I finally got this beautiful thing (it's an Epson P600) unboxed after an embarrassingly long delay, and what would you know, the very first print I made turned out pretty well. On Day Two (yesterday, that would be) I made my first good print. Been doing a lot of reading and a little printing (printer ink triggers my cheap gene and I get stingy with it. I need to work on getting over that). I plan to make at least one print a day for a while, and I'll let you know how that goes.
Arriving on Wednesday: a Nikon D7200 and a Sigma 17–70mm ƒ/2.8–4 DC Macro OS HSM lens. The rig will just be here for a five-day rental, but I'll give you my impressions. I figured we needed a break from all the mirrorless around here. My interest is twofold: longer lens, and the D7200 ranks highly (3rd) at DxOMark for dynamic range ("Landscape," they call it), and I wanted to do a few tests and comparisons. It's been a very long time since I used an APS-C Nikon DSLR. So long I can't remember the previous time. Was it really a 6-MP D100?!? That can't be right.
More to come,
Mike
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Featured Comments from:
MHMG: "The P600 is a great little printer, very reliable over the year and a half I've been using it. It may scare you in the first few weeks of using it with frequent 'stealth' cleaning cycles (noted by significantly extended times before the media starts feeding after hitting the 'print' button), but I concluded it's just purging out the micro air bubbles in the new lines. After a few weeks, it settles right down and runs remarkably 'clog-free.' I rarely do nozzle checks unless I've left it unused for a few weeks, and even then, it usually passes that nozzle check just fine.
"Also, Epson has significantly improved the yellow pigment light fastness in the HD ink set compared to the previous Epson K3 ink generation, an important consideration for anyone who cares about accurate color balance over time, especially skin tone color accuracy in portraits where the magenta/yellow and to lesser extent cyan ink fade rates need to maintain parity over time. K3 skin tones end up going much more purplish-blue due to preferential loss of the more fade-prone K3 yellow ink."
As to the D100 comment; time passes, faster than you realize!
The question is Mike, are you able to acknowledge that time has passed; without
being overly converned? Look at your personal events from your time with the D100. Of what age was Alexander, for example...
Posted by: Bryce Lee | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 09:41 AM
Congrats on the new printer. That's a replacement for the R3000, right? I have the R3000 and I have been very happy with it. Having used downloaded paper profiles to begin with, I tried following Ctein's advice on letting the printer manage colors. Print quality jumped a notch or two immediately and it simplified the process as well.
Enjoy the new printer. Making prints is, for me anyway, the purpose of taking pictures to begin with.
Posted by: Dogman | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 09:49 AM
Nice looking printer. Though I think I share that cheap gene with you.
I'd be interested to learn what you think of the Sigma lens, purely as a walk-around lens (i.e. not w/regard to its macro capabilities). I had an earlier version - possibly the first f2.8-f4?; there was an even earlier f2.8-f4.5 version, I believe - that I used with an older Canon APS-C camera. In the end I replaced it with a Canon EF-S 15-85, mainly for the focal length extension at both ends, but I've never been entirely happy with it. My 6D + 24-105L combination can generally knock spots off [whatever APC-C camera I'm using] + 15-85, even though the 24-105L is a frequently-denigrated lens in the Canon world. Perhaps I just got a good 24-105 and a poor 15-85....
Posted by: Tom Burke | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 09:49 AM
I purposely took my D7000 with 16-85 out yesterday on a visit to an apple orchard w/friends, just to see how I'd like it after using my A6000 so much recently. I didn't mind the weight (at first, it seemed quite big in comparison) - I just carried it on my BlackRapid sling and it was like it wasn't even there. I liked the AF-C shooting my daughter & her friend, though I suspect a state of the art mirrorless with the right settings would have been fine. I found that I really missed the EVF, though. Some aspects, anyway. I like seeing backlighting through an OVF, but I missed the exposure preview. I can expose more consistently with the A6000. The thing that surprised me most, though, was my use of the zoom. I've gone out with an 18-200 and shot mostly in the 18-55 range. This time, I went out with a 16-80 and shot mostly in the 55-85 range. Go figure.
Posted by: Dennis | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 09:57 AM
Ooooh,did you buy a P800? Nice! If I had a good excuse to replace my lovely, perfectly functional 3880 I'd get one of these.
