[Begin Rant]
I am very tempted...no, pretty much have decided, to just go back to the darkroom for print making.
For my large format, I shoot 5X7 and 8X10. I have an Epson 4990 and V750 (the V750 was given to me and I haven't hooked up yet). Because of the scanners and ink-jet printers, it has been years since I have done any darkroom printing.
My Canon i9900 printer has been nothing but trouble for a couple years. Very difficult to get a decent B&W image from my scanned negs. Even more difficult to get a good color image from SLR digital files. Frustration.
A friend gave me his Epson 2100 a while back, but it had apparently sat to long unused...never could get the print heads to clear up. My friend passed away a while back, and his widow gave me his HP B9180, but it had also sat to long. I have fought with it for weeks now, and it is now telling me to replace every one of the damn printer heads.
My girlfriends HP B8500 has been nothing but trouble since the day we opened the box.
This is not the way print making should be. I can not afford to spend $500, $600, $700 and up every few years on a new printer (for 13"X19" prints).
So...I believe it is time to just say %&#@ it and start contact printing my large format (I recently turned down the opportunity to purchase an 8X10 enlarger with lenses and a cold-light head for $400 - begin kicking self now).
From my perspective, our ink-jet printers just know way to much. And because they know to much (when the ink level is "low" or "out of date" - $38 each, or the printer heads need replaced - $70 each) they shut down until we spend money, rather than just printing and let us decide (by looking at the print quality) what needs to be replaced.
So, unless anyone can recommend a good, simple, reliable ink-jet printer...I am done. I have wasted way to much time and money on hardware, paper, and ink.
[End Rant]
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