue if you'd look into this with these printers. Specifically the ability of the printer/ink/substrate/software to make dark colors. This shows up in shadows all the time for me. When I'm working an image I'll check the gamut limits. I often find that my colors in the shadows are out of gamut. This means, basically, that I have to desaturate the entire image (to maintain balance), or I have to live with some posterization in the darkest colors, or I have to compromise somewhere in between.

The desire to improve gamut in shadows is supposedly one of the reasons that Epson moved from UltraChromes to K3s. It's also supposedly one of the reasons Canon included the RGB inks. Both should do better with dark gamut issues. But do they?

I'm wondering if anyone has actually gotten it "right" as it were. So I'd be interested in what your tests have to say about this issue, and how the three (four? more?) printers compare in their ability to properly render color in shadows.

If you have time of course ;-)

[Howard Slavitt]

You probably know this already, but there's a fairly extensive comparison on Reichman's luminous landscape site. I think it's in his article reviewing the Canon printer, and that he compares it to the Epson as his baseline. He also has a very recent article (from a few days ago) reviewing the newest HP wide format printer -- he gives it a glowing review.

[Bruce Watson]

You probably know this already, but there's a fairly extensive comparison on Reichman's luminous landscape site. I think it's in his article reviewing the Canon printer, and that he compares it to the Epson as his baseline. He also has a very recent article (from a few days ago) reviewing the newest HP wide format printer -- he gives it a glowing review.

I've seen them. Not that I have anything against Mr. Reichman, but I've got more faith in our Mr. Harris' ability to tell us about these printers from the perspective of a LF shooter. LF people just seem to be more detail oriented, and notice more nuanced tonal variations in prints.

But no pressure Ted!