UKH

My uptill now trusty Canon pixma pro 1000s has started playing up, I’m still in the process of trying to sort the issue out but my have to look at a replacement.

The long term plan was always to get an A2 printer, looks like this may be brought forward.

I’ve been selling prints so quality, reliability and cost efficiency is high up on the agenda.

At the moment I’m probably going to get the Epsom SC-P900

The reason for going for Epsom is the ability to print panoramic pictures is something Epsom seems better set up for.

Just thought I’d consult with the UKC hive mind as to their experience and thoughts on quality A2 printers and any alternatives or reasons to move up a model.

I've had the SC-P800 A2 printer (same printer, earlier model) for a few years now, which I use for art prints from my paintings and for printing the occasional photo. It's a great quality machine.

When I first got it, I had problems downloading the drivers from Epson and had to make do with Mac's default Apple AirPrint, which is worse than awful because there's virtually no control over output quality. Turned out it was my own fault for thinking I could use it wirelessly, but once I connected it to the computer via usb it worked perfectly, which also enabled the proper drivers to be installed. A minor niggle is that the touchscreen is a bit unresponsive at times.

I don't use Epson inks or paper any more due to expense, and instead use Marrutt for everything. Their inks and media are very high quality and a lot cheaper if you buy their bulk inking system and refillable cartridges. They are as good if not better than Epson's products. The guy at Marrutt will also help you to produce finely tuned ICC colour profiles specific to the combination of their products and your printer:

https://www.marrutt.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzqSWBhDPARIsAK38LY8ZUiTF5QdycauHjJ74...

Thanks for that, I nearly tagged a question about Marrutt on the same question, I use their paper and was going to ask about their ink refill system, their papers have been very good so far.

I’ll probably order a set of Epsom ink to kick off (I believe you need the chip)

What paper do you regularly use?

Being dyslexic, but you may have a typo at the end of that reply.

😏thanks

The refillable cartridges are all chipped to run with repeated use. They all need to be primed initially with a specific priming syringe (supplied), but after that you just continue refilling them normally. You get a separate syringe for each colour. You can get 125, 250 or 500ml ink refills; I get 250ml, which lasts for a good while for the volume I get through.

I prefer matt papers over gloss, and 230gsm Archival Matt is good for the art printing.

280gsm Traditional Baryta semi gloss is great for mono photos. I've also used 310gsm Standard Fine Art (warm white) and 300gsm Fine Art (bright white). All are excellent.

Thanks

I'm pretty sold on baryta paper, doesn’t suit everything I shoot but a great look if the photo suits.

I’m going to look at the video for the Marrutt inks, I did use third party inks with the canon after a bit of trepidation but it they were okay in the end (always got a sneaky doubt about longevity 😏)

Hi Jethro.

I used some 3rd party ink refill system from Marrutt and it screwed up my first Epson printer, Never again. Have always used epson original inks on my Epson Pro 3800.

It's simply not worth the risk as the saving is minimal compared to what you will sell your prints for and you will invalidate your warranty on a very expensive printer. If you add the extra cost to the price of a print you are selling its negligible when you consider you might sell an A3 print for £50.

I highly recommend the Epson pro 3800. It has been going strong for 10 years and never faltered plus I have sold hundreds of prints from it

Speaks for itself

There is a new latest model which you can do panoramics on

Hi Mike

The 3800 / 3880 are both discontinued models. 

I think the 'current' Epson equivalent is the P900 that JK is considering. It does pano printing.

JK - If I was to get back into big printing, the P900 would be my choice.

Thanks 

Don't have any advice, but have you seen the review at https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-sc-p900-printer-review/

Super in depth and a site I used buying my pro 10s

Well that's an epic long review!

JK - the Conclusions (way way down the review) are a must read if you are considering this printer, especially if you plan to do lots of pano printing.

Pretty in depth, my thinking with pano was to buy a roll and cut to size for my normal panoramic size rather than buying a roll feeder