I want to move to A3 (printer) and thought that an Epson 1290 or 1270 would be ok. Does anyone know of any reason why these are not the best choice …
The 1270 is long since discontinued, the 1280/1290 is still being sold but at the end of its life cycle. It’s a nice enough printer but you can do better …
… or indeed if I should be looking elsewhere?
Well, printer choice seems to be almost as controversial as camera brand choice to some so you’ll probably see a lot of dissenting posts about what I’m going to say, but here goes …
Canon makes a very nice A3 printer (not sure of the latest model number) but the inks don’t last as long as either the Epson pigment inks or the best HP model’s dye inks. I think the Wilhelm numbers are around 30 years on a couple of papers. Probably a better choice than the Epson 1280/1290 though.
HP has a very nice A3 printer out right now, the 8750 … the print life is estimated around 70+ years or so by Wilhelm and I’d probably pick this one over the Canon.
Epson has a couple of A3 models worth looking at, the R1800 uses pigment inks and is the replacement for 1280/1290. You might do a web search to find out more about this model. For several years Epson’s best selling A3 photo printer was the 2200, which uses pigment inks. It is going to be replaced by a 2400 model, just announced about 2 weeks ago. These are more expensive than the 1280/1290 or HP and Canon models but are more popular with professional photographers and advanced amateurs who try to sell prints.
So basically I’d advise you to look at the Epson 2400 (or 2200 at closeout prices), Epson R1800, HP 8750 and the latest/greatest Canon (which in my opinion lags behind the Epson and HP models at this time). Ifeally you’d get a test print from each of the same image and look at them side-by-side, which is what I always try to do (I have an Epson 1280, Epson 2200 and Epson 4000, FWIW).
Here is a write-up from a dealer who sells Canon and Epson printers from April 2004 comparing the 13" wide printers available at that time, with some good info on the trade-offs … this was written before the HP 8750 and the Epson R1800 were out but the basic guidelines for making your choice are still valid.
Q: What are my choices for 13" wide photo inkjet printers, and which is best?
A: Not knowing your needs will require a little
more explanation, since what is "best" for one person, may not be for another. There are three
choices: The Epson Stylus Photo 1280 ($399), The
Canon i9100 ($499), and the Epson Stylus Photo
2200 ($699). These first two printers use "dye" ink. Image longevity with these dye inks is
about the same for both printers: about 10-15
years behind glass before noticeable fading with
most papers. You can get 25-38 years with
special swellable polymer papers (Epson ColorLife
Photo Paper and the Ilford Galerie "Classic"
papers), but they are only available in gloss or
semi-gloss finishes. Either, way the dye inks
are quite suitable for certain "event"
photography prints or flea market art prints
where longevity is not an issue. Dye ink is also
suitable for your portfolio prints, where images
are changed every few years, or whenever prints
are displayed in a book (dark storage longevity
is usually twice as long wall display longevity)
rather than on the wall Some artists prefer the
Epson dye inks over the pigment inks for their
portfolio books because they print slightly more
saturated than even the best pigmented inks (and
the blacks from the Epson dye ink on Epson Matte
paper Heavy Weight is the deepest black we’ve
ever seen –slightly richer than the 2200’s
UltraChrome Matte Black ink on Epson Enhanced
Matte).
The Epson 1280 is priced about $100 less than the
Canon, but the Canon is about three times faster
in print speed (making it a better choice as a
location "event" printer). The Canon is slightly more economical to operate because it uses 6
individual ink cartridges, whereas the epson uses
a black and a 5-cell color cartridge. If one
color cell goes dry, you have to toss the
cartridge (Epson cartridges are opaque, so you
can’t see how much ink you’re throwing away – the
individual Canon ink "tanks" are clear).
Throwing out the E1280’s color cartridge usually
wastes about 20% of the ink, UNLESS you are
printing a bunch of prints from the same image
file. I these cases it’s not uncommon to have
40% or more of the other colors still left when
one color cell runs dry, because the light
magenta or light cyan or yellow inks go quickly
(depending on your image). As for print quality,
the Epson 1280 the Canon i9100 are closely
matched. However, to get that quality on the
Canon, you’ll need to stick with Canon’s Photo
Paper Pro, which is very expensive. The Epson
1280 seems to print well on a much wider variety
of papers, even many non-Epson papers. One last
thing, the Canon i9100 is limited to media that
is 13" x 19", whereas the Epson 1280 can print panoramic images as long as 43" (on up to 13" x 44" media). The Epson 1280 can also handle 2" core roll media. Canon does not offer a roll
paper option. Both printers can do borderless
printing in all popular sizes up through 13" x
19".
http://www.inkjetart.com/canon/index.html — Canon i9100
http://www.inkjetart.com/1280/index.html — Epson 1280
http://www.inkjetart.com/cis/index.html — Bulk ink system for 1280
Your other 13" solution is the Epson 2200. It’s
more expensive, but worth it if you are
interested in prints that last. It’s pigmented
UltraChrome inks (7 inks — this inkset adds a
"Light Black") are the current industry standard in fine art "giclee" printing (with display
longevity on most fine art papers hitting around
70-100 years, and dark storage over 200 years on
many papers). Color gamut of these inks is very
near to that of dye inks, with the exceptions
I’ve already noted above. The 2200’s individual
ink carts give fairly decent economy. Expect ink
costs to be between $2.00 – $3.00 per square foot
(11 x 14 image), depending on image density (this
is about 10-20% higher than the two printers that
use dye inks). There are several continuous bulk
inking systems available for 2200 and the 1280
(we haven’t discovered a bulk feed system for the
Canon i9100) that greatly reduce your ink costs
(1/5 to 1/10 the cartridge operation costs), but
you’ll lose the advantage of having the option of
choosing between Epson’s Photo Black cartridge
(best for gloss and luster finishes) and the
Matte Black cartridge (best for matte and fine
art papers). The bulk ink systems must use a
"universal" black ink that is a compromise,
because it has less DMax on gloss/luster papers
and less DMax on matte/fine art papers than the
DMax you get when matching the right Epson black
cartridge with your media. Many third party
bulk inks do not match ("plug-n-play") the Epson inks, so you also must also use the
manufacturer’s custom ICC profiles in order to
get good color management. A BIG benefit of the
model 2200 is the straight paper path option in
the back of the printer. Both the Epson 1280 and
Canon i9100 choke on thick fine art papers that
are over 0.012" (12 mil) thick (usually about 250
gsm in weight). The 2200 can easily take papers
that are over 500 gsm in weight and over 0.050"
(50 mil) thick! The Epson 2200 can handle media
sizes up to 13" x 44". It can also handle 2" core roll media, and includes an automatic roll
paper cutter, which is detachable if you rarely
print from roll paper.
http://www.inkjetart.com/2200 — Epson 2200
http://www.inkjetart.com/archival_inks/cave — Bulk ink system for 2200
