I recently bought an Epson 2100 and although tempted to go down the > CIS route using Lyson Fotonic inks, would like to hear any comments > before committing to these inks - their samples and literature look > promising but does anyone have practical experience yet!
Dear Ian, I have not understand why users would want to convert an Epson 2100 to Lyson Fotonic. This is a premium-priced machine, the sole advantage of which (as far as I know) is to give people access to the Ultrachrome inkset. My advice would be to convert a cheaper printer (such as the 1290) and reserve the 2100 for it's true 'raison d'etre'. Even better, go for the four channel 1160........ Hello Jack You are quite right about the Ultrachrome inkset and that is part of my thinking too! However, Lyson are claiming similar archival properties for their dye based Fotonic inks (my main concern) and a wider gamut than Ultrachrome - which would be very welcome if true - together with exceptional savings on ink prices and the ability to print on many more surfaces than pigment inks. Talking to Nigel at Mwords about my next move with CIS, he came up with another option to buy larger Ultrachrome carts used in the wide format Epson printers and empty them into CIS bottles for the 2100, getting the same ink at a slightly lower price (also a serious consideration) although I don't know what the savings would be in real terms. I do have two other printers, one is an Epson 2000P always used with Epson inks, the other is a 2000P which used the Generation G4 inkset with the now failed CIS system. The G4 inks, in my experience, are virtually unusable with anything other than matt/fine art paper, suffering (to a greater or lesser degree) from metamerism and bronzing. My standard paper with this ink is Hahnemuhle Photo Rag which I like a lot, but doesn't seem able to produce vibrant images. I have to get the dud printer up and running again because I'm about to produce a limited edition book on it and have invested in 500ml bulk bottles of G4 for the project - I think I saw a contact name in the Digest for someone offering servicing for Epson printers, so will contact for details. As a last point and in case anyone else is interested, Marrutt - www.marrutt.co.uk are offering an A3 sample print using the Fotonic inkset with a 2100; they also included a 20 sheet sample pack of A4 paper - various surfaces - and a further free offer of the Lyson Calibration CD/Print evaluation to assess the colour accuracy of your own printer. If there are any other thoughts out there, I look forward to seeing them. Best wishes Ian Jebbett. Ian[at]foto-works.net www.foto-works.net Creative Digital Photo-Graphics t 01239 831818 m 07941415610 My out-going text and images are Virus Checked =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
