FLAAR initiates evaluation of the Epson Stylus Pro 4800 for fine art digital photography.This summer the staff of FLAAR and Bowling Green State University will be testing the Epson Stylus Pro 4800 in the art department next door to us, evaluating the Epson Stylus Pro 7800 in our own facilities, and continuing our review of the Epson Stylus Pro 9800 at Fine Art Impressions, an elite commercial giclee atelier in Charlotte , NC . We have experience with the Epson 7500, Epson 7600, Epson 5500, and several earlier Epson printers from the late 1990’s (such as the Epson 1520 which we try to forget). We have noticed that Epson printers get better every generation, and hence with each new model their actual performance comes closer to the claims in the advertisements. The issue that is most commonly reported by others is deliberately excessive ink usage, so we will check this, and will go over all the product specifications and see which are advertising claims are acceptable. FLAAR is a research institute dedicated to fine art photography, so we have plenty of experience with quality. The Center for Applied Technology at BGSU prints giclee for artists throughout Ohio as well as scanning paintings for artists elsewhere in the US, since FLAAR is one of the few places at a university that has a Cruse scanner for giclee. Nicholas recently acquired a Canon EOS 5D, so that is another source of test images. Naturally we would tend to test a Canon-produced digital photo on a Canon imagePROGRAF iPF 5000 , iPF 6000, iPF 8000 or Canon iPF 9000 printer, but since we have only HP, Mimaki, and Epson printers, these are the ones we will focus on. Other printers of interest to digital photographers and giclee artists would be HP 8750 and the HP B9180. Plus, since Sept 26 th, two new fine art photography printers have been introduced simultaneously at SGIA trade show in the US and at Photokina in Germany . These are the HP DesignJet Z2100 and Z3100. We will discuss their impressive features as soon as they are officially presented. Every several years there is either a new Canon iPF printer or a new Epson or a new HP water-based printer. It is hard to keep track of the advances in inks and color management features. FLAAR is keeping track by visiting printshops around the world that have these various brands. Each brand has its good points and a few issues and an occasional deficiency.
First posted May 12, 2006.
Compare prices; is it best to buy by lowest price comparison? Your best deal is to buy from a respectable printer dealer who can provide tips and assistance. LexJet is among several places we know that offer Epson Stylus Pro printers. They can be reached at sales@LexJet.com. Buying from a box-pusher, gray market, and other dubious outlets is not always a clever idea. We have visited LexJet headquarters several times and have visited their booth at key trade shows. Their other advantage is that they offer all three major brands: Epson, Canon, and HP. So they do not need to push you into only one brand. Plus LexJet knows eco-solvent and UV-cured as well (which FLAAR covers on www.large-format-printers.org). The complete FLAAR Reports are in full-color PDF format. Our institute has comprehensive FLAAR Reports on over 73 different wide format inkjet printers, RIP software, color management, scanners, digital cameras and on countless markets such as wide format inkjet printers for photography, giclee, proofing, CAD, GIS, graphic design, signs, and specialty applications too. All FLAAR Reports by Dr Nicholas Hellmuth and his team are available on Wide-format-printers.NET.
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