|
 |
|
|
| |
 |
GEAR |
 |
Short Report: 
Epson Stylus Photo R2400
Impressive black-and-white prints are within your grasp
By Christopher Robinson
This past summer, some friends
of mine bought a new condo in Southern California, although
they must have promised their first born to the mortgage company
with prices the way they are. The condo was a sizable step up
from their rental apartment, and in addition to a lot more square
footage of floor space, it has a lot more wall space than the
former residence (along with a second full bath and a balcony).
Suddenly, the collection of wall art that had filled the old
place barely made a dent on the walls at the new one. I should
have suspected there were ulterior motives when I found myself
invited over for a big dinner (with plenty of good wine). Somewhere
between grilled salmon and crème brûlée,
the innocent question was posed, “So, Chris, do you have
any prints of your photographs you could give us for the walls?”
I don’t sell them, so why not give them away?
The next day in the office, I saw the perfect opportunity.
I could make the prints while testing a new printer. Luck
would have it that Epson had just sent us the Stylus Photo
R2400, so I unpacked it and started getting it dialed in.
The first thing you notice about the R2400 is its clean design.
Epson has always made its printers to look good even when
they aren’t cranking out prints, and this one is no exception.
Following the latest trend in printer forms, the R2400 can
be closed up completely when not in use. Its sleek lines don’t
disrupt your desk.
Once unpacked and powered up, I started right in on turning
out some prints. I might rant and rave about the importance
of dialing in color consistency to anyone who will listen,
but in this case, I was in a hurry and I skipped the color
matching. I had heard that the new Epson drivers were so good
that there really wasn’t much need to get tricky with
the advanced controls. The first print I made bore out that
assertion. Without any adjustment to the file, the print of
a California poppy looked perfect, colors were rich and saturated,
and the transitions from tone to tone were completely smooth.
During the course of a full day, I made at least 20 prints,
all at about 11x14 inches. Epson claims a time of less than
two minutes for such a print, but I found that at my highest-quality
settings, the time was a bit longer. Still, prints came out
fast and always looked good. The ink tanks are individually
monitored, and the driver informed me that I needed more ink
before it started to make more prints.
Inks are pigment-based for longevity that will rival the longest-lasting
traditional photo prints (and last much longer than typical
lab prints). The eight-tank system consists of cyan, light
cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow and three black inks
(Epson refers to this as a
nine-ink palette because you have a choice of photo black
and matte black in addition to light black and light-light
black inks, but only eight are loaded at a time). Collectively,
the ink palette is known as the Epson UltraChrome K3 system,
and it’s impressive. For a full technical discussion
of the system, see the Epson Website.
One aspect of printing with the R2400 that I especially appreciated
was its consistency. One of the earliest prints I made was
crumpled when a coworker carelessly placed a notebook binder
on it. I called up the file the next day and printed a new
one. When comparing the two side by side, the color consistency
was identical. Very impressive.
We’re in the midst of a renaissance in black-and-white
imagery. The limits of the film and paper darkroom have been
cast aside and we now can exercise more control over all aspects
of a print than ever before. The Epson K3 black-and-white
ink system is, again, impressive. The black-and-white prints
I made pulled every tonal nuance from the image file. Blacks
were rich, details in the light and dark areas were clear,
and the transitions between tones were perfectly smooth.
Months later, I’m still using the Epson Stylus Photo
R2400. I hope they don’t ask for it back.
Contact: Epson, (800) GO-EPSON, www.epson.com.
Specifications
Advanced Micro Piezo 8-color pigment ink delivery system
9-ink palette (cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, photo or matte black, light black and light-light black)
180-nozzle print head
3.5-picoliter droplet size
Borderless printing up to
13x19 inches
Dimensions: 24.2x12.6x9.1 inches
List Price: $849
| [ Primary Features ] |
1 New UltraChrome K3 ink system with three blacks (hence, the K3)
2 Long print life from pigment-based inks (up to 200 years)
3 Large, 13-inch maximum
width (up to 44 inches
long with roll paper)
|
|
MORE GEAR |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
