Multi fotografi, pasionati si profesionisti deopotriva, sunt tentati sa achizitioneze o imprimanta foto de calitate, pentru a-si tipari cele mai bune imagini si a le expune in galerii sau sa faca printuri in scop comercial. In acest sens – sunt 3 mari jucatori pe piata universala care ofera imprimante profesionale: Canon, Epson, HP. Cele 3 branduri sunt excelente, functioneaza cu tehnici usor diferite, dar mai ales cu cerneluri ale caror consistenta, sau mai bine-zis „formula chimica” – ajuta ca imaginea tiparita sa dureze cat mai mult si sa arate „fotorealistic”.
Nu e nicio diferenta de calitate intre imprimantele de top ale celor 3 branduri. Atat Canon, cat si Epson sau HP ofera comerciantilor de printuri fotografice sau fotografilor cu dorinta de a deveni comerciali – printere de diefrite dimensiuni, de la formatul cel mai mic A4 – la formatul de 160 cm latime, acestea putand tipari pe rola care ajunge si la 40 m lungime.
Se pune intrebarea: care sunt criteriile pentru care am alege un brand sau altul? Desigur, daca calitatea lor este plus-minus identica, intervin criteriile de cost. Nu imprimanta in sine sunt costurile importante, ci consumabilele.
Epson e de departe cel mai scum in privinta intretinerii si functionarii, un plin de cerneala pentru o imprimanta medie, genul 7890 sau 7900 costa 1000 Euro! In articolul de fata va rezentam punctul de vedere, argumentat, cu privire la smecheriile tehnologice la care recurge Epson pentru a scoate cat mai multi bani din buzunarul consumatorului, prin inselaciune. Un prim argument concret este acela, ca Epson declara ca functionarea imprimantelor foto utilizeaza aproape tot cartusul de cerneala, si abia cand mai ramane 1% cerneala in cartus imprimanta se opreste. Realitatea este alta! Si aici materialul in limba engleza ne prezinta problemele de la Epson, anume ca in fiecare cartus de cerneala mai raman minim 10% cerneala neutilizata, pe care propiretarul imprimantei trebuie sa-l arunce, deoarece cartusul constine un Chip special care blocheaza imprimanta automat cand nivelul din cartus ajune la 10% din continut. Pacaleala si smecheria aici e: faptul ca Epson spune ca abia cand ramane 1% din cerneala intr-un cartus de cerneala se blocheaza imprimanta, in testul concret insa e vorba de 10%. Cu alte cuvinte: la fiecare plin de cerneala a unei imprimante Epson, cu 10 sau 12 culori, costurile sunt de minim 1000 Euro, din care peirdeti de fiecare data 100 Euro.
Enorm!
Dar nu va afecteaza daca nu pintati cu Epson. Dar daca totusi cumparati o asemenea imprimanta – acum veti stii ca nu veti scapa de niste costuri imense la consumabile, devenind nerentabila afacerea cu printuri. Mai ales in Romania!
Exemplul meu se bazeaza doar pe experienta noastra cu Epson si pe articolul prezent. Cu toate acestea, daca aveti bani suficienti si nu va pasa de pierderi, doar de calitate, Epson ramane o imprimanta de exceptie, iar aici ma refer la gama imprimantelor 4900, 7890, 7900, 9900. Nu va atingeti de imprimantele cu sistemul CIS, precum L800 sau urmatoarele, sunt o dezamagire tehnologica unde reclama va poate induce in eroare!
Acum va redau materialul publicat in celebrul Blog international pentru fotografi: Petapixel:
HOW MUCH INK IS YOUR PRINTER WASTING? EPSON OWNER SAYS HE LOSES $100’S ON WASTED INK EVERY MONTH
I don’t think it comes as a surprise that printer ink grossly overpriced. This seems to be the case whether you’re purchasing ink for your home office printer or ink for your photo printers. For example, a set of 11 UltraChrome inks for the Epson 9900 wide format printer will set you back at least $800. Paying that kind of premium, consumers want to make sure they aren’t letting any of that precious liquid gold go to waste. Unfortunately, every time your printer notifies you it’s time to replace an ink cartridge, you’re probably throwing out hunderds of dollars worth of ink.
“On average, when we throw away a cartridge of ink from our Epson 9900 printer, we throw away well over 100ml of ink. Many times 150ml or more. But, on average, we throw away 120ml of ink with every 700ml cartridge and about 60-80ml of ink with every 350ml cartridge.”
A fact that has Bellevue Fine Art Reproduction so frustrated, they’ve taken to YouTube to publicly ask Epson take a closer look at their ink measuring system.
We’ve contacted Epson about this many times, we’ve spoken to many representatives, we’ve sent cartridges in, we’ve escalated this as high as we possible could and have always been ignored or told that we were just wrong. But, as you can see from our demonstration here, we’re absolutely not wrong–we’ve done this so many times we can’t count. I would challenge Epson to watch this video and improve their ink measuring system in their printers because, clearly, clearly, we are throwing away hundreds of dollars of ink every month.”
Take a look at Bellevue Fine Art Reproduction’s revealing demonstration, here:
WASTED INK IN THE EPSON 9900
DIY REMAINING INK MEASUREMENT
It’s not hard to understand why the print shop is at wits end with Epson–no one likes to waste ink or money. Epson has (sort of) addressed this in lower-end printers with their EcoTank, but after watching the demonstration above, it’s blatantly obvious there’s still a long way to go.
Now, if you want to do a little testing of your own, here’s the formula Bellevue Fine Art Reproduction suggests to use if you want to see how much ink your Epson 9900 is wasting without having to cut open the cartridges. Remember, this formula is for the Epson 9900 cartridges, which may vary from other brands/models.
This all makes me wonder how comparable printers/ink cartridges perform…Has anyone tried similar tests on their ink cartridges?
[ via Reddit ]
No Comment