Mitch Alland
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 p.1066 #7 · Leica M/X/T/S/Q/CL/SL Picture Thread | |
zhangyue wrote:
...Printer I am thinking is 3880 type, 17" wide max...
zhangye, the Epson 3880 can produce beautiful prints. I bought one and used one over a two-months period last June-July in Washington, DC. I liked the Epson Exhibition Fiber paper: it produced beautiful color and B&W prints. Sometimes there was some gloss differential, but I applied Renaissance Wax to the prints: this eliminated the gloss differential and made the prints more scratch resistant.
But I had a big problem with the 3880. I was printing 12x18 inch images on 13x19 inch sheets, leaving an ½ inch margin all around — convenient for keeping the prints in 13x19 inch boxes. (I used the Pina Zangaro Camden Series Archival Aluminum Print Presentation Box). The problem was that very often, when the printer
reached last last one inch of the trailing edge of the paper, the paper would shift about 1/4 inch to the left and the print would be ruined, as the last inch of the print would be printed with an "offset" and some smudges. The reason is that the paper is held in the printer by only two plastic wheels — a flimsy arrangement — and the forces acting on the paper as it was reaching the trailing edge were too much to keep it in position. I think that this is affected by the degree of ambient humidity, or the changing humidity, that affects the paper. (Washington, DC can be quite humid in June and July).
This problem would occur on as much as on 25-30% of the prints and I wasted a lot of expensive 13x19 inch paper, I contacted Epson Customer Support and they sent me a replacement printer, which turned out to be a refurbished unit — and I had the same problem. Then, they sent me a completely new printer, but I still had the same problem. Epson proposed to send me a fourth (new) printer, but I declined and they gave me a full rebate: in effect they recognized that this was a design fault of the 3880.
If you don't have the humidity that I had in June-July in Washington, DC, you might never have this problem. A solution would have been to print with a larger, say, a 1-inch margin — but I wanted 12x18 inch prints. So, if you want to print on 13x19 inch paper with 1-inch or larger margins, you won't have this problem. Another solution would have been to print 12x18 inch images on 17x22 inch paper and cut it down to 13x19 inches, but that is substantially more expensive, not to speak of the bother of having to cut the paper down.
My understanding is the the Epson 4900 would not have this problem because it has a vacuum system to keep the paper in place. But the 4900 is much more prone to clogging than the 3880, which is very good in that it clogs much less when it hasn't been used for a few weeks.
At this stage, I am waiting for the next generation of the Epson 3880: Epson has just recently introduced a new 13-inch wide printer, the SureColor P600, which has a signficantly greater black density than either the 3880 or traditional silver halide photo papers, making it especially appropriate for B&W prints. There will be a 17-wide version of the printer as well (this year?).
I suppose I should post a couple of pictures:
M-Monochrom/Summicron-28
Sam Roi Yod – Shrimp farm
The name "Sam Roi Yod" means "three hundred peaks" and applies to a range of dramatic limestone hills that that rise up from the coastal plain at the edge of the Gulf of Thailand, about 250 km south of Bangkok. The area is a national park, whose ecology has been devastated by illegal shrimp farming, cattle raising and poaching. The shack pictured here is a shrimp farm station, with radio antenna and a solar panel. It is within the boundary of the national park.
M-Monochrom/Elmarit-21 ASPH
Pak Nam Pran
—Mitch/Chiang Mai
Edited on Jan 12, 2015 at 01:15 AM · View previous versions
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