Are they all gone?

shadowfox

shadowfox

Darkroom printing lives
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My aging Epson R340 inkjet is still kicking-on, but I'm considering to get something that can print up to 13x19. So off I go looking for a replacement.

Then I notice something that struck me as odd.

In the electronic stores near me, also in the gadget/electronic news, I no longer see or hear about 6/8/10 ink color inkjet printers being produced, rumored, previewed, tested.

Don't Epson/HP/Canon make them anymore?

Everywhere I go, I only see those black 4-color all-in-one fax/scanner/copier boxes that is solely targeted for business.

So what do artists print colors with digitally nowadays?
 
You are looking in home electronics stores, so you find home electronics. Not so suprising perhaps !

You could look in the back of digital photography magazines etc. for possible specialist vendors. It seems that many cities have some sort of 'specialist' DSLR sort of shop - that is the place to look I suppose. Or Amazon etc. for online box shifters without a store.
 
Home electronics stores are strange places. When I bought my R2400 I had already done the usual internet search to find the best on line price in Oz then found one in one of the larger chains of home electronics stores in their printer section. It was covered in dust and had obviously been there for quite a while and was $300.00 dearer than I could buy on line but I figured I would ask the salesman if they could match the online price assuming they might be glad to see the back of it. The salesman admitted to me that it had been ordered by mistake as it wasn't their policy to stock high end printers and yes it had been there for quite a while. That said they refused to budge on the price so I bought on line!

I went in a few months later and that printer was still sitting there ... still covered in dust!
 
shadowfox said:
My aging Epson R340 inkjet is still kicking-on, but I'm considering to get something that can print up to 13x19. So off I go looking for a replacement.

Then I notice something that struck me as odd.

In the electronic stores near me, also in the gadget/electronic news, I no longer see or hear about 6/8/10 ink color inkjet printers being produced, rumored, previewed, tested.

Don't Epson/HP/Canon make them anymore?

Everywhere I go, I only see those black 4-color all-in-one fax/scanner/copier boxes that is solely targeted for business.

So what do artists print colors with digitally nowadays?
Click to expand...


Epson just introduced their lastest 13" printer:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=C11CA86201
 
jsrockit said:
A quick look at each manufactuer's site will let you know the answer.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, except for the Epson R3000 (must be *very* recent, wasn't there the last time I checked), no other manufacturers are introducing new printers.

Edit: I meant new printers that are continuation of their "pro" lineup. I suppose they still sell big ticket items like floor-standing models, but those are not what I'm talking about.
 
Last edited:
MartinP said:
You are looking in home electronics stores, so you find home electronics. Not so suprising perhaps !
Click to expand...

My point is that at one time, you cannot overlook these printers in *any* electronic stores.

I guess the numbers speak for themselves, most people are happy with all-in-one device.
 
lilmsmaggie said:
Epson just introduced their lastest 13" printer:
Click to expand...

Indeed. That is good, at least they still see the market in semi-pro to pro digital printing.

It'd be a shame if HP or Canon gave up on this market. Their design (with replaceable heads) are superior to Epson's in terms of longevity.
 
I'm surprised. Why should they give up the professional printers? At photokina there was a section with the home printers and a bigger section with the all pro printers at the Canon booth.

But it's the same her in Germany. You don't find pro printers in the consumer electronic stores.

shadowfox said:
Indeed. That is good, at least they still see the market in semi-pro to pro digital printing.

It'd be a shame if HP or Canon gave up on this market. Their design (with replaceable heads) are superior to Epson's in terms of longevity.
Click to expand...
 
Same boat here, looking to get a printer to do 13x19 in the HP flavour. Seems the ones I was interested in are discontinued. I hope there are replacements in the pipeline. No you won't find any really good photo printers in a consumer electronics store here either.

Bob

Bob
 
My guess is that the consumer's taste for large photo printers has been quenched by owning a few of them. Sure, 13x19 prints sounds great, until you get the big thing home and discover that it eats expensive ink and paper like it's going out of style, and likes to jam when your best print is 90% finished and it decides to start up a head cleaning cycle.

