Epson 3880 or Canon 5100 for B/W Fine Art Prints?

<p>I am a large format photographer looking at the Epson 3880 and Canon IPF 5100 printers. <br>

My goal is to print my own 16x20 b/w fine art prints with the highest amount of detail and tonal range possible. <br>

Does anyone here have experience with either or both printers for b/w fine art prints? <br>

If so, any input on papers used and specific comments would be very helpful.<br>

It looks like with the Epson I could use their 17x22 fine art paper for my 16x20 prints, but with the Canon I would need to get roll paper because their biggest fine art sheets are 13x19. Do I have that right?<br>

Thanks,<br>

Tim</p>

 

<p>I am confused. Your immediate prior post indicates you have ordered a 3880 but here you are asking about the Canon 5100. You also seem to be under the impression that you can only use the given manufacturers own brand paper, not true. Hahnemuhle (Harman), Moab and others make excellant papers that will work with either printer. If you are having trouble choosing between the 3880 and 5100 then choosing a paper is going to be immensely more difficult as there are far more choices.</p>

<p>one of the big reasons to get the Canon *is* it's roll paper capability. But as Peter said, you seem to have already made up your mind re: 3880 vs. 5100. Really, there are many, many outstanding non-Epson branded papers available.</p>

<p>Almost all of the papers I use (in my 3800) are non-Epson</p>

<p>I have a 3880 and 50% of my printing is B&W. The results are fine and the Epson ABW print driver gives a deeper black and smoother tone range. As others have said, do not restrict yourself to Epson papers as you can achieve fine results with other brands. At this time, I do not print with any Epson papers (but am intrigued by the new Hot Press matte papers). The only issue that I have is the lack of availability of 17x25 inch papers. If one wants to print full frame 35 mm at 16x24, you will won't have many choices of 17x25 inch paper (though one could cut that length from rolls). I have no experience with the Canon printer.</p>

<p>Sorry about the confusion. I had the 3880 in my cart at B&H when I sent my first question about which fine art paper is the best for the Epson printer. Then I stumbled onto the Canon iPF5100 and hence the reason for the second question. I should have just went back and deleted that first message to avoid the confusion--my bad! <br>

I was making the assumption about the Epson fine art papers because I read reviews that people were complaining about being forced to use only Epson paper. They weren't unhappy with the prints, just didn't like that restriction. Therefore, I made that conclusion.<br>

Now that it appears that good results are capable with non Epson paper on the 3880 does anyone have some specific suggestions for fine art paper that is best suited for b/w fine art prints? <br>

The same question would hold true for the Canon 5100 too? <br>

I am trying to avoid buying a bunch of different $100 packs of paper only to realize that a different paper is better suited for my purpose. If I could narrow it down to two or three and then I can make some prints on each and then settle in on one that works best for me.<br>

I am open to any brand of paper as long as the ICC profile is available and known to work with the printer/paper combo. <br>

I have some experience with a Canon 9500 Mark II and found that as long as I stuck with the Canon fine art papers I got really good results but limited to the max size of 13"x19". That was just my personal experience for this specific printer but I am open to any suggestions and papers.<br>

With me being a large format photographer the 16x20 size is the perfect aspect ratio and that is the size of my portfolio prints. This is the main reason for getting a new printer. The price jump to get bigger prints is more than I am will to invest at this time. <br>

When comparing the 3880 vs the 5100 the one of the obvious differences is the roll paper option for the 5100 although that is not a big deal to me personally because I plan to print 4x5, 8x10 and 16x20 exclusively and anything beyond the 16x20 I will send to the pro lab. I am most interested in people's experience and opinion about the quality of the b/w fine art prints and which paper was used. <br>

Thanks for your help and input.</p>

<p>Tim</p>

 

<p>well, the Canon wont do 4x5 in cut sheet form. As noted in the other post, there are many many different papers and what I like might not be what you like but there are around a half-dozen papers that usually get a big thumbs-up. That should be your starting point and you can try more esoteric papers at some other point. there are lots of resources (like Eric Chan's website, Keith Cooper, Luminous Landscape, etc) that can point you in various directions. Do you want matte? luster/satin? bright white vs. 'natural/warmtone'. Sample packs are not expensive. How you drive the Epson ABW driver can have a big impact on perceived 'quality' of the print. Expect this to be a long learning process, not a 'buy printer X and paper Y and turn the crank to a beautiful print'.</p>

<p>I use the Epson 3800 and Harman Gloss Bayrta AL which is manufactured by Hahnemuhle now. I am a very discriminate ex darkroom black and white printer and I am very pleased with this combo.<br /> Check the Luminous Landscape about this paper. The bonus is that it even smells like old fiber based darkroom paper.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>+1 FB-AL (as the Harman used to be called before renamed) really has to be on your short list of considerations for a non-matte paper ditto Ilford Gold Fibre Silk and I'm gungho on the new Canson Baryta too</p>

<p>I shoot 8x10 Tri-X, scan on an Epson Perfection v750 pro, then print 16x20 on an Epson 3800 with excellent results from a variety of papers.</p>

<p>Steve, that is good to know. I have been shooting Ilford Delta 100 with my 4x5 and scanning with the Epson V750 pro as well. My current printer only supports up to 13x19, hence the reason for pursuing a new printer that will do 16x20. I just sent off some b/w negatives for tango drum scanning to compare with my scans. Stay in touch... always love to hear from LF shooters.</p>

<p>Tim</p>

<p>Tim, I am sure that drum scanning will out perform the 750. You might find it to be overkill, depending on your needs for detail. I use a jobo cpp-2 processor and Xtol developer. I also use medium format camera for work that requires more mobility. For that I scan with a 10 year old Imacon Flextight Photo scanner. Using Pan F+, I can get very acceptable 16x20 prints.</p>