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chris jordan
15-Nov-2001, 14:34
Just wondering if anyone has any advance news on the next generation of Epson pr inters. I've heard there's a 24" wide printer with the same technology as the 5 500 coming out next year. Any tidbits? I need this info for solely my own use- - I'm about to buy a 5500 and am wondering if I should wait. You can e-mail me privately if you prefer.

~chris jordan (Seattle)

www.chrisjordanphoto.com

Howard Slavitt
15-Nov-2001, 17:01
Are you going to use it for color or black and white? If black and white, I'd get a 7000 at a steep discount and use Paul Roark's variable tone quadtone inkset and curves. I use these inks and curves on an Epson 1200 and the results are fantastic.

Bill Smith
15-Nov-2001, 18:34
I agree fully. Buy the 7000 now. They are being discounted and produce incedible images. You can also but the Piezography BW24Pro RIP from Cone and use the MIS Full Spectrum inks which are 1/5 the cost of the Piezo inks, and have a better color (no green cast.

The nice thing about the Piezo BW24Pro Rip is that it now has profiles for some really superb papers. Crane Museo, Legion Photo Matte, Somerset Photo Enhanced, All the Hahnemuhle papers, Epson Papers and a bunch of others.

I recently saw a great exhibition of Piezo 20x30 images alongside silver and platinum images. The Piezo images had the tonal range of platinum, the blacks of silver and a expressive nature all their own.

Of course, Paul Roarks curves produce dotless high quality prints, but are designed for Epson Archival Matte. You would have to write new curves or build transfer curves to use them with other papers. The nice thing about Pauls system is that you can get images that range from warm to very cold in tone all buy just using a different curve. It is also possible to "split tone" your images using Paul Roarks methods. See www.paulroark.com

Good Luck Bill

Howard Slavitt
15-Nov-2001, 19:42
To correct the last post, although it's true that Paul Roark's curves are basd on Epson Archival Matte paper, in my experience, they work great for other papers too, without modification, including Eclipse Brightcube (my favorite for black and white), and all of the various Hahnemuehle papers.

chris jordan
16-Nov-2001, 10:36
nope, i'm into color, so the 7000 is out (has a bad reputation for graininess with color images).

so, does anyone have any info on the next generation of Epson printers? thanks,

~chris jordan

Jim Johnston
16-Nov-2001, 15:10
Chris,

With all due respect the 7000 provides some of the smoothest color images I have seen. We run a digital service shop and have used just about every printer on the market. It is clear that you are being given incorrect information.

If you are interested in the "next" generation, then you are limited to the 5500 and 10000 at this time.

Jim Johnston Digital Technology Group

Bill Smith
19-Nov-2001, 23:30
Howard,

Before you publicly correct folks you really need to think about what you are saying. If you were to print out a 21 step tablet with Paul Roarks curves on diiferent paper types and measure the densities on a densitometer you would fine that the resulting curves are NOT linear.

That is although if your opinion they work, they are certainly not perfect. This is just a fact of life. Paul writes his curves for Epson Archival Matte. Each paper will exhibit differing tendencies to absorb and reflect ink.

Why go through all the effort to shoot 4x5 of other LF negatives only to settle for a imperfect print?

Makes no sense to me at all.

Bill

Ed Scott
19-Apr-2002, 15:27
I have some Epson 7000 related questions. How much trouble is it to switch a printer from B&W Piezography to use as a color printer? In otherwords is it feasible to use one printer for both color & B&W?

I noticed that Piezography system does not support Ethernet printers on a Mac. I am not familiar with Mac OSX printer support. How many printers can it support and by what I/O? What are the relative merits of Mac and PC for Piezography use?

Do you know when the 7000 will no longer be sold? Thanks for answers to my and previous questions - much useful information.