Epson bottled Ecotank pigment inks

[Ink stained Fingers]

Epson is announcing new high-end Ecotank-models for business use - ET5800/5850 and ET16600/16650 as A3 models in the range of 1000€ and up. . These models run with pigment inks CMYK - like all other epson printers with Durabrite inks targeted for office applications. The inks for these new models are called Epson 113, and it is the first time that Epson offers bottled pigment CMYK inks available at ecotank ink prices. It is clear that the black ink is for matte papers - copy papers, inkjet papers etc and a photo black is not available. These 113 inks are not called 'Durabrite' , Epson does the same with the 106 inks of the ET7700 which are equivalent to the Claria dye inks but are not called 'Claria'.
I have a set of these inks on order to check for the gamut, their gloss and bronzing on some glossy papers etc. I'll report some findings as the inks are available.
These inks should be a good option for users who like pigment inks for their documents, mainly users of the WF (workforce) printer models, there were no equivalent ecotank printer models available up to now with pigment inks, and it should be easily possible to run existing ecotank printers with dye inks now with these pigment inks instead. The baseline printer mechanism of the lower end ecotank models like the ET-2750 etc is used since years as well in the WF-2010W printer which is offfered with Durabrite pigment inks.

 

[stratman]

Even without a Photo Black, if these inks are fade-resistant, unlike the inferior low cost 'tank' inks of both Epson and Canon as reported on this forum, then it will be a good thing for refillers.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I did a comparison with these 113 inks vs. the Durabrite inks and an inkset I'm currently using on the P400.
I only have a very few profiles I can use for comparison, I'm not using the Durabrite ink and only could find one profile to match with - printed with the P400 on Epson matte inkjet paper, with the Druabrite inks about a year ago and now with the new Epson 113 inks:

The gamuts of these inks are very similar, I'm not stating that the 113 inks are actually Durabrite inks but very similar, and this across the luminance range from the white point to the bottom.

I'm using currently a mix of pigment inks - left from tests some time ago - some HighGloss2 by Farbenwerk and Ultrachrome HD of the P800 which overall give me a good gloss on a few glossy papers with a gloss optimizer overprint .

Yellow is the gamut outline of the 113 ink, significantly larger than the gamut of my glossy ink, this on matte paper.
(I'm mixing the orange and red inks with yellow and magenta as they are needed in the P400). This makes this ink the preferred ink for matte and normal papers giving the widest gamut.

Printing on glossy papers with these 113 inks shows some bronzing, mainly on cyan tilting into violett, and the gloss is not the best overall, rather average at best, but I have seen pigment inks with worse performance in this respect , I would not recommend this ink for prints on glossy papers - with or w/o gloss optimizer

 

[palombian]

Good job, daring to experiment pays off !
Thanks for the ink mixing suggestion .

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Since these Epson 113 inks are giving me quite some improved gamut on matte papers I'm loading a 2nd cartridge set with these inks so I can swap inks depending on the type of paper I'm going to use - glossy or matte.

I'm printing with my Pro 7600 mainly on matte paper and PVC foil (posters - tear resistant) and rarely on silk/semiglossy papers. I don't like those reflections and mirroring effects on large format prints. The black cartridge is already loaded with a matte black ink, so I may - whenever I'm running out of existing Ultrachrome compatible inks - slowly phase over to these 113 inks as well and use a dilutant for the LM and LC inks.

 

[Stephen Polevoy]

So, I am using the Epson ET-7750 which has a BK & PB + C, Y, & M. The inks that the 7750 use is the Epson 512 inks, which are only made to be used for the ET-7700 and ET-7750 printers.
Does anyone have an idea if these new printers, their new high-end Ecotank-models for business use - ET5800/5850 and ET16600/16650, will be better than the printer I have?
I printer a lot of photos last summer using matte paper with good results as I saw someone on the internet who was using the 7750 and after some experimentation decided that matte paper in this machine had better results than glossy paper. Anyone else have any comment on which paper to use?

Stephen

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I think it is a matter of personal preference whether you prefer glossy or matte or semiglossy/silk etc type papers.
What are your expectations in this respect for a 'better' paper - what should it have or show what the other type does not have ?

 

[avantime]

Are there any 3rd party pigment ink solutions in Europe to substitute the original 113 Epson? They have a good price, but I'm used to 3rd party dye ink prices, and the pigment one from Epson is a bit more expensive

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Look for 'Durabrite' compatible inks as they are used in lots of WF...- Workforce models starting with the WF2010W

 

[maximilian59]

So, I am using the Epson ET-7750 which has a BK & PB + C, Y, & M. The inks that the 7750 use is the Epson 512 inks, which are only made to be used for the ET-7700 and ET-7750 printers.
Does anyone have an idea if these new printers, their new high-end Ecotank-models for business use - ET5800/5850 and ET16600/16650, will be better than the printer I have?
I printer a lot of photos last summer using matte paper with good results as I saw someone on the internet who was using the 7750 and after some experimentation decided that matte paper in this machine had better results than glossy paper. Anyone else have any comment on which paper to use?

Stephen

Hello Stephen,
go for the Hahnemühle matte sample packs. I printed on most of them wit a Pro-100 and all are really astonishing. Even as all inks are dye inks. As there are two sheets of each sample you can try with the matte medium and and a glossy medium. I would recommend premium glossy with high quality. Use the same picture and compare. When you have found your paper you need a profile for your combination and settings. The rest is experience and your taste.
Good luck,
Maximilian