Howard_Creech's Full Review: Epson Stylus Photo 780 InkJet Printer
In today’s high technology marketplace you can’t usually get much for a hundred bucks. However, there are some real bargains available and the Epson Stylus Photo 780 color ink jet printer can meet your photo reproduction needs beautifully for a C-note. “Your pictures will only be as good as the printer they’re output on. The output from the Epson Stylus Photo 780 is photo quality and for the price, can’t be beat”* Photos can be printed with borders or full bleed (borderless) in sizes 4X6, 5X7, 8X10, and 8.5X11 inches. The printer has a 100 sheet input tray and a 30 page output tray and it automatically alerts you when ink levels are running low. The Epson Stylus Photo 780 is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh OS and comes with a one-year warranty.
In the world of analog/film photography (with which I have almost thirty years experience) shooting images and printing images have always been regarded as two distinct and separate art forms. There were (and are) exceptions, photographers who were also great printers (Ansel Adams and Bill Brandt come to mind) but most photographers (including Man Ray, Eliot Porter, and Henri Cartier-Bresson) have always entrusted their most important images to master printers. When I was living in Germany in the mid 80’s I had a friend who was a very good photographer, but he was an absolute artist in the darkroom. He often complained that he spent so much time printing images for his friends that he had little time to take pictures himself. My friend printed an 11X14 Cibachrome enlargement of a slide I shot in Venice, that still hangs on the wall in my office/library. I laid in the bottom of a gondola (and shot upward with a 28mm lens) to silouhette my gondolier and the skyline of the Grand Canal against a sunset sky, it’s one of my favorite images and after more than fifteen years the image is still sharp and the colors vibrant.
Digital photographers are not faced with this problem. High-resolution digital cameras with lots of on-board controls, Adobe Photoshop (and other image manipulation programs), and feature rich photo quality printers make it possible for almost anyone to print exceptional images. The only problems faced by modern day photographers in this brave new imaging world is the plethora of choices that must be made. There are literally hundreds of models to choose from in the digital camera marketplace, dozens of printers, and who knows how many different software options. Advertising hype, conflicting claims, features and capabilities can confuse even the most dedicated consumers/researchers. The best pathway through this high tech morass is to seek out products that offer the best balance of features and cost and also posses a good reputation for function and dependability.
Technical Specifications
6-color printing for photo-quality prints
Resolution: 2,880 x 720 dpi
PC and Mac compatible
1-year warranty
USB and Parallel connectivity for Windows and MAC OS
PIM: Print Image Matching compatible
Ink Cartridge: Dual (black/color) T007201/T008201
Included
Polaroid PhotoMAX Pro, ArcSoft PhotoPrinter, DogByte Greeting Card Store, and a free one year premium subscription to PhotoLoft.com,
Ink
Epson "smart" ink cartridges have a computer chip that keeps track of the ink levels. In real terms, this means that a partially-used cartridge can be removed (and then replaced later) without confusing the ink level readouts in the printer driver. This can be important if you have a big job and ink levels are running low. The Epson Stylus Photo 780 inkjet printer uses Epson cartridges T007201/T008201 or cheaper compatibles.
Controls
The Epson Stylus Photo 780 has a logical and minimal control array, and basic operation is simple. When the red LED light is blinking one of the ink cartridges is low. You can use the Utility function of the printer driver to display the ink levels in both cartridges to figure out which one is empty.
How We Tested the Epson Stylus 780
I have a good friend who has been teaching me the intricacies of Adobe Photoshop. He asked me if I would like to help him test a couple of new printers he is considering carrying (he sells and distributes cameras and photo equipment) and since I love playing with new techno toys, I agreed immediately. We got together on a Saturday morning to test the two printers, my friend had stopped on his way in to shoot some close-ups in Cherokee Park. We had a very heavy frost late Friday and everything was glazed with large frost crystals. The sun was bright and the lighting was fantastic (high contrast with beautiful front lighting). My friend wandered around until he found some fallen leaves suspended in the dead grass. He was able to back-light one leaf so that the frost crystals along the leaf edges glowed like diamonds. He shot about a dozen exposures with a four megapixel Sony DSC-S85 digital camera.
When I arrived he already had the Epson Stylus 780 (and an Epson Stylus photo EXP785, but that is another review) set up and ready to go. We ran the images through photoshop and then sent the three best (all high contrast images with a wide dynamic range) to the printer for 8X10 enlargements. The $99 Epson 780 did a great job and produced very good prints. The 8X10’s were not on par with “pro” custom prints, but they were better than what you would have gotten at Walmart (or any other mass market photo finisher). Not too shabby for a ninety-nine dollar printer.
