Recommended Monochrome Printer?

[giganova]

Hi there!

I'm looking for a quality monochrome printer to print my b&w negative scans. I saw the Canon PIXMA series printers but what putts me off is how huge they are. I only need to print on regular sized paper (8.5 x 11 inches). Any ideas what I should look into?

Thank!

 

[agfa100]

I agree with you but I could not find a quality B&W printer that would do the small sizes. I went with the Canon Pro 100, and yes it is very large but when you see the prints who cares... My buddy got the Pro 1 we are both super happy with the results....
wbill

 

[Godfrey]

Hi there!

I'm looking for a quality monochrome printer to print my b&w negative scans. I saw the Canon PIXMA series printers but what putts me off is how huge they are. I only need to print on regular sized paper (8.5 x 11 inches). Any ideas what I should look into?

Thank!

Unfortunately, the best inksets and printers tend to be in the larger, more professionally oriented printer models. I printed with an Epson R2400 from 2005 until recently—it produced excellent quality B&W prints throughout that span of years. I recently upgraded to the Epson P600 model printer (gave my R2400 to a friend who needed it, still working fine) and find it does an even better job.

The P600 fits comfortably on a cabinet that is 28 inches wide by 19 inches deep with enough space to work unless you are using the card stock paper path, which needs more space behind the printer.

I've done print tests comparing some favorite prints from the R2400 with output from the P600. The P600's new inks are indeed a step up with.

I mostly print to sizes smaller than the P600 can achieve. I find it better to 'gang print' a couple of prints at a time onto larger paper and then cut to size.

G

 

[thompsonks]

I'd follow Godfrey's advice and get a P600, especially i you want to take advantage of Epson's Advanced BW mode.

Kirk

 

[Edwin Voorhees]

I'm gonna suggest you take a look at Piezography.com. They are a third-party ink supplier using epson printers...i believe the smallest they support is the R1400. I've been using their system for printing digital negatives on clear film since April in my 4880 and LOVE my output. No metamerism whatsoever. Makes great prints with 6 shades of black...if you don't need to make digital negs (for wet contact printing) you get 7 shades of black ink as opposed to 3 with colors mixed in...the standard epson load. Like no other B&W inkjet output I've ever seen. Available in different tones. I can only speak to the Selenium Tone set which has the profiles for digital negs, but I love the warmth I get from using it on Moab Lasal.
Check out the list of supported printers, and look for used printers on Ebay, Craigslist. I'd suggest the x880 series as the newest printers have changed their ink purge/power clean process to make it less attractive to use the continuous ink system that piezography inks utilize.
Even though the inks are available for the smaller (desktop) printers, the way the power clean cycle works makes the larger, "pro" printers more attractive due to their increased efficincy (in terms of ink). In other words, many users won't want to go with a printer smaller than the 3x00. Epson 3000 printers are pretty inexpensive on Ebay, 3800 would be ideal in a desktop profile, IMHO.
Like I said, I switched my 4880 (a beast, BTW) to Piezography in April, and I'm still loving the continuous tone, long scale, and crazy sharpness.
Good luck!

 

[blakeM3]

I have a Pixma Pro 100 and it prints incredible Black and white photos. My wife is a fine art illustrator and painter and she uses it to create prints to go along with her commissioned paintings. I've never printed from negatives, only RAW converted through LR. It does have a giant footprint, but it allows for very large prints. It weighs about 70 pounds.

I live in DC also. Feel free to pm me if you reconsider the Pixma and have questions.

 

[Jan Pedersen]

Another alternative to going full monochrom inkset is Quad Tone Rip (QTR) i use it on the 3880 and are happy with the output.
Should work on most printers.

 

[x-ray]

I converted two Epson printers to Piezography about ten years ago. At that time the pigments were very problematic and clogs were the routine. Since then they've made major improvements. If you're happy only printing B&W and never intend to print color it's a great system. The cost of entry is high though and you're locked into a small selection of color of pigments like selenium, neutral and sepia for example. I believed there's a cool tone too.

I finally gave up and went to Sundance pigments. They worked flawless but sadly they went out of business. Next I went to my current setup. I use an epson 2400 which is on borrowed time now and a 24"7800. I use gloss ink in the 2400 and mat in the 7800. I print all of my B&W through Quad Tone Rip which is excellent and I believe is the software currently used for Piezography. It does a superb job with no issues. I've printed hundreds of not more 24x36 B&W prints for my galleries. I've not done a true side by side but I feel the quality is on par with piezography prints with greater flexibility in color hue from cool to very warm and neutral.

Either way the quality is very good.

The other advantage of using color pigments to produce B&W is the ability to print color. I do print color for clients/jobs and print from a dedicated PC with Qimage. It unfortunately only runs on a PC platform but I like it better than image print rip that I had for a few years and it's very inexpensive.

 

[Godfrey]

I too used Piezography once upon a time. The inks destroyed two printers, ultimately, and led me to buy the R2400. That was long ago, but I never had a single moment's problem since so...

Moreover, the 1400 takes the same space as the P600 to set up and use. And the P600 is a much better printer.

G

 

[x-ray]

One of my clients just bought a P600 and the prints look great.

 

[nlubis]

My vote is for the P600 as well. The experience has been enjoyable.