Archive 2018 · Epson P400 or P600?

Arka
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p.1 #1 · Epson P400 or P600?

I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these. I've read this thread but would like to tap the FM brain trust to see what experience y'all have with this printer.

I expect to be printing lots of family stuff and the occasional landscape. Not a lot of monochrome work.

Your insights are most appreciated.

Jan 15, 2018 at 03:25 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #2 · Epson P400 or P600?

I gpt the P600 because of ink tank size. Smaller cartridges drive you nuts. My R800 had small cartridges. It seemed like 3 prints and I was changing a cartridge.

Jan 15, 2018 at 05:26 PM

pjbishop
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p.1 #3 · Epson P400 or P600?

So far, so good with the P800, even if you have to sell your cat to buy the cartridges. I like being able to print 16 X 20 for a 4/5 proportion or 14/21 for 2/3.

That said, I think the best prints I ever got were from the R3000, with its capacity for tiny little picoliter drops.

The P800, which the 600 may resemble in operation - I haven't looked into that - is a lot less fussy to load than the dear old R3000. That's an improvement I really like.

Jan 20, 2018 at 01:32 PM

rdeloe
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p.1 #4 · Epson P400 or P600?

You must have a very rare cat! Those OEM carts are not cheap...

Another thing to keep in mind is that you can't get refillables or after-market carts for the P800 in North America (Epson has that locked down tight as a drum). I believe you can for the P600

pjbishop wrote:
So far, so good with the P800, even if you have to sell your cat to buy the cartridges. I like being able to print 16 X 20 for a 4/5 proportion or 14/21 for 2/3.

Jan 20, 2018 at 01:54 PM

Peter Figen
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p.1 #5 · Epson P400 or P600?

80ml for $55 is pretty cheap. You're never replacing them all at the same time, and while that's still a fair bit more per ml than that carts I buy for my 9900 ($130 for 350ml and $230 for 700ml) it still ain't bad. While ink seems like it's the most expensive thing to go in your printer, really, it's the paper, especially when you get into some of the fine art papers like Hahnemuhle Museum Etching and the like.

Jan 20, 2018 at 10:44 PM

rdeloe
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p.1 #6 · Epson P400 or P600?

On my Epson 3880, paper unquestionably is the major expense. But that's because it costs me under $500 CAD to mix up 500ml of ink per position. This is a monochrome inkset of course. But if I used the ABW workflow and Epson inks I'd be spending considerably more. Even if I end up chucking a lot of the ink I make because I didn't print enough I'd still be ahead of the game.

Anyway, the convenience of just sticking in Epson carts is undeniable. If the OP wants to keep it simple, that's the way to go. But I like the option of being able to refill or use my own inksets (so I have a second 3880 in deep storage in case Epson's security on P800 carts is unbreachable).

Jan 20, 2018 at 11:06 PM

pjbishop
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p.1 #7 · Epson P400 or P600?

rdeloe wrote:
On my Epson 3880, paper unquestionably is the major expense. But that's because it costs me under $500 CAD to mix up 500ml of ink per position. This is a monochrome inkset of course. But if I used the ABW workflow and Epson inks I'd be spending considerably more. Even if I end up chucking a lot of the ink I make because I didn't print enough I'd still be ahead of the game.

Anyway, the convenience of just sticking in Epson carts is undeniable. If the OP wants to keep it simple, that's the way to go. But I like...Show more →

redeloe, The full 9-cartridge inkset for P800 is $495 at B& H. At 80 ml per cartridge, that's a total of 720 ml, roughly 70 cents per. Outrageously expensive. Something to think about - I am working to support the OEM ink industry.

I agree with you about the paper. I use ImagePrint, so am able to try any number of papers. I have settled, unfortunately, on one of the more expensive papers for most types of matte prints - the Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art. Out of curiosity, I ran a comparison print on a number of papers, including a couple of the Hahnemuhle rags. Among that limited range of papers, the Ultrasmooth was by far my preference for fineness of detail and color, as governed by the color of the paper substrate, the coating and the particular software profile. Of course, there are many other papers out there that I haven't tried, and I'm on the lookout for sample packs. I'd love find something as good but cheaper