Remember the old Chinese adage: "It ain't a picture until it's on paper'"
Posted by: Kenneth Tanaka | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 10:02 AM
Whatever your cheap gene tries to trigger, do not buy any ink other than the original.
Posted by: Christer Almqvist | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 10:20 AM
Congrats on the new printer! I know you haven't asked and I hope I'm not butting in here. When first working with my Canon Pro 100 and printing through Photoshop, the key I finally found was to use a version of the photo that was just slightley lighter than ideal screen version, select in software the matching paper used, and allow the printer to match the colors (not photoshop.) Then tweak to suit. Of course this assumes your monitor has been calibrated! YMMV, but I know you'll get some great results.
Posted by: Eliott James | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 11:29 AM
Looking forward to hearing about your experiences with the printer.
You really can't worry too much about the cost of ink, because, at least for a while, you really do have to make multiple prints with subtle variations to be sure you are getting the best you can get, but also because it's very much one of those "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later" situations, Printers thrive on use, and if they sit for a while (especially during the dry heating season) you will likely need to run one of the cleaning cycles which use ink but produce no output.
New Epson printers are better about this than my 4800 which will not even run a Power Cleaning cycle unless all cartriges are at least half full, ouch.
A tip from Mac Holbert has helped greatly, in winter keep the printer covered (I use a space blanket which folds to nothing) under which I keep a glass of water with a sponge in it. It has nearly eliminated the thiraty Power Cleaning cycle. All this varies with how dry your winter climate is, but for me it has helped greatly.
So a print a day is great exercise for the printer.
Posted by: Michael Perini | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 12:14 PM
The D7200 eh? Nikon's competent take on the venerable Pentax K5 ;-)
Posted by: David W. Scott | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 12:49 PM
I stopped printing altogether for a few years (cheap gene) but I fired up my Epson R1800 last year. I was expecting it to have died and was amazed that after being sat idle for over 3 years it took just one new ink cartridge and three prints to get it going perfectly.
Posted by: Don | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 12:57 PM
While the same price as my (discounted) P800, I find ImagePrint 10 to be one of the best improvements to my print workflow. The whole Apple/Adobe/Epson chain is nicely simplified without any more confusion with every new iteration.
One also needn't worry about remembering to input lots of printer settings.....choose your desired paper and size, and IP knows and does all the rest for your specific printer....including superb profiles for virtually every paper, even for different lighting conditions and greyscale. And it's always in soft-proof mode, so WYSIWYG.
I set it up as an external editor to Lightroom, so my editing remains the same, and then it's off to IP, which also has some terrific final editing steps for toning, sharpening and more.
I have no vested interest in the product, just a huge fan. I justified the cost by not investing in profiling gear, but found the benefits far beyond the terrific profiles. Better prints....and far easier with less chance of error or omission.
Happy printing!
Posted by: Jeff | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 01:07 PM
If it helps exorcise your cheap gene, keep in mind that Epson ink printers are apt to clog due to non-use, causing the waste of lots of ink to clear. A print a day will more than keep that problem at bay.
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick Perez | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 01:47 PM
"printer ink triggers my cheap gene and I get stingy with it. I need to work on getting over that"
I have found that printing regularly is cheaper than letting the printer sit and running head cleaning routines, and you get prints instead of a full waste ink tank. I tend to process images en masse and I used to print them the same. I now force myself to slow down so I can spread the printing out to keep the printers running smoothly without head cleanings. One print every other day seems about right.
Posted by: Larry Gebhardt | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:04 PM
Sigh. I've been making inkjet prints for years on an elderly Epson R2400 and I STILL don't know the best settings, like whether to have the printer software control the color or Photoshop. B&W isn't a problem, but even with a calibrated monitor, getting a decent color print is a struggle and an exercise in "Kentucky windage".Everything I read just makes it more confusing. Too many options. It should be way easier than it is, at least for me.
Posted by: Bill Bresler | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:06 PM
It IS a nice printer. I got mine a year ago and was happy to say goodbye to a long problematic R2880.
Posted by: MikeR | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:07 PM
What's that camera hiding just behind the stapler?
Is it an iPhone 8 beta?
