Mar 4, 2010, 06:08
I now have some experience with Epson 3880. I have nothing but praise for it. Instantly, I became a better photographer (). No truly, the BW remind me of my darkroom days. They come out deep, rich, neutral (if you wish) and with fine shadow detail. Tonal transitions can be very smooth, if you wish. Color may be a bit better too. My sense is a bit more smoothness, but I may be kidding myself. Setting the printer up was uneventful and it has been working fine ever since. I now use Epson paper. I find them a relatively good value, especially on sale (thanks Dennis) and I like the deep colors and wide gamut. I am even beginning to appreciate Luster surface and the thinness no longer bothers me. Overall, if you print a fair bit and if you produce reasonably good quality images on the monitor and wish to achieve decent (but of course less bright) prints, 3880 may be for you. (and of course you can afford the $1500 you need to shell out in Canada in C$)
Please see my photos at http://mullerpavel.smugmug.com (fewer, better image quality, not updated lately)
or at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photophile2008/ (all photos)