Sorry, still confused... (ink choice)

[l_d_allan]

BTW, for those using IS inks from Octoink: how do those compare (color wise) with OEM inks?

OP, did you get a reply to the above question on this hijacked thread? (by me and others, mea culpa)

If not, perhaps "Search is your friend" and then maybe start another thread.

[OT?]
According to Rob, polls aren't possible on the forum engine that drives NS. As a work-around, is there a website that let's you easily mash up a poll that could be cross-referenced from within a thread?

Such as:
I think Octoink compares well to Canon ChromaLife-100 OEM inks, color-wise:
a: strongly agree
b: agree
c: disagree
d: strongly disagree
e: insufficient experience or no informed opinion
e: I read on the Internet that .... (ie ... no informed opinion)
e: A friend mentioned ...
e: A couple of years ago it did or didn't ...

I think Octoink compares well to Epson K3 (?) OEM inks, color-wise:
a: strongly agree
b: agree
c: disagree
d: strongly disagree
e: insufficient experience or no informed opinion

 

[nche11]

It is not realistic to expect any 3rd party ink to match colors exactly with OEM ink. When you use different paper you will see the colors change and you will understand this. Basically there is no such a thing as precision colors from any ink. Fuji makes excellent color films that exceeded Kodak in some market places. None of Fuji's films matches colors of Kodak's. This is pretty much what I keep in mind when looking for a good 3rd party ink. Avoid dirt cheap inks and watch for over priced stuff too.

The most important thing to look for is an ink that is known to be safe for the print head. Getting a clog can be fatal.

 

[The Hat]

nche11
It is not realistic to expect any 3rd party ink to match colors exactly with OEM ink.
None of Fuji's films matches colors of Kodak's.
Avoid dirt cheap inks and watch for over priced stuff too.

If you are still comparing photographic film to inkjet printer output, youre not in the ball park.
Horses for courses, they are two completely different technologies but the printers are catching up.

Fuji/Kodak and all the other manufacturers had huge problems too with their film quality from one batch to another,
far more than Epson/Canon do.

I have never found any quality ink overpriced yet, except OEM inks of course.
Most guys will pay as little as then can get away with for their inks, because quality is the last thing on their tiny minds.

Ask any quality ink Vendors and they will tell you the same, thats why their inks are never over priced,
they too have to compete with these dirt cheap unversal inks (coloured water).

If we dont support these few quality ink suppliers and they lose out to the cheapo markets,
then it will be back to the cave drawings for most of us..

 

[nche11]

Hat, Believe me, Kodak and Fuji comparison is a good analogy. Inks are for the final step of producing prints. Films are for the initial step of capturing the image for the inks to print. Both are critical in the chain of producing a photo on a piece of photo paper. Choice of the film affect the colors of the print so does the choice of ink. Kodak is like the OEM and Fuji is a 3rd party. It is true that Fuji is very much OEM too today. You did not get my point unfortunately.

What I am trying to say is it is unrealistic to expect any 3rd party ink to match colors exactly especially when there are so many different excellent photo papers to choose from. I actually look for inks that have a good character, pretty much like Fuji films comparing to Kodak, rather than expecting the ink to print exactly like OEM which is never possible despite all the hypes of the 3rd party ink manufacturers especially the sellers of the ink. Such a character maybe richer greens or more vivid reds or else. I don't think you will complain if you get a black pigment ink that prints deeper black than OEM.

If you ask the ink vendors they will never say they over price their inks. It's up to you whether you believe it or not. Here in America we have a lot of choices and competition. You can easily spot products that are over priced. I know a Christian ink seller that sells Image Specialist inks (part numbers of WJxxxx) at a much reasonable prices. it is one of the oldest vendors of WJxxxx inks in AMerica. Did you not suspect the first iPhone over priced? In the America you can keep your eyes closed or the other way around to avoid being over charged by hypes. Just look at how cheap computers are today. You need not to worry if the competition will drive you back to the cave without internet.

 

[The Hat]

nche11
What I am trying to say is it is unrealistic to expect any 3rd party ink to match colors exactly especially
when there are so many different excellent photo papers to choose from.

I think you may have gotten off at the wrong stop when it comes to whats good ink and whats bad ink, again horses for courses.
Firstly OEM inks are generally considered the best all round inks, but that is only half the truth.

OEM inks do perform to within 100% quality on their own specially made inkjet papers,
but put them onto other manufacturers paper and their 100% quality tends to take a big nose dive.

I have tested more than 2 dozen different types of paper that is in use in every day offices and companies in this country,
and more to the point I also supplied this quality paper to them.

