Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 42

Thread: Complete frustraition

  1. #1
    Randy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    1,486

    Complete frustraition

    [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 And because they know to much (when the ink level is "low" or "out of date" - $38 each, or the printer heads need replaced - $70 each) they shut down until we spend money, rather than just printing and let us decide (by looking at the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]

  2. #2
    Jim Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Chillicothe Missouri USA
    Posts
    3,065

    Re: Complete frustraition

    I've made over 3000 prints, large and small, in one Epson 3800 in almost 5 years with no problems except one cartridge that needed removing and shaking a few times, and a front door that I broke off.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    grand rapids
    Posts
    3,851

    Re: Complete frustraition

    Listen to Jim, there's nothing wrong with your equipment. You'll be able to hand it down for generations

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Posts
    2,094

    Re: Complete frustraition

    Quote Originally Posted by Randy View Post
    [Begin Rant]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]
    I hear you. I've had plenty of the same. I've been lucky for a few years, I've been working with Roland's. They are big, however, and expensive. And they don't make them like they used to. I can't recommend them anymore. It's Epson's fault, but I won't go into it any more than that...

    I would get a nice 3800. Or you can go one step up where the printers have more metal in them. They aren't cheap, but they are more repairable. I would also talk to inkjetmall and get some refillable cartridges and only buy ink in bulk. There are also chip resetters for those that need to do that.

    There's a way to do this so you don't go crazy... but you haver to start out with the good stuff and you have to remember that Epson (and every other manufacturer in the sport) is against you. They want the printers to break. When I took apart the 9600 I had, I found parts in there that were deliberately designed to break. I think you have to figure that its a machine that has a 1-3 year life cycle. If you get more, great, many have. It's like an iPhone or Android. They want you to buy the next version. It isn't a refrigerator.

    Enlargers, especially the ones that are good for 4x5, are beasts. They can take a beating. It's just not the same... this is very different.

    My opinion...

    Lenny
    EigerStudios
    Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing

  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Montara, California
    Posts
    1,827

    Re: Complete frustraition

    Another vote for 3800. I've never had a problem with mine.

    --Darin

  6. #6
    Steve Smith's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Isle of Wight, near England
    Posts
    707

    Re: Complete frustraition

    My vote is for the darkroom. No need to over-complicate things with technology.


    Steve.

  7. #7
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2001
    Location
    Fond du Lac, WI, USA
    Posts
    8,954

    Re: Complete frustraition

    I do sympathize. I've had a couple of "printer from hell" experiences. The loss of time and money can be staggering, and I lost a job once because my printer went from printing fine to being incredibly clogged just a minute later, and I hadn't done anything to it.

    Pigment inks settle. It's a fact of life. There are things that can be done to minimize this, mainly regular printing and agitation of the printer, but it's not completely avoidable. Humidity can also play a part.

    Darkroom work, though, is not without it's own potential frustrations. I had a staining problem that I ultimately tracked down to my water being very hard. I had low contrast which I tracked down to a less effective dichroic filter....

    Basically, you should decide which way you'd like to work. They are quite different.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Beaverton, OR
    Posts
    653

    Re: Complete frustraition

    I had similar problems with inkjets. Finally threw in the towel too.

    For digital prints I use a lab, sweet, sweet, sweet compared to printing at home.

    Most of my prints are done in an enlarger though now.



    For the rest I enlarge.
    You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. ~ Mark Twain

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    680
    I bought an Epson printer and it came defective. The head dropped according to Epson service. After trying to get a good print and a pack of paper later they said send it back.

    I did and that was the end of my digital print making. With the spotty product life and high ink prices I think they have a great racket going.

  10. #10

    Re: Complete frustraition

    Randy, aside from the reliability issues, and you are getting feedback on that, none of the printers you tried can do B&W at all, really. Of course the problem is.. no one will tell you that, because they don't know. Only now are there some printers that will do B&W out of the box, and they are still compromises...
    But, given a good working printer, the right one, in this day and age it's very possible to get good ink prints. Just ask here about what to buy, not the manufacturers, or anyone in a store.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •