Epson R1800 and R2400 suggestions.

[Joseph Chamberlain, DDS]

Dear members:

I have just joined the group and decided to place my first post seeking
advice and help on a purchasing decision I am about to make.

After looking at several B+ size inkjet printers I have narrowed my choices
to Epson's R1800 and R2400 inkjet printers.

The specs for both printers look similar but with some interesting
differences.

Both use pigment-based inks instead of dye-based inks so I believe it would
be fair to assume that the color gamut is somewhat narrower than that for a
similar printer equipped with dye-based inks.

Although both have 180 nozzles per cartridge, the R2400 offers a minimum ink
droplet size of 3.5 picoliters versus 1.5 picoliters for the R1800. This was
somewhat of a surprise since I had assumed the R2400 was a bit more high-end
than the R1800.

While the R1800 uses UltraChrome Hi-Gloss Pigment Inks the R2400 uses
Epson's UltraChrome K3 pigment inks. What is the difference between these
two ink sets ? Which one produces the best results ?

The ink palette for these two printers is also quite different. The R1800 is
equipped with 8 color cartridges that include a Gloss Optimizer while the
R2400 is equipped with 9 color cartridges that include 3 different blacks
with 4 selections to choose from (Photo Black, Matte Black, Light Black and
Light-Light Black). Would it be safe to assume that the R2400 produces
better black-and-white prints ?

The R1800 on the other hand includes red and blue ink cartridges on top of
cyan, magenta and yellow. Would this combination produce better skin tones
for portraits when compared to the R2400 ?

Based on your experience what are the differences between both these
printers ? What are their strengths and weaknesses ? How do these two ink
sets compare ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Joseph

 

[rafe b]

Dear members:

I have just joined the group and decided to place my first post seeking
advice and help on a purchasing decision I am about to make.

After looking at several B+ size inkjet printers I have narrowed my choices
to Epson's R1800 and R2400 inkjet printers.

Get the 2400 if your taste runs toward fine-art matte papers,
or if you plan to print monochrome (black and white) images
and if the extra $200-300 isn't an issue.

Get the 1800 if you like prints on glossy surfaces, if vibrant
gamut is important to you, or if you are inclined to look at
your prints at very close range or with a loupe.

I've been working with an R1800 for a whole two or three
weeks now. It's my sixth Epson since 1998.

The gamut is excellent, and the dots are absolutely
invisible without a loupe.

<http://www.terrapinphoto.com/scott/overview.jpg>

shows a 35mm image which I printed on the R1800 at 4x6"
and 720 dpi on glossy paper.

<http://www.terrapinphoto.com/scott/test1.jpg>

is from a high res-scan of that same 4x6" print.
(Originally scanned at 2400, downsampled to 600 dpi.)


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

 

[measekite]

Dear members:

I have just joined the group and decided to place my first post seeking
advice and help on a purchasing decision I am about to make.

After looking at several B+ size inkjet printers I have narrowed my choices
to Epson's R1800 and R2400 inkjet printers.

You should also consider a Canon I9900. The results are brighter, it
is more economical on ink, will clog less and costs less.

 

[Phil Martin]

Have you managed to produce any "neutral" black amd white prints with R1800
please

TIA.......Phil Martin

 

[rafe b]

Have you managed to produce any "neutral" black amd white prints with R1800
please

Funny you should ask. Being back in the Epson world,
I've just downloaded a copy of QuadToneRIP, which
is supported on the R1800. No results yet -- I'll make
a report when I've learned some more. Over the years
I've heard very good reports about this product.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

 

[rafe b]

Have you managed to produce any "neutral" black amd white prints with R1800
please

Very quick report, probably premature.

QuadToneRIP, left to default settings, uses
just K ink and produces very poor results.
Nasty banding and very "grainy" output.

QTR will obviously take a lot more work.
I was hoping for a miracle and it was not
to be.

The Epson driver, on the other hand,
produced a beautiful BW print, on the
first try.

The image was left in RGB, desaturated,
and printed through the standard Epson
ICC profile for the chosen paper (I used
Enhanced Matte for this test.)



rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Two questions:

Does the Epson driver use only the black and grey inks, or the full
color complement to make the greysale image.

What kind of banding are you seeing with the QuadtoneRIP? Could it be a
temporarily clogged head... the grain and banding are common occurrences
with a partially clogged head.

Art

 

[rafe b]

Two questions:

Does the Epson driver use only the black and grey inks, or the full
color complement to make the greysale image.

What kind of banding are you seeing with the QuadtoneRIP? Could it be a
temporarily clogged head... the grain and banding are common occurrences
with a partially clogged head.

No clogs, perfect nozzle checks.

I let QTR make two BW prints. Being concerned
for the printer, I did a nozzle check and then made
a color print immediately afterward, and both
were fine.

QTR replaces the Epson driver and controls
the printhead directly.

This result isn't at all surprising to me. If you print
with just one color channel and ignore the other five
available colors, the printer can't do any of the
interleaving (shingling) that it would normally do.

In the R1800 there's only Matte black or Photo
black, and (AFAIK) only one of these is used
on any given print, depending on the selected
paper type.

The "good" BW print, on the Epson driver, was
printed as an RGB image. But I have no way
of knowing which ink(s) the driver used.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

 

[Rob]

Very quick report, probably premature.

QuadToneRIP, left to default settings, uses
just K ink and produces very poor results.
Nasty banding and very "grainy" output.

QTR will obviously take a lot more work.
I was hoping for a miracle and it was not
to be.

The Epson driver, on the other hand,
produced a beautiful BW print, on the
first try.

The image was left in RGB, desaturated,
and printed through the standard Epson
ICC profile for the chosen paper (I used
Enhanced Matte for this test.)



rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

Why do you just desaturate a print. Or was this just for the test results.


I don't get a good print by desaturation.

rm

 

[rafe b]

Why do you just desaturate a print. Or was this just for the test results.


I don't get a good print by desaturation.

I'm trying to print it as BW, remember?

And I was also intent on keeping it RGB (and
not converting to grayscale.)

This was simply the easiest way I could
think of to do that.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Thanks for the info.

A loupe might help to determine which inks were used in the greyscale
image with the Epson drivers. One can usually see the colored dots with
proper magnification.

I have seen temporary clogs that lasted just about one print, but I
agree it would be coincidental. Yes, it makes sense that a print made
with one ink color would be more grainy, since a greyscale made from
colors uses a series of dots to create the illusion of grey, and this
makes the gradient more smooth to the eye, since the values can be
altered. A one color print has to rely on dot spacing to make the
greyscale by using background white to provide that illusion. However,
even printing from one head should allow for interleaving, since the
head can use multiple swipes to support this. However, if there were a
slight clog of even one nozzle, or a small deflection of one nozzle,
that could lead to banding when there is only one head color involved.

Art

 

[Joseph Chamberlain, DDS]

Get the 2400 if your taste runs toward fine-art matte papers,
or if you plan to print monochrome (black and white) images
and if the extra $200-300 isn't an issue.

Get the 1800 if you like prints on glossy surfaces, if vibrant
gamut is important to you, or if you are inclined to look at
your prints at very close range or with a loupe.

I've been working with an R1800 for a whole two or three
weeks now. It's my sixth Epson since 1998.

The gamut is excellent, and the dots are absolutely
invisible without a loupe.

<http://www.terrapinphoto.com/scott/overview.jpg>

shows a 35mm image which I printed on the R1800 at 4x6"
and 720 dpi on glossy paper.

<http://www.terrapinphoto.com/scott/test1.jpg>

is from a high res-scan of that same 4x6" print.
(Originally scanned at 2400, downsampled to 600 dpi.)


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

Thanks Rafe B and all others who responded for your help and valuable input.

Based on what has been discussed here it seems the R1800 printer would be
the most appropriate for me and my type of application. I also like the fact
that by making this choice I am saving a few hundred dollars in the process.

Since I deal with skin tones and color accuracy is important I believe the
R1800 will provide (based on what has been discussed here) the type of
results and output I am looking for.

Thank you again for your help.

Best regards,

Joseph