I posted a question earlier today over in the On Photography section entitled "What is a photographer?" http://www.largeformatphotography.in...257#post440257 I'm 99% sure I'm ready to take the leap and get a decent printer that will allow me to do color and black and white prints but I'd appreciate any new input. I have been doing a lot of research on these two printers and read quite a bit here and elsewhere but I'm wondering if anyone has anything else they would like to say.

This is in response to a point that Brian Ellis raised:
"Archival" is one of those buzzwords that can get one into a lot of trouble. I'm definitely interested in pigment based prints not dye based prints due to their stability even if they don't have the 'punch' that a dye based print can have. The other thing that is really important to me is the ability to do black and white without a color cast.

If I stick with an Epson printer this narrows it down to three printers for me to think about. The R2400 and R2880 are less expensive than the 3800 but there are two issues with those printers: First is the necessity to switch out the black inks depending on the paper type, matt vs glossy; Second is the size of the ink cartridges and associated costs. Since the R2880 is the same price as the R2400-that seems like a no brainer-get the R2880. As far as the 3800 goes by the time I buy a total of 80mls of each ink for the R2880 I could have bought the 3800 with ink. I don't plan on printing a lot but it sure would be nice not to worry about buying ink all the time to feed the R2880, but then again ~$50 a pop for a 3800 cartridge is nothing to take lightly. The larger maximum print size of the 3800 is nice as well. The question is this: is the newer technology in the R2880, lower start up cost and smaller print size worth it compared to the economy and larger print size capabilities of the 3800?


Scott