Posted by: James | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:09 PM
Another version of the strategy Elliot James notes is just before you print, add an empty curves layer, set the blending mode to screen; reduce the opacity to somewhere between 8 and 15 percent; duplicate; flatten, and send to the printer. This seems to add the right amount of luminosity to the print -- that is if your screen and printer have not been linearized.
Posted by: Lindsay Bach | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:20 PM
Hope the new printer helps distract you from your pencil collecting fetish!
AaronL
Posted by: AaronL | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:23 PM
I'm watching Aardenburg's light fade test of Epson's latest inkset in a P600 with great interest. Mark's been running it for nearly a year and a half; so far, stability is better than Epson's previous inks. His test print was made on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl, a paper I very much like.
If anyone is curious, go to Aardenburg
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/
and sign up -- it's free. Then look at light fade test ID 314.
Posted by: Sal Santamaura | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:34 PM
Well, where is the unboxing video? Get with it Mike ;-)
Posted by: JF | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 02:43 PM
Sigh,
I have a P800 waiting to be set up. I am waiting for my daughter to buy a house. When she does I will give her my trusty and loved 3800. I just don't want the 3800 to sit idle for too long, so the P800 sits in it's box....waiting.
Two anecdotal notes.
Epson seem to have a clogging reputation left over from earlier times. My 3800 only gets an occasional, one color clog, cleared within one cycle. I was gone for two months this summer and it sat idle, in full a/c and only needed one small cleaning.
I used ImagePrint for years, it is a lovely, if quirky, program. I ran into a quirk just as Ctein's advice about using Epson's own software was posted. It too is a beautiful workflow. I will reinstall IP when I fire up the P800. They promised to transition me when the time came.
If you print once a day you won't have problems. Also remind your cheap gene that with the bigger, less complicated ink cartridges, you won't be spending as much per print as a smaller printer.
Wow, am I long-winded. Enjoy
Posted by: James Weekes | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 03:23 PM
You forgot to rent the new Nikkor 24mm DX f/2.0!
[You know, I had one of the prototypes around here, and I seem to have misplaced it. --Mike]
Posted by: Jeroen Pulles | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 03:25 PM
Mmm... I see the printer, but... what about the pencils? Do you really need so many? :-)
Posted by: Dsoler | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 05:22 PM
What's with all the pencils Mike?
Posted by: Patrick Dodds | Monday, 26 September 2016 at 05:38 PM
Nice to see that bunch of pencils. I'm dating myself, but I remember that a well stocked pencil holder, full of sharp pencils, was de rigueur on an office desk.
Many a secretary—a now nearly extinct species—was expected to make sure that the boss' pencils were sharpened first thing in the morning, and that he (it was a guy thing) had a couple of dozen available at all times! Aspiring bosses sharpened their own.
For some reason, it was supposed to signify that the owner was serious about work and ready for it. Nobody actually needs that many, of course.
Posted by: Mani Sitaraman | Tuesday, 27 September 2016 at 08:21 PM
I know exactly where my pencils would be put if I asked my secretary to sharpen them at all, let alone first thing in the morning! I doubt I would enjoy it, sharpened or not.
Posted by: Bear. | Wednesday, 28 September 2016 at 05:03 AM
Another kudo for Imageprint. I've been using my trusty 3880 for some time, now, but occasionally had issues with dark, saturated greys/blacks 'going green' (literally). The offending areas where strictly neutral in the file, but somehow the Epson driver combined with their profile was shifting the color and sometimes over-saturating to boot.
Based on advice from Alain Briot, whose workshops I've been taking for some number of years, I finally sprung for the Imageprint program, and immediately all my issues went away. I've tried several 'trouble' prints, and they've all come out fantastic. I can't say enough good things about it. I know it's pricey, but I'll end up saving tons of paper and ink, since I'll be able to 'nail it' on the first print, now.
Posted by: Dave New | Thursday, 29 September 2016 at 12:04 PM
I am very tempted to get one of these (or the P800!), but space is an issue. Do they need much room around them beyond their actual physical footprint (particularly behind)? I'm wondering if I can squeeze one in to the limited space I have available.
Posted by: Neilclasper | Monday, 03 October 2016 at 05:44 AM