.
Epson
Stylus Photo R800
Darkroom In A
Breadbox
Peter
Kun Frary
This is a casual user
report on the R800 and not an exhaustive review. There
are plenty of techno spec infested reviews on the 'net
if you crave the gritty details.
When I was in junior
high and high school I spent untold hours in my
bedroom closet developing and printing black and white
images. The burning and dodging, watching images
magically appear under the safe light, washing,
drying, mounting and framing were time consuming but
extremely rewarding and satisfying. I enjoyed the
process as much as the product. In my adult life I had
either the space or time to use a darkroom and, sadly,
greatly missed that aspect of the creative cycle. I
was rarely happy with lab prints. Even custom prints
from a pro lab lacked the personal control I
craved.
Epson
Stylus Photo R800 (c. 2004). Inkjet printer
with 5760 x 1440 resolution and seven-color
Ultrachrome High Gloss pigment ink cartridges
(Magenta, Cyan, Yellow, Matte black, photo black,
red, and blue) plus Gloss Optimizer cartridge. The
R800 is a looker. The sliver-gray
and black finish would complement a late model Mac G4 or G5
tower
nicely (probably look nice next to a black Dell
too).
The release of the
Epson Photo in 1996 promised to return the precise
control of prints to my bedroom. Nevertheless, my
first Epson printers, Photo and Photo 1200 (c. 1999),
were a far cry from lab quality: I could see the dot
pattern on close examination, fading was a constant
problem and prints were fragile. The many faded inkjet
prints on my wall bare witness to these unfortunate
facts. Eventually I gave up on inkjets and took my
print jobs to Fuji Digital Frontier labs. And, yes,
the results were excellent. However, Epsons's promise
of increased print longevity and image clarity seduced
me again. Does the R800 deliver as advertised or is it
all marketing hype?
Ultrachrome
ink
Epson claims fade
resistance and durability for the R800 is comparable
to or exceeds lab prints. How can these claims be
true? First, the R800 uses pigment based Ultrachrome
ink. Ultrachrome has a higher fade-resistance than
previous Epson dye based inks and does not exhibit
metamerism. The R800 also has a Gloss Optimizer
cartridge. The Gloss Optimizer applies a "clearcoat"
over the surface of glossy prints. The clearcoat
prevents bronzing and toughens up the surface. Thus,
an image printed on Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper
looks, feels and smells like a traditional
photographic print--even close up.
A few years ago,
inkjet prints aren't as durable as photographic
prints. Hand a stack of inkjet prints to a friend with
sweaty mitts or drooling problems and watch your
images melt away. In contrast, photographic prints are
fairly waterproof and can withstand much more
handling. I've washed and ironed photographic prints
with good results. However, the R800 is surprisingly
resistant to light moisture and abrasion. I wouldn't
wash and iron one, but R800 prints can take light
handling with ease. Although Epson Premium Glossy
paper does fingerprint, I found a swipe or two with a
microfiber cloth removes it. In fact, fingerprints are
removed more easily than prints on traditional lab
prints.
Fremont Street
Casino • Canon EOS 10D, EF 17-40 4L
USM
Ultrachrome
ink, a bottomless money pit
Ultrachrome inks are
expensive, $115 a set. And they go
fast. Really fast. Of course you can replace individual cartridges
as
needed, but, if you mainly print photos, they tend to
all go at once. Also, like prior Epson inkjet models,
ink can and will dry on the heads. After 3 weeks of
printing mostly 5 x 7, I started getting lines and
dropouts due to clogged heads. I used the R800 several
times a week so sitting idle for long periods wasn't
the cause. I was only 1/3 through the ink cartridges
so I figured an auto-clean would solve the problem
with ink to spare. Auto-clean makes 5 cleaning passes
and prints a test sheet. Unfortunately it wasn't good
enough so I enlisted manual clean mode. After 4 or 5
passes I got a low ink warning and was out of
business. Needless to say, head cleaning uses a lot of
ink...
