How Good is Epson 7800 Printer?

[RedSun]

It is big, a pro model. Worth $$?

[Kirk Gittings]

Its a great printer. I've owned and used 7000 series printers and many more Epsons. I've had prints done on one of theses but never owned that model. I have been an Epson fan for along time running their inks and Piezography inks. Interestingly though when I need a print over 16x20 these days I need to job it out to a commercial printer and we have a couple of good ones around here. So recently for a large print I had test matte b&w prints done of an image on Epson/Epson inks, Epson/Piezography inks and on a Canon with their Lucia 12 ink set each on a couple of different papers. To my surprise I actually preferred the Canon ink print. The print just glowed and had a richness that was subtle but there and not present in the others. I did not even know that this printer owned a Canon and was not expecting a test from it. Now by themselves any of these prints would have looked great but side by side the Canon stood out. It was totally unexpected-earlier Canon's had not impressed me.

[bob carnie]

Its only as good as the operator in front of it.

I own cannon ipf 9000 and epson 7800 and like them both.

[bitnaut]

Its only as good as the operator in front of it.

That's very true nowadays just as it was in the chemical darkroom days: It still takes a good operator/printer (person) to know what the printer is or is not capable of and to work around those limitations.

I have the Epson 9800 and couldn't be happier.