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EPSON Stylus Photo R2880
review
by Thomas Berg
username
twberg
Nikonian in Germany
Tell a friend about this Epson R2880
review
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6.2. Consumption
of paper and ink
In the course of the four weeks having the R2880 at hand, I
printed
• 21 sheets A4 in colour
• 7 sheets A4 in B&W
• 4 sheets “postcard”
• 12 sheets A3+ in colour
• 14 sheets A3+ in B&W
And the net ink consumption for all that was
• 10 cartridges
Statistically and simplified, that is 114 milli litres of ink
distributed over some 5.8 square metres of paper. Almost exactly 20
ml per square metre.
Originally, I planned to compare and balance the R2880 printing
cost against commercial print services but that is rather pointless
as all required pricing data invalidate too quickly anyway. Not to
mention the enormous variety of parameters involved in such
undertaking...
I think you can draw better benefit from the “20
ml/m²” normalized consumption and make up your own mind
on consumables cost.
6.3. Would I buy
one?
In plain letters, No. Because I don't need one.
This decision is very personal and not at all reflecting any
observed shortcomings of the R2880 printer. Instead, I am very
grateful for the opportunity to evaluate the capabilities and
limitations of both the printer and the associated selection of
print media. As said earlier, it taught me the lesson that this
printer deserves input data of both artistic and technical quality
being as much above mainstream as the printer itself is above
mainstream. With respect to my fairly low annual quote of striking
images, I cannot justify the expense and running cost of such
device.
So, dear reader, once again it boils down to a realistic judgement
of someone's own skills and targets and, of course, business or
hobby-horse, whether or not a given investment can be
justified.
Clearly, the print quality leaves nothing to desire except for the
lack of ultimate gloss; but this is inherent to all pigmented ink
systems regardless of brand. To those in need for a high quality
printer for up to A3+ size prints and the budget for this device, I
recommend to throw a very friendly eye on the R2880 (and I am
convinced the Pro3800 will not perform any worse).
Friends of Black&White pictures will surely love the results
from this printer. The pictures I printed came out so lovely, I
would not spend a thought on other brands if I had a deeper
interest in printing B&W for myself.
The only two aspects that I disliked about the EPSON R2880 were the
exchange of black ink between matte media and glossy/semi-gloss
media and the remaining gloss differential issue for all different
flavours of glossy prints. Consider me nit-picking if you wish, but
I think these two flaws bear a hard-to-accept impact on both
workflow and image processing. They do not fit the flawless print
quality and both should be addressed by EPSON in a future model
revision.
On the other hand, EPSON scores with well-programmed profiles and
the Photoshop Print Plug-In application. These seemingly minor
aspects make big points on my score list since their benefit avoids
so much headache, in particular for infrequent users. Kudos again,
just in case I didn't express that adequately before.
7. Famous and
infamous last words
Those folks who plug their memory card/stick/disk at the local drug
discounter's photo print terminal will hardly experience the thrill
and magic of image tweaking. Period. Please consider this a
statement of fact and not an offence, and it bears no devaluation.
I for one was never happy with the results of print services, not
even during the golden era of chemical film and paper processing.
To some degree, I have always been sort of jealous for folks that
dropped their negatives at the local drug store and returned a few
days later with postcard (or poster) sized pictures and felt
totally happy viewing them. Congratulations!
This audience won't need the likes of an EPSON R2880 printer, that
is my deep belief.
I am not expressing any depreciation concerning these folks.
I am expressing a very crude distinction between spectators and
creators.
The reviewed EPSON R2880 printer, with all its capabilities in
terms of media variety and ink technology, reflects a tool for
artists much more than a tool for viewers.
Viewers can get to their anticipated results easier and cheaper.
Artists need appropriate tools, capable to ex press creative
experiments and enabling to make success in creation reproducible.
Artists behind the camera and artists with Photoshop (or similar),
that is.
The emphasis is on creator, not consumer.
In its present Windows incarnation 1.05U, the nice Print Plug-In
tool is not as trouble free as we all would like it to be and the
widespread Windows XP features by far not the same level
user-friendliness concerning colour management and integrated
workflow than VISTA and Win7 do. I can see the flags waving from
two parties: “Printing is Trouble” and “Windows
is Trouble”. Right. But EPSON makes great printers, at least
this one!
And I understand better now why so many creative artists prefer MAC
over PC. Getting sick over double-profiled or mis-profiled prints,
I’ll probably join them some day.
For now I'm done and I hope you enjoyed reading,
Thomas
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