In fairness, these ink
cartridges were made in 2003 and were near the end of
their useable life (Epson claims a storage life of 2
years). It was also extremely humid that
week--80-90%--and humidity may have impacted ink
behavior. Hopefully new sets of cartridges will be
less prone to clogging. I will check expiration dates
carefully from now on.
Update (Fall
2006): my second set of cartridges lasted much longer than
the first and
were far less prone to clogging. I can only assume the printer
shipped with "half empty" cartridges as a cost
cutting measure. Shame on you Epson!
You won't save much
over Kodalux or one hour labs by printing your own
images. In fact, it costs more per print compared to
Costco or Wallyworld. A set of cartridges runs you
$120. If you make nothing but 8 x 10 prints, it goes
really fast. A few dozen prints and you're done for.
Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper is about $.45 per 8 x
10 sheet. So, not considering the cost of equipment or
your time, each 8 x 10 print costs about $2.00 in
consumables. However, if you're skilled at PS tweaking
and printing, your quality will rival a custom lab and
save lots of money. Of course, you'll also have fun
tweakin' and printing.
Koolau Moon
• Canon EOS A2, EF 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM, Sensia
100, LS-1000 Scanner
Print
quality & paper
Epson improves the
resolution and durability of their prints with every
new model. Nevertheless, the longevity of prints made
with my 1996 Epson Photo surprised me. I have eight
year old framed prints that still look good. Of
course, I printed them on Epson Photo Paper and
they're displayed away from direct light.
Unfortunately, prints from my Epson Photo 1200 faded
quickly, turning nearly blank after several years.
It appears print
longevity for the R800 is not an issue. Epson claims
100 years of longevity under optimal display
conditions for Premium Glossy Photo Paper and Enhanced
Matte. Matte Paper--Heavyweight is said to have a
display life of 150 years while Premium Luster
Photo trails the pack with 64 years. Well, so far so
good as my R800 prints still look dad burn fine after
a month! Update (Fall 2006): And still look great
a year later...
Yes, the grain
structure on true photographic prints is finer, but
you need a loupe to tell the difference. Only folks
that use a loupe to decipher small details such as
street signs may be disappointed. Magnify an inkjet
print and you'll see a half tone pattern (like a
magazine picture), but no additional visual detail. In
contrast, an optical print reveals a surprising amount
of hidden detail with high magnification.
Incidentally, the dot pattern of the R800 is ultra
even and fine compared to Epson printers of a few
years ago (the 1.5 picoliter droplet size probably has
a lot to do with this trait). To see the dot pattern,
you need a 6 to 8 power loupe.
The dynamic range of
R800 prints surprised me. Both highlight and
shadow detail are considerably better than my old
Photo 1200. In fact, dynamic range exceeds that of my
20" Cinema Display (which blows away my old CRT
monitors). And, yes, the monitor is carefully
calibrated. To give the prints a little more bite I
can bump up contrast/level to the point of just
blowing out the highlights and the print looks
perfect.
I'm extremely pleased
with the quality of R800 prints for display of 4 x 6,
5 x 7 and 8 x 10 inch images. I'd prefer to print a
full frame 8 x 12, but Epson doesn't sell that
paper size. The R800's largest print size is A4 and legal.
Unfortunately, none of the Photo
Papers are produced in those sizes.
The R800 can also produce borderless 8.3 x 44 inch panoramic prints
(using
Premium Glossy Photo Roll Paper), but I haven't used
that feature yet. However, this is one way
of forcing a full frame 8 x 12.
My only complaint is
the print driver renders images a little darker than
expected. My Mac is calibrated for 2.2 gamma and, if I
set the driver to 1.8, the prints are fine. It's an
easy fix but Epson should do better.
Older
Epson papers
I have a
big stack of
Epson Photo Glossy left from my prior printers. According
to Epson, Photo Glossy paper is not compatible with the
R800. They're right. I tried it and the results were
terrible--flat and nearly monochrome.
