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Printer choice please help!!
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hello all i am new to this site and find very very interesting,iv started doing panoramic photography and thinking of buying a new a2 printer and not sure what to buy, a canon 5100 or a epson 3880 i want to be able to print off a roll system as iv being told this is cheaper also do a2 printers come with software to tile smaller photos across the whole width of the page or do i buy that separately and if so could any one recommend some to me , iv being told that a2 printers cheaper to run than a3 ones ?? any advice would be greatly appreciated on this matter thanks all in advance phil
The are both fine printers but Epson have a proven track record when it comes to high-quality photographic printing and their latest pigment ink technology is very impressive. If you want to print on rolls then you will need a 4880. Whether roll-printing works out more cost effective for you depends on the sizes you print on – they can be a lot of waste. The print driver doesn’t do any nesting for you so you would need to either purchase a RIP or do it the canvas-layout yourself in Photoshop. You do start to see some savings in ink costs per ml as you go up to larger printers but also be prepared to pay more to replace each one as they are much higher capacity. The other thing to bear in mind is that to keep the head in good working order (i.e. to avoid clogged nozzles etc) you really need to be printing a lot (every few days ideally).
Hope this helps!
P.S. There’s a rumour that the Epson 4880 will be replaced soon. It uses the old K3 ink system and not the newer HDR. I have no idea when its successor is due though :-)
if your gonna print a decent amount the 4880 is a better bet, the cost per print is a bit less
one thing to be aware of with canon, there isnt a specialised canon pro printer dealer in ireland, so getting support could be an issue
best thing is talk to one of the site sponsors, sheldon or paddy barker who are both epson dealers
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