Epson R1900 - worth a try for b&w ?

jschrader

jschrader

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Hi,

I went back to b&w and start printing the results from last year (scanned film). I found a local print service and I am happy with the quality (Harman Baryta), but 5 € (~7 US$) is some money for A4 (8 x 11").

In the long term, printing at home might be more reasonable, and other opinions here incline me towards Epson 3800 or similar.

Now, a friend offered me an Epson R1900 which he has not been using for 2 years. I would need to buy a new set of ink.

My questions to anybody who can help:

1) Is the print quality in b&w similar between R1900 and R3800? The latter has two "light black" cartridges, while the former has only one "Black glossy" and one "black matte" which has to be selected acc. to the paper used.
Do the grey cartridges improve the tonality?

2) It it possible to get "light black" ink for the R1900 (probably from 3rd party suppliers) and to place it, with appropriate drivers, in the slots for the color cartridges?

I would hate to pay for a set of cartridges and then find the prints are poor.

Thanks for comments!
 
I have a 2880, so I'm biased. Given that, I have heard that the 1900 does that b&w metamerising thing where colors creep in no matter what. I used to get that with my 820, and is one of the big reasons I went for the 2880 over the 1900 ($250 more but ... worth it imho.)

If you are printing color though, the 1900 is a bargain and a half.
 
Thanks for this, not encouraging. It may have saved me some money :)

I found two old reviews saying this:

"The two black inks employed by the R1900 can be supplemented by a third “light, light black” (Epson’s K3 ink system) for mono only output and replaces the matt black, but this needs to be swapped out again for colour printing."

Did anybody do this and how can You get this "light, light black" and the drivers?

Thanks
 
I think the R1900 is dye versus the more archival pigment printers like the 2880, 3000, 2880, etc.

Besides one that has sat for two years may well be plugged for eternity. Or not. It's hard to know with Epsons... some people report them as being perfect no matter what happens, while others, like me, have had a few lemons that clog daily. I suspect their quality control is weak.

I like the Harman Baryta a lot but I think there are better papers that also are flatter and have less dust and defects. So if you are experimenting you may want to try other brands of Baryta papers.

But frankly I have given up on inkjet printing unless somebody is paying for a print, in which case I can send out to a good lab for prints without having to maintain the darn Epson pig.
 
jschrader said:
Do you have experience with this?
Sound like just what I need.
Click to expand...

I do not have any hands on experience with this. I did a fair amount of reading on the subject last summer and I have decided that I will be converting my R2400 sometime in the not too distant future. It is an interesting topic and worth looking into further.

Frank Petronio said:
I think the R1900 is dye versus the more archival pigment printers like the 2880, 3000, 2880, etc.
Click to expand...

Nope, the R1900 uses pigment ink.
 
I think you can find better and cheaper printers than the 1900 if BW is your main goal. Many printers can be reconfigured wit ink sets consisting of multiple shades of grey. My epexerience is limited to Epson and the MIS inks (Ink Supply), which I thought were superb. A lot of information available here: http://www.inksupply.com/blackandwhite.cfm.

These days I've moved to an Epson 3000 and pay up for original Epson inks... a lot less hassle and wonderful results in color and BW.
 
I just got a Canon Pro 100 this Dec. but they were almost giving them away in the US. I print 95% b&w and I am very happy with the printer.... I used to use a old HP that did really nice b&w but they stopped making the photo gray ink's for it.... I gave up on Epson's due to clogged print heads.....
wbill
 
The economics of consumer ink jet printers are similar to the time tested Gillette razor blade model where they practically give you the handle so you will keep coming back and buying the blades. Printers are sold cheap so you will keep buying the ink. Compare the price of many new printers including ink vs. the price of replacing the ink. The printer itself without the included ink is quite low.

So it makes little sense to start with a printer that is less than optimum and then buy ink for it. If you want to print b&w with an Epson, buy a new 2880 or 3000 instead of buying ink for something like the 1900 which is not ideal for b&w.

BTW, the last clogged head I had in an Epson was about 7-8 years ago when I started using the 2400 model. I can't remember how many years it has been since I even bothered doing a nozzle check since they were always perfect.
 
Bob Michaels said:
So it makes little sense to start with a printer that is less than optimum and then buy ink for it. If you want to print b&w with an Epson, buy a new 2880 or 3000 instead of buying ink for something like the 1900 which is not ideal for b&w.
Click to expand...

Agreed. In my case, the R1900 would be a test for free, but I would have to buy the ink. Since it is good for color but less than perfect for b&w with standard ink, I think this is no option for me.

I would go for the 3rd party "grey" inks but I have no experience with printer driver settings and calibration, so paying some 100 bucks for 8 bottles of ink and than failing over some software issues seems a bit risky.

Probably, a 2880 will be a fair try.

Thanks for all opinions!
 
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