On the reflective front, I have a large supply of the Harmon Baryta, which has been discontinued - inevitably! - by Hahnemuhle, after acquiring and continuing the brand for a while. I need to find an eventual replacement, but so far nothing I've tried matches the Harmon, and that includes the two comparable ( and more expensive ) Epson legacy papers, the original ( expensive ) Epson Baryta, and the more economical Canson, as well as some Ilford papers. Again, there are lots of papers available that I haven't tried. I ran a comparison print on six of the aforementioned papers. These are all good papers. The prints look very close, some would think identical, but for me, there is a definite difference: the Harmon renders the image best - it gives the best balance of tone and saturation, the most faithful translation from screen to paper. Again,some of the difference should be attributed to the profile. I thought it was interesting that a photographer friend of mine who used to work with 4x5 film ( and recently acquired a 5D SR ) also picked the Harman from the test array.

If you have any suggestions on paper, please suggest!

PS: Of course the cat is a scam. It is trained to escape the new owner at the earliest opportunity and return home.

Jan 21, 2018 at 09:45 AM

rdeloe
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p.1 #8 · Epson P400 or P600?

My paper advice will be fairly limited because currently I'm only printing on unbrightened matte. For unbrightened matte paper I am very pleased with Premier Art Smooth Fine Art 325 gsm. It's very close to Epson Hot Press Natural (which is also really good), but it's double-sided where Epson's product is single-sided; I like double-sided because it's a bit more economical when making test prints. PA SFA 325 gsm is a very heavy stock and technically shouldn't go through the main feeder in my 3880, but it works fine if you feed one at a time. It's also perfectly flat.

Premier Art also makes a Smooth Fine Art 200 gsm which is single-sided and also very nice. However, I have found the lighter weights to have a bit of a curl to them, which is a problem on my 3880 because it doesn't have a vacuum system to flatten out the paper. I have to be more careful to flatten these weights of paper before printing.

PA makes various other stocks of paper. You can get them all through Atlex, which is my go-to for paper supplies. One thing I like about PA is they're small enough as a company to be responsive to special requests. For instance, I shoot to and print for the 3:2 aspect ratio. Therefore, for 17" width prints I need 25" long paper to get the largest possible print. That size is nearly impossible to get. Most brands (e.g., Epson HPN) only come in 17"x22". That's a lot of wasted paper. PA was able to do a 17x25 run for me, purchased through Atlex, at a very small price premium.

Another one to look at if you need new options is Red River. They have many stocks, very reasonably priced, and offer good sample packs. I only tried Aurora (their unbrightened matte). It was actually very bad for MY printing (self-made carbon ink on cotton), so don't take that as a criticism of the whole line. They're definitely worth a look -- and also small enough that you can talk to them and get answers.

pjbishop wrote:
If you have any suggestions on paper, please suggest!

Jan 21, 2018 at 10:21 AM

pjbishop
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p.1 #9 · Epson P400 or P600?

Thanks, Rdeloe, for the paper suggestions. I'll look into to them. Other people have also recommended the Red River.

Re paper sizes, it took the paper companies and the artists' supply stores way longer than it should have to start providing papers compatible with digital cameral sensor proportions as well as their traditional sheet sizes. I understand the traditional sheet sizes for press, but inkjet printers are basically digital photo printers. The inkjet manufacturers are 30 years behind the curve. I tend to print mostly at 3/2 or 4/5 proportions depending on the subject and would like to be able to print 16/24 inches. Instead, the best I can do on the 17X 22- inch P800 is 14/21 inches. An 18 X 25 inch printer might be ideal for the mid-range.

I have only tried one unbrightened paper - didn't care for the result that particular paper. I would like to try some more. I was unaware that two-sided papers were available - that would great if the paper is good. Most of the papers I use, matte or reflective, exceed 300 grams, but the Harmon still curls badly and requires a session of straightening before it can be printed successfully. My theory about he curl is that under the Hahnemuhle regime the paper was cut to various sizes in overly thick stacks: the smaller the size the greater the curl. I have to really wrestle with the 8.5 X 11 and also to somewhat lesser extent, with the the larger sizes to prepare for printing. At least the matte papers all feed smoothly into the printer.

Jan 21, 2018 at 10:16 PM

msoomro
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p.1 #10 · Epson P400 or P600?

tag for ref

Feb 18, 2019 at 05:09 PM


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