Printing files from M8.2

[peter_mann3]

<p>I just made a few prints from my M8.2, ISO 360, JPEG fine, on my ten year old Epson Stylus Color 800 printer, in 8x10 size. The prints are very, very sharp, great tonality, but have the appearance of rather coarse grain, about like old Tri-X in D-76 or grainier. Is this likely to be due to the characteristics of the older printer, or likely to be due to some imcompatibility between M8.2 and printer, or actual grain from the 320 JPEG? Used Epson paper. </p>

[ray .]

<p>First thing, much better to shoot DNG mode and convert to Tiff to print. That's what the Capture One software is for. And since you invested $5000 in a camera, you might seriously think about updating your printer.</p>

[rui_lebreiro]

<p>well... i sure would love to see them</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Did you down-resolution them to a resolution appropriate to the printer? Did you sharpen them properly after down-resolutioning them? There's a lot of technique involved in getting a good digital workflow. Cruise the archives of the Digital Darkroom forum here.</p>

 

[james_trory]

<p>It's probably the JPEG, as Ray says. You should never print from a JPEG if you have the option of shooting RAW or DNG and then converting to TIFF for print. It could also be the age of the printer because for a good print, you need to make sure you have the right printer profile downloaded for the paper you are using. If your printer is 10 years old, Epson might not supply that profile anymore.</p>

[carol_christopher]

<p>I have not had any problems printing directly from M8 jpeg files. I do some post processing, but I haven't needed to in order to get acceptable prints. It does sound like printer or printer driver software.<br>

Cheers.</p>

[peter_mann3]

<p>Thanks, everyone. I am going to buy a new printer, probably Epson 2880 or Epson 1900. Any comments on these? I do mostly black and white, up to 11x14. </p>

[ray .]

<p>Good choice with the 2880, don't know about the 1900, but you might try printing something from a DNG file first. M8 is not known for producing very good jpg files. If you need help on how to process DNG, let me know.</p>

[james_trory]

<p>I have heard from people that use Epson printers all the time that the older the Epson printer, the more you will have to pay for the ink. This is admittedly hearsay, since I don't own an Epson printer myself, but apparently while you would pay more for a 2880, the ink would cost you less than for the 1900. I'm assuming this is Epson's way of getting you to buy a newer printer at a slightly higher cost. And of course, if that is their strategy, you could be spending more on ink anyway in 5 years no matter what printer you get. But I would look into how true that might be before you buy. Of course it really depends on how much printing you're planning on doing.</p>

<p>Both are great printers, btw. The 3-series Epson printers such as the 3800 are pretty cool because you can print both photo (ie. luster, glossy) and matte on the same printer. But you have to buy additional inks.</p>