Finalyy: refillable cartridges for the Epson Pro 3800 !!!

[joaodear]

So Precisioncolors make inks that match the Epson Ultrachrome exactly? No need to use a different profile?

 

[pharmacist]

Joaodear,

From what I experience, the results are so good I can not see any difference and I am using the standard Epson profiles and the prints are identical. Precisioncolors ink are made by Image Specialists.

 

[pharmacist]

For those interested: I made a youtube video and you can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWqgWMQkRo

Sorry for the noisy backgroud, but it was made with a simple compact camera.

 

[Froggy]

Pharmacist,

Nice to see how the other half prints, they are certainly man-sized* print carts!

May I ask a comparison question, if a full set of OEM's cost $500, how much would the equivalent ink from Precision colors cost you (ie 9x 80ml) please. No serious reason, just curious, I have an enquiring mind.

Sorry to hear your copyright is being ripped off, you might want to send them a letter, or their ISP a letter (you should be able to find the abuse email address), it would be worth a try. Looks like everytime we post a picture we will need to doctor it to put a watermark on it to make it useless for anyone else.



*In deference to gender equality, the alternative reading is "Russian female shot-put Olympic medalist from the Soviet era sized"

 

[pharmacist]

Froggy,

You can look at mikling's website Precisioncolors.com for one set of ink. In fact the bottles are 4 oz. (about 116 ml), so you can refill nearly 1.5 cartridge per bottle of ink. A set of 9x4 oz ink cost about $ 100 + shipping cost (not sure but I believe $ 25), which is reasonable for this high quality refill ink. A complete set of 9 cartridges T050 cost about 450 (about $ 580). Calculate for the amount of ink (9x116 ml= 1044 ml for $ 125, thus the price per ml = $ 0.12 and for original Epson ink: 9x80 = 720 ml for $ 580, thus the price per ml = 0.81). More than 6x times cheaper, which is considerable. I could have used cheaper ink, but I can not risk damaging my expensive printer(head) with el cheapo refill ink.

Here another video I uploaded with my Epson Pro 3800 printer making a test print on glossy photo paper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnf4taaxa64

Sorry for the minor sound quality and for the barking of my dog on the background !

 

[lolopr1]

Pharmacist,

I have a question for you, since you own two different type of large format printers (Canon I9950 and the Epson 3800) which one do you think give you the best results. I'm currently using an R1800 and R2880 both with Image Specialists Inks with excellent results. I just wanted to hear your opinion based on your experience.

 

[pharmacist]

Lopor1,

On high glossy paper the dye based Canon i9950 is stil making much better results with better and sharper contrast and especially the gloss is unrivaled compared to the Epson Pro 3800. One thing: the details in the shadows is much less compared to the Epson Pro 3800, which prints details, which can not be seen on the i9950. The i9950 tends to mute the details in favour of overall contrast in the whole picture. The Epson Pro 3800 on the other hand is much better on (semi)matte, pearl, semi-gloss papers and something the i9950 can not print on: canvas. Personally I do not like very high glossy paper, because of the annoying reflection of spotlights when the pictures are attached to the wall.

Which one is better ? It depends on the media you are using, but overall the Epson Pro 3800 is better, especially the advanced B/W mode gives me stunning high quality B/W prints on all types of media, unseen with the Canon i9950 (colourcast is minimal, but still be detectable especially when compared side by side).

Question: where do you purchase your Image Specialists ink from ?

 

[lolopr1]

Pharmacist,

Thanks for your fast response, well I was just curious about it, I personally will have no use for a dye ink printer since I want my photos to last and with the wide range of different media that can be used with an Epson printer is the only option when you wants your prints to look professional, especially when you use canvas and RC (Luster) papers. I don't want to sound like I'm taking credit from Canon printers, because my question was mainly based on media other than gloss paper in which I know Canon is better. To answer your question from where I purchase my ink, I get it direct from the manufacturer.

 

[pharmacist]

Lopor1,

I presume the website you are referring to is inksupply.com ? The prices are very high compared to the prices of precisioncolors.com. I would expect the prices to be lower than a retailer like precisioncolors.com, but it is not......

 

[lolopr1]

Lopor1,

I presume the website you are referring to is inksupply.com ? The prices are very high compared to the prices of precisioncolors.com. I would expect the prices to be lower than a retailer like precisioncolors.com, but it is not......

No, I was talking about Image Specialists it self. http://www.image-specialists.com/default.aspx