I have an Epson 1270 (same inkset as the 1280/1290) as well as the R2400. Some of the other photographers I know through the PAL have the R1800.
The R1800 and R2400 are pigment based ink printers, the 1280 is a dye based ink printer. The accepted difference is that dye based inks can achieve a broader gamut where pigment based inks are far more permanent. In practical terms, I have not found any issues in print color or fidelity to what's on my screen due to gamut differences, but I have seen 1270 prints fade. I think the profiles supplied for the R2400 are much better than those supplied for the 1270 as I find less need for print color and density corrections when making prints with a color managed workflow. The R1800 has smaller ink tanks and a different inkset from the R2400. It will print color with equal fidelity onto matte paper (the color inks used are the same aside from the matte black ink), with better fidelity onto glossy paper due to the gloss optimizer ink (gloss optimizer is not used on the R2400), and will not print B&W as well due to the lack of the Light Gray and Light Light Gray inks. The smaller ink carts means that the cost of ink per print will be higher. From what others have told me, the R1800 profiles are again not quite as good as the ones supplied for the R2400, but I have not seen any actual evidence of this. Regards printing B&W (for Dave Brooks): I use the same color managed print workflow for both color and B&W. If your screen calibration is good and you use the correct profiles for printing from Photoshop or Lightroom, turning off color management in the printer, you should get exactly what you see on the computer screen. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