Maybe a custom paper profile will make it useable? So, not
considering custom paper profiles, you pretty much
have to stick to Epson approved paper if you desire
photo quality: Premium Glossy Photo, Enhanced Matte,
Matte Paper--Heavyweight, Premium Semigloss Photo and
Premium Luster Photo.
Printing On
Optical Media
Amazingly, the R800
can print on DVD and CD media.
I probably won't use this feature
much as it's a waste of expensive ink. But for
one-off demos and resume material,
it's a welcome feature. You
need printable CD/DVD media and must manually
load each disk on a special tray. The supplied program, Epson
Print CD, is easy to use and more flexible than LightScribe software,
albeit useful only for basic designs.
Printing
is
lightening fast (less than a minute) compared to LightScribe labels (20
minutes!). Image quality is much better than LightScribe
and in full color.
Nevertheless, few
will mistake your CD for a professionally silk screened
product. Why? Colors are rendered rather pastel and washed
out. In
fairness I've only used normal printable disks. Premium printable
disks
are
said
to be more
vivid.
Printing
speed
The R800
sports two other improvements over my Photo and Photo
1200: printing is much faster and extremely quiet.
Plus, the Firewire connection uploads image
information into the printer in mere seconds. I tried
the USB 2.0 connection and, although peppy, seemed
slower than Firewire. Epson claims the R800
works with USB 1.1, but I couldn't get it to
dance.
Software
drivers
My main complaint
is the print driver interface is chunky--really chunky. Did
I mention it is chunky? You have to use both "Page Set Up" and "Print" dialog
boxes to print. You must make sure the print sizes and printers
agree
in both dialog boxes. Moreover, to select the borderless
option or panoramic option you must select a new
printer in the print dialog box. Selecting options via
radio buttons would be both more apparent and
intuitive. It's too easy to screwup with so many
steps.
Finally, Epson
supplies drivers for Mac OS OS 8, 9 and 10.x. Frankly
I'm surprised they support OS 8 and 9, but kudos to
Epson for supporting older Macs. Of course, they
support all manner of Wintel PCs
as well.
Coconut Palm and
Sky • Haleiwa • Canon Elan 7E, EF 28-105
USM, Kodak Elite Chrome 100
Fit
and Finish
The handsome sliver-gray
and black finish is conservative but would complement a late
model Mac G4, G5 or MacPro tower
nicely (probably look nice next to a black Dell
too). It also matches perfectly with
Epson Perfection scanners. The
workmanship of this made in China printer appears excellent. I
could see no blemishes,
misalignment of parts and, other than occasional head
clogs, it functioned perfectly each time I fired it up. My
prior Epsons
were
made in
Japan and
Oregon.
Epson
managed to maintain high manufacturing standards with cheap
offshore labor. Of course they didn't lower the price so their
profit margin must be hefty.
Final
thoughts
Unlike other Epson
printers I've owned, the R800 does not ship with
cables or sample paper set, so have a USB or Firewire
cable and paper at ready. It does have a real paper
manual, and a reasonably good one at that.
The R800 is a kickass
photo printer that delivers lab quality
prints in spades. Like many inkjet
printers--especially
Epsons--you
must use it regularly or the ink dries on the heads. Use
the on-off switch to power down so
the head
cleaning routine is executed. You
won't save any money over lab prints, but the quality
and control
are
worth
the
toil and
expense for a serious hobbyist. If you mainly make
modest sized prints, e.g., 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8 x 10,
you'll be very happy. My problem is I'm running out of
wall space! If you need larger prints, e.g., 11 x 14
or 13 x 19, the Epson R1800 has most of the features
of the R800 in a larger format. It even shares the
same ink cartridges.
October 23,
2005 • Edited December 25,
2006
©Copyright
2005 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights
Reserved