I have found that OEM inks dont perform any better than 3rd party inks on some of these quality papers
and can say without a shadow of dough that on numerous occasions
it was extremely difficult to tell one from the other say 50/50.

Sometimes it was so hard to distinguish OEM from 3rd party ink that I had to type the names
of each ink on the test papers just to be sure that I could tell them apart.

But back on printed inkjet papers there was a clear winner, and it was OEM inks.
Most people dont print all the time on inkjet paper so cant get the true benefits of their OEM inks
and are better off using an ink which performs equally as well and is a fraction of the price of OEM ink.

Longevity can be a bit of a problem with some 3rd party ink if not all of them, but again OEM ink has its problems
with longevity too when printed on some of the other manufacturers inkjet papers.

Oh on the subject of the American Christian ink seller, I have used their ink and it is indeed very well priced
and of a good quality but found a better ink (higher priced) and as black as OEM black, its called KMP.

Dont get me started on rip off prices with the iPhone, you guys dont know how lucky you are,
the price difference in the EU can be almost double what you pay.

P.S. I am looking into a nice cave in the mountains which had only one owner and is lone since vacated..

 

[websnail]

Such as:
I think Octoink compares well to Canon ChromaLife-100 OEM inks, color-wise:
a: strongly agree
b: agree
c: disagree
d: strongly disagree
e: insufficient experience or no informed opinion
e: I read on the Internet that .... (ie ... no informed opinion)
e: A friend mentioned ...
e: A couple of years ago it did or didn't ...

I'm looking for the bit that says...

Greying slightly, ruddy complexion, with dark circles under the eyes

 

[Tin Ho]

No 3rd party inks compare well with OEM. That's a reality. They do not use same color dyes. Every 3rd party ink has its characters. Use whatever works for you. Works means safe, no clogging and no leaking. No bleeding of hard earned money either...

 

[jru]

Seems like some of the key variables that I've read (and/or experienced some of) for good quality ink include:

* brightness of the colors
* how quickly they fade in normal light
* proneness to clog issues (ex. purge unit & tubing)
* other key ones I'm forgetting?


Thought to be quality inks have included:

* OCP
* KMP
* Inktek
* Image Specialist
* Hobbicolors
* Others I'm forgetting?

Are these quality inks all more or less similar over these variables, and if significantly different for some perhaps it would be good to make a table showing each ink (rows?) and how they fare for each variable (columns?), perhaps along with:

* vendor links
* other comments

Up to now I've used only Hobbicolors, and I found the colors to be very bright, the fading factor to be good, but then I learned from ghwellsjr that the pigment ink was prone to clogging the purge unit/tubing.

And I thought I'd read here that Inktek was thought to be more prone to quicker fading issues.

Another example, Image Specialist was recommended as one of the better inks overall, but wondered whether it is comparable in brightness and as fade resistant as Hobbicolors?


As I said, I only have experience with Hobbicolors, so I would not be qualified to take a stab at such a table.
Would anyone (perhaps someone who could do so quickly off the top of their heads) be up for making such a summary chart?


If so, we could send it to Rob and suggest it become a sticky note to add to our library?

I know that different folks may have different assessments, but might still be worth having a few.

Or is this more complicated than a table would be able to convey?

Just a thought...

 

[The Hat]

jru
Would anyone (perhaps someone who could do so quickly off the top of their heads) be up for making such a summary chart?


If so, we could send it to Rob and suggest it become a sticky note to add to our library?

I know that different folks may have different assessments, but might still be worth having a few.

What youre asking for is possible and would be practically worthless by the time that it is finished.
All of these inks are not found in the one place so it would take time to acquire all of them not to mention the $$ side of things.

The tests themselves would take considerable time and resources and by the end of the
tests the results would probably be out of date.

Inks are changing all the time just to improve their quality and longevity
so an ink thats concidered good today may well be unavailable in the very near future.

My advice to you is if youre not happy with an ink then shop around till you find another ink
that is comparable or better than what youre using at present, in the end its you that is the biggest critic
of your own work and if your happy then alls well with your world.

I have done a number of tests in the past and I found that if I make just one little mistake
then the whole test is a complete waste of time.

Easy it is not, impossible quite probably; messing with inkjets is a great compulsion
addictive most certainly, but above all thoroughly enjoyable so Happy Printing..

 

[jru]

The Hat,

Thanks for your reply.
I was not suggesting an in depth study requiring quite a bit of time ... more just a summary of people's impressions who may have tried more than one ink.

But I do hear you that it would likely quickly become "old data."