Printing B&W as good as the 'ol wet Darkroom?

[3dogs]

jtoolman never sleeps or takes a break from enquiring and experimenting...or so it seems to me. His comment about picking up a RIP from Jon Cone and adapting it to solve an issue with bronzing prompted me to revisit Cones' site to look again at his B&W ink sets.
it looks awful complicated and the fact that one needs to have a dedicated printer (Oh YES I DO!!) prompted this thread so here we (I hope) GO (groan)

This afternoon, after reading the 'GO' thread I cranked up the Canon, tossed in a couple of pages of A4 Xerox iGen3 selected Grayscale and printed an image, not expecting too much!!! I am HOOKED again! this steam driven printer is producing some REALLY pleasing prints.

Cones' system is wanting an Epson, problem is the 1400's sold here are chipped with a regional chip, and if I 'GO' with this new direction where am I going to find the carts, chips and resetters to support a local R1430? The R3000 is just too expensive and I have not seen an A3 printer for sale here? Well the R3000 is not that much more expensive than a R3880, ( my line and I am sticking to it!!)

A3 is my preference for printing B&W as it is large enough to allow one to savour the tones, whereas Colour is able to excel down to thumbs size (or so I find for my taste)

Can I get some help on this one please?

Cheers,

Andrew'

 

[slackercruster]

3880 prints BW fanatstic. Look as good and better than my wet prints.

 

[3dogs]

3880 prints BW fanatstic. Look as good and better than my wet prints.

Thanks for that, you are right it does do rather nice B&W, and yes it does do better than MY wet prints too..............However. the new inksets from Cone look like they are doing it better again. BUT, before I go leaping into the great unknown clutching a wad of one hundred pound notes in my hot sweaty hands I'd like to get some feedback from any of the members that have actually used the system. Id rather not outlay for a swag of gear just to find its not really a winner for a casual user. It may be that it is a grand toy for a professional getting megabucks back for each Fine Art Print sold off it......that I am NOT

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[rodbam]

Andrew what are the economics between trying to get better B&W prints on cheap igen3 paper with a dedicated B&W printer or using the 3880 on known brand good performing papers?
I was always happy with my B&W prints from my 9000 on proper inkjet Chinese paper ($30 for 20 A3 sheets) & even more happy now with the B&W output from the 9500.
So far I'm not too happy with the Canon Photo Matte paper I bought & I would think it would print a bit better than igen3 copy paper because it's made for inkjets. Maybe my logic shouldn't come into this a

 

[3dogs]

Andrew what are the economics between trying to get better B&W prints on cheap igen3 paper with a dedicated B&W printer or using the 3880 on known brand good performing papers?
I was always happy with my B&W prints from my 9000 on proper inkjet Chinese paper ($30 for 20 A3 sheets) & even more happy now with the B&W output from the 9500.
So far I'm not too happy with the Canon Photo Matte paper I bought & I would think it would print a bit better than igen3 copy paper because it's made for inkjets. Maybe my logic shouldn't come into this a

I have the day off so I have spent almost the entire day getting the feel of both the 3880 and the 9000, as well as comparing printing workflow Lightroom 4 vs CS5. the session has produced upwards of 30 prints A4 and around 20 prints A3 and about half each split between Lightroom and CS. I could NOT afford to do that on ANY BRANDED PHOTO PAPER! end of story. So that is one part of the economics for my situation, I am in trial and error mode.

I set the 3880 up with the Canson Profile for 310gsm Enhanced Matte using the iGen3, switched between B&W and colour and between A4 and A3. Several I made for comparison with the iGen3 profile I made myself. I also shot two sheets of Canson BFK through to test the output for comparison......there is non. Xeox is white and BFK is more muted and textured...AND it's designed and made to take ink properly for photography, its too, too sweet, just looks the part and shades the Xerox, BUT at $0.08/sheet vs $4.80 for the Canson.....waddya expect!

I have a swag of Canon A4 MP-101 Matte Photo I bought at Dick Smith for $17/50 pack...think I have about 4 packs left of that. I have only done a single Munki test chart with it on either of these printers so I cant say one way or the other.

What I can say is the results I am getting will be just fine for me to make photo books for myself. There are a couple I will be mounting and taking to a Club comp just for a stir. They WILL NOT believe its printed on laser jet paper......

So to resolve the issue for you I have just made a comparative print using the Canson profile on both A4's . The Canon paper is not as bright a white compared with the Xerox, and comes off the machine with darker blacks and brighter whites, so I checked the Print adjustment in Lightroom to Brightness +8 and wound up Contrast to +57 and its almost too close to call..

I am now printing on the 200gsm Pt# 003R97967 A4



Cheers

Andrew

 

[rodbam]

So if we adjust the settings the igen3 can print well enough for a nice print. OK I will bite the bullet & by that igen3 silk paper from Officeworks & give it a workout. If I don't like it then my missus can use it in her laser printer.

 

[3dogs]

So if we adjust the settings the igen3 can print well enough for a nice print. OK I will bite the bullet & by that igen3 silk paper from Officeworks & give it a workout. If I don't like it then my missus can use it in her laser printer.

I would be very cautious about the silk, make very, very sure it is not a coated paper cos that's a big no go.

If you can get just a few sheets give it a go, I wii hold my breath....

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[rodbam]

Bugger it is a coated paper Andrew. I can't seem to find the paper you have locally.

 

[3dogs]

Bugger it is a coated paper Andrew. I can't seem to find the paper you have locally.

Well thats a bummer!! but I DID have a feeling it would be, hence my caution to you to confirm. The Hat suggested pre spraying with GO ( I think?) look back at the 9000 vs 9000MkII thread for exact details is it worth getting a small quantity and giving that a try?

Why not give Fuju Xerox in Qld a call they are in Brisbane (07) 3864 7200, alternatively give the product support freecall number a try during the week, they will surely be able to tell you who is buying it locally and has it in stock. They may even be willing to sell it by the ream directly out of their Brissy HO. The number for that is 1300 667 955.

Getting a bit worried about my PC refill carts and ink, it has been almost 10 days now and no sign of it!!

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[mikling]

To get to Australia it has to go through the UK first. It pretty much travels around the world to make it there. That is normal for economic shipping to Australia.