Goodbye photo lab!
Written: Jan 24 '03
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Pros: Archival quality without the service bureau
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: If you're a pro or you care about how your images look when printed, your dreams have come true. It's well worth the extra couple hundred bucks.
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| bendow's Full Review: Epson Stylus Photo 2200 Inkjet Printer |
(Purchased at Calumet Photo in Hollywood for $699.)
I work with color negatives and slides that I've scanned with a Canon 2740 film scanner and manipulated in Photoshop. Previously, for important work, I would save the file as a TIFF and upload it to my local camera store's web site. The lab would then print my digital file on silver halide paper with their Noritsu digital film printer. This was a pretty good solution, but I'd sometimes have problems with color casts.
As a test, I used the same digital images to compare the photo lab to the Epson 2200. I printed to the Epson with Photoshop 7, using Epson Resin-Coated Premium Lustre paper. I used the Epson-supplied printer profiles, and I selected "No Color Adjustment" in the advanced section of the print dialog. After calibrating my monitor, I ended up with prints that were an exact match to the screen. In one particular portrait image, you could really see the greenish tint of the photo lab prints, while the Epson print was perfect.
The color gamut is outstanding. If you have extreme color gamuts, you might want to have a demo print made of your image, but I think it can cover everything that 99% of people out there will need.
Since I sell my prints (of weddings), I gave samples of Epson prints and silver halide prints to several non-photographers, and all said that the look and feel of the paper was the same. Plus, I can offer a less-expensive print option to my customers and still make a great profit. And with the Epson's pigment-based inks, the prints can last from 50 to 100 years, depending on how they're stored.
I'm a color photographer, but I've started to play with converting some of my images to B/W in Photoshop, and the output is spectacular, especially on Epson Premium Matte paper.
With non-Epson paper, such as hand-made paper, you have to experiment to get the right results. The great news is that it has a straight-through paper path, so you can print on really thick (1mm or something) card stock or other stuff that can't be bent.
If you're doing high volume, the automatic paper cutter with roll paper is amazing. The sales guy at Calumet demoed it for me using a roll of 11-inch wide proofing paper. It was really cool to watch the little cutter go "zip" and spit out another print.
Even if you're not a pro photographer, you'll want this printer. Why did you go out and buy that digital camera to photograph your kids, if your inkjet prints are going to fade in a few years? And if you use a service bureau to print, why not do it yourself and save time and money?
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 699
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
bendow
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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