dSLR Dad

At the 2008 Macworld Conference & Expo, HP unveiled the Photosmart Pro B8850 Photo Printer. The HP B8850 prints on a wide range of photo and Digital Fine Art media up to 0.7 mm thick (versus 1.5mm of the B9180). Not too big of a deal, as you can still use some of the new, fantastic Baryta fine art papers like Ilford’s Galerie Gold Fibre Silk (Amazon, B&H Photo). The B8850 also uses the same print heads and ink cartridges of the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 Printer. It does not, however, include the B9180’s Ethernet port or LCD display. But, at around $500, this is a great value for a 13×19 inch, pigment ink, fine-art inkjet printer.  Perfect for any dSLR Dad. (more…)

This 13 inch R1800 Successor promises improved color output and faster speeds.

Today, Epson has announced the R1900 Large Format, pigment ink-based photo printer. This 13 inch wide, 8 color Printer is an update to the popular Stylus Photo R1800 Inkjet. Epson has has replaced the blue ink found in the R1800 with orange and also reformulated the Red, Magenta, and Yellow inks. The gloss optimizer was also enhanced.

Other improvements include:

• Colorimetric calibration of the MicroPiezo(r) print head applied at the factory. This will greatly improve the quality of the color profiles from one printer to the next.
• A second USB port for two computers to connect (a desktop and laptop perhaps).
• A new coating applied to the print head to help prolong life (and hopefully decrease the number of cleaning cycles if left unattended for long periods of time).

Epson has made some quality improvements to their entry level 13″ wide color photographic printer. Please keep in mind, that since the R1900 lacks the extra light black inks of the 2400 that it is not going to perform spectacularly in the greyscale department. But hey, you’ve got to accept some compromises at this $550 price point.

The following is an unedited Press Release: (more…)

FUJIFILM ANNOUNCES WIDE FORMAT INJET PRINTING AVAILABLE AT SAM’S CLUB STORES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY

Sam’s Club Members Can Now Print Poster-Sized Images On-Demand,
in Minutes, Hours or Days

VALHALLA, N.Y., December 18, 2007 – Fujifilm U.S.A., Inc., today announced that poster printing and signage services are now available at more than 580 Sam’s Club locations throughout the United States. The solution combines an EPSON/FUJIFILM Epson Stylus Pro 7800, Ultrachrome 24″ wide format inkjet printer, (more…)

The following is part of a much larger dSLR Dad Holiday Gift Guide:

Red River Paper is a great company in Dallas, TX that supplies very good quality inkjet papers factory direct. For this holiday season, why not pick up one of their inkjet paper or greeting card sample packs. Each pack includes a two sheets of each paper. Red River also offers free ICC color profiles are available for the most popular papers on some printers.

You can find out more information about their inkjet paper kits here.
You can order the Greeting Card sample kit here.

Update 12/20/2007 - All orders through 12/30/2007 receive a 10% discount.

ColorVision has updated their Spyder3 line of color management devices with the release of the SPYDER3PRO and the SPYDER3Print. The SPYDER3PRO Colorimeter is designed to deliver more precise control over white point and gamma, and has easy-to-use features including a new Display Assistant that stores and easily retrieves all user device-specific information on each display to save time during recalibration.

The SPYDER3Print enables photographers to output gallery-quality color or black and white prints and makes storing and creating profiles easy through its simple wizard-driven program. This way, you can create your own profiles (which normally cost $100 each) for a multitude of papers with greater control. This way, you could use Epson’s Exhibition Fiber Paper on the Canon Imageprograf IPF5000 Printer (Which, by-the-way, is a now available at a $1100 discount).

A Comparison Chart of all four of the Spyder 3 products (more…)

The Canon Imageprograf IPF5000 Printer was replaced by the $1,900 Imageprograf IPF5100 earlier this fall. Both printers are 17″ Wide, 12-Color Pigment Ink (archival quality around 200 years) that take both roll and sheet paper. It also has automatic switching of Black Inks between Gloss and Matte Paper.

What makes the IPF5000 such a great deal this week? Since Amazon has it priced at $790, it’s only a $100 more than the 13″ Canon Pro9500 Printer! You can buy it at either the dSLR Dad Amazon storefront (post comments to let me know what you think) or regular Amazon. As always, these links help to support this site. And I would like to thank all of you who have done so this Holiday season. (more…)

Overview:
* Fiber Photo Paper Base
* Extremely High D-Max and Wide Color Gamut
* 325 gram / meter 2 and 13 mil
* Acid & Lignin Free
* Micro Porous Smooth Gloss (F-Type) Surface
* Minimal Gloss Differential
* Smooth ECF Bleached Chemically with minimal OBAs
* Compatible with UltraChrome™ ink and UltraChrome ink with Vivid Magenta (more…)