Inkjet printers are big cons put over on us photographers by the printer manufacturers. People end up buying new monitors, spend a fortune on calibrating them to match their printer, load up on pricey ink and paper, devote half a day to get a decent print, only to discover that the prints they got from Winkflash or MPIX look just as good or better!

I sold my Epson inkjet printer about a year ago and it's been a real stress reducer. Inkjet printers are an inherently flawed concept for getting a photographic image. They are just a complicated, fragile and expensive tool that has never lived up to it's potential or hype. But don't tell all the "photography" schools this, as they're making a fortune steering people into the next, better, bigger and always more expensive printers.

Are they all gone? Jeez, I hope so, and goodbye and good luck to them.
 
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I think the issue is that the photo printers have become more specialized and more expensive, so the office stores don't bother carrying them anymore.
 
My experience...
About this time last year I was offered a Canon Prograf iPF5000 printer for next to nothing. Huge beast. Cut sheets to 13x19, maybe larger I'm not sure. 17" rolls. 12 130ml ink cartridges. I printed a few 13x19s when I first got it. I don't print much. The printer sat for most of the last year. I fired it up a couple weeks ago to make prints for the Large Format print exchange. Blue ink empty. Ordered from Atlex. Arrived yesterday. 15 letter size prints run off last night. Freaking amazing print quality. Even with a mismatch Canon paper profile and Epson paper.
This is an AMAZING printer. The Canon 16 bit Photoshop plugin is AWESOME! If you can find one, buy it.
The bad news: Last summer there was a 5100 (current model) for sale in Dallas. Printer, spare ink, paper. The whole deal. For less than the cost of the spare ink. I blinked. It was gone. bummer.
If you have the space, about 36"x24", and the price is right, jump on the Canon 5000/5100.
 
My experience is exactly the opposite. Now I am one of those who still thinks photographs are prints. But my Epsons have been rock solid reliable, never had an ink clog in 5 years, and 98% of the time the first print is the final.

I do not print 13x19 as that is simply too big to be practical for me. 8x10 is my standard proof size and 10x12 1/2 is my standard exhibition size.

I like being in control of the entire process and the ability to print on my schedule. I just finished my homework for a photo class late last night. I will turn in 12 - 8x10 prints. Everyone else will bring a CD or thumb drive and wonder why their photos projected on the screen are different from what they expected them to be.

We all have our likes and dislikes.

Steve M. said:
My guess is that the consumer's taste for large photo printers has been quenched by owning a few of them. Sure, 13x19 prints sounds great, until you get the big thing home and discover that it eats expensive ink and paper like it's going out of style, and likes to jam when your best print is 90% finished and it decides to start up a head cleaning cycle.

Inkjet printers are big cons put over on us photographers by the printer manufacturers. People end up buying new monitors, spend a fortune on calibrating them to match their printer, load up on pricey ink and paper, devote half a day to get a decent print, only to discover that the prints they got from Winkflash or MPIX look just as good or better!

I sold my Epson inkjet printer about a year ago and it's been a real stress reducer. Inkjet printers are an inherently flawed concept for getting a photographic image. They are just a complicated, fragile and expensive tool that has never lived up to it's potential or hype. But don't tell all the "photography" schools this, as they're making a fortune steering people into the next, better, bigger and always more expensive printers.

Are they all gone? Jeez, I hope so, and goodbye and good luck to them.
Click to expand...
 
The problem with high quality inkjet printers: You don't get all the bells & whistles until you get to 13x19 or larger. In fact, you have to go to a roll printer to get ALL the bells & whistles.
 
Epson is pretty much the standard of the industry and most if not all art paper makers provide printing profiles for the professional Epson machines. Take a look at their website and check the clearance section. The frequently have refurbished machines at exceptionally good prices. Other than my 7800 all of the machines I have bought are refurbs from Epson. They all carry a warranty too plus they usually give free shipping.
 
Every paper worth using comes with Canon profiles. For really critical work you need to have custom made profiles anyway. Either way, Canon printers will work with any paper.
Red River Paper in Dallas offers very good papers & profiles at very good prices.
 
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