The following day we printed some images from the Nikon Coolpix 5000 and the Minolta Dimage Five that we had shot on earlier photographic outings. When used with an Epson color cartridge and photo grade paper the images are very good, as good as ninety per cent of the ink jet photo printers available. 8X10 Prints my friend and I made with the Epson Stylus Photo 780 and Epson Stylus Photo EXP785 were some of the best digital prints that I have seen. They were as good as Kodak ISO 100 print film enlargements and in some cases on par with Elitechrome ISO 200 slide film inter-negative prints in terms of color, contrast, and dynamic range. The printer did yeoman work with images from all three cameras, creating prints that contained enough detail and resolution/contrast/color subtleties to distinguish the relative merits (and faults) of the individual cameras
Operation
Start the printer up and the first thing you’ll notice is how noisy the pump up and nozzle clean cycle are. While some users will find this time consuming start up cycle irritating, it is necessary for the piezo printing technology that Epson uses to properly prime the feed lines and ensure that all of the nozzles are clear. The process does waste a small amount of ink but results in more accurate printing and fewer clogging problems. The Epson Sylus Photo 780 is reasonably fast unless you are using the 2880dpi mode, which greatly extends print times and doubles ink useage. The 2880dpi Maximum Resolution mode can only be selected with the Photo Paper, Premium Glossy Paper or Glossy Film media settings and cannot be used with the borderless option. In most cases, the 1440dpi and 720dpi modes will probably meet your needs.
Print Quality
Print quality was consistently very good. While the prints from this (or any home photo printer) unit do not equal “custom” prints, the output from the Epson Stylus Photo 780 equals (and sometimes exceeds) mass market photo finisher prints. The 4X5 inch prints are really stunning and the color cartridge is good for between 35 and 40 borderless 4X5 prints. The images compare favorably with those printed with an HP 1215 which can cost almost four times as much as the Epson unit. We called Epson tech support to ask questions about clogged printer heads and how to conserve ink. We found them friendly, knowledgeable, and responsive. Be sure to turn the printer off (with the unit’s power switch) as soon as you finish using it, this moves the cartridges over the printhead and seals it closed, which helps cut down on clogging and reduces the amount of ink used during the start-up cycle.
Epson printers have permanent print heads, rather than the more common (and less expensive) thermal heads that are a part of the ink cartridge. The Epson print heads are prone to clogging if the unit isn’t used frequently, but they do a better job of rendering detail than the thermal heads that you throw away when the cartridge is empty. This difference in design/function is the reason for the pump-up cycle that all Epson printers go through when first turned on.
Important Considerations
Color vs Photo Quality Printers
Photo Quality ink jet printers differ from standard color ink jet printer primarily in the ability of the printers brains and print heads to translate image data into more subtle and intricate spray patterns. Complex print head capabilities render richer colors and more accurate highlight detail.
Paper
While photo paper comes in many different varieties, the most important distinction is whether the paper is porous or non-porous. Porous papers have micro-porous coatings which soak up ink like a sponge. Porous papers allow for faster printing and drying but the inks never dry completely, which means they are more likely to fade when exposed to environmental factors like light. Non-porous papers are coated with an ozone resistant polymer which means they print and dry more slowly, but are less likely to fade.
Ink
Photo Quality printers customarily use pigment based inks which portray colors more accurately (and are more fade resistant) than the dye based inks used in standard color printers.
Print Longevity
One very serious concern with digital prints is longevity. Silver based images (with proper display/storage) from slow speed slide film or fine grained B&W films have a life span of from fifty to one hundred years plus. Digital prints begin to fade the moment the print is finished. Nobody really knows what sort of life span can be expected from digital prints (they haven’t been around long enough to establish any verifiable longevity parameters) so it is very important to maximize the potential life span by using non-porous papers, the best quality inks available, and framing the prints behind glass as soon as they are completely dry.
If you plan to use your photo quality printer to buzz off some snapshots for Aunt Mary then this may not be an important consideration. However, if you plan to print larger prints for display or preserve family memories, then you’ll need to carefully print and display your images using materials that are likely to prolong the life span of your images.
Conclusion
Over the past year prices have fallen steadily on photo quality printers (and digital camera) making the home digital darkroom and printing an option for more and more photographers. Epson is aggressively seeking to increase their photo quality printer market share by offering great features, a reputation of quality output, and bargain prices to attract new customers. The Epson Stylus Photo 780 is a very good entry level photo printer that is competitive with units costing much more. The Epson Stylus Photo 780 is slow (especially in the full-bleed borderless mode) so if speed is an important requirement this printer is going to frustrate you. However if you have the time and image quality and price are your primary concerns, then the Epson Stylus Photo 780 just may be the photo printer you need. If you're shopping for your first photo quality printer then the Epson Stylus Photo 780 will provide very good quality prints and you’re not likely to do better for a hundred bucks.
Final Word
The Epson Stylus Photo 780 will provide excellent quality color prints from your digital images that are virtually indistinguishable from standard 35mm photographic prints. Setup is simple and the Epson Stylus Photo 780 is easy to use. The control layout is logical and changing settings and tweaking final results is a snap. Text output (B&W) is acceptable. Epson Ink cartridges/ Epson photo paper are relatively expensive and using photo quality paper is a must for best results.
Epson Stylus Color 780 customers can get an upgrade that will permit use of the (PIM) PRINT Image Matching capabilities of the Epson Stylus EPX785. The Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX was the first PRINT Image Matching compatible printer, allowing PIM support when used without a computer. With a free software upgrade, folks who own Epson Stylus Photo 780, 890 and 1280 printers can utilize this new technology. The upgrade is available by calling Epson's PRINT Image Matching customer support line at (562) 276-7296. M-F 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. PST (Saturday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.) A CD-ROM with the PRINT Image Matching upgrade will be shipped to you free of charge.
*Digital Camera Magazine’s 2002 Buyer’s Guide (January 2002) pg. 15
Coming Soon: Watch for my review of the Epson Stylus Photo EPX785 printer
For information on How to Choose a Digital Camera please see my review:
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