Does HP have an upcoming photo printer discussed at Photo Expo?

[deanwork]

Just wondering if the people who attended Photo Expo this year saw or heard anything from Hp in the fine art printing arena. Are they going to even attempt to compete in the high-end photography market anymore, or is it over for them? I sure would hate to see such a good inkset go down in history as the most stable inkset ever developed for collectable photography  but not followed up on.

I did talk to a guy this week who works for the corporate info tech side of the company and he said their division into two companies, one for data services and one for consumer electronics is just about complete. I said well, your side of the company must really be the income generator for hP right? But he said no, actually it is about evenly split in terms of revenue generated by both sides. He is a very honest guy and I have no reason to doubt him. That doesn't mean they won't stay in the fine art business though. Or, they could just keep manufacturing the Z3200 for the next decade, but that sounds odd if it is the case. What in the world are they thinking these days?

john

[MHMG]

Epson now boldly proclaiming new inks and media for "legacy" prints in excess of 200 year life expectancy, while Canon more modestly declaring only 60 year life span for one OEM paper and 45 year life for another in conjunction with Canon's latest reformulated pigment ink sets  (testing conducted internally by Canon and not independently by other labs).  An interesting turn of events as Canon has previously held a superior longevity position over Epson, second only to HP, thus somewhat hard to comprehend what's the real deal with the latest Canon ink technology.  Meanwhile, HP with by far the most permanent pigment ink set ever independently tested appears to have totally abandoned the fine art and photography market altogether. I expected convergence over time, not reversals and divergence among the manufacturers OEM pigmented ink longevity results as time marched on.  Strange turn of events indeed. I will try to figure it all out with more independent comparative tests in the near future.

cheers,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com

[deanwork]

Strange indeed. It will be sad when my Z finally dies a well deserved rest in peace.

I can't believe Canon is saying that about their own inkset. The Lucia tests have been so good on the Canson media.

I guess it is possible that Canon ends up going for some kind of strangely slight improvement in gamut while switching places with Epson. And at the same time adding one more gray and beating Epson with monochrome capability. What an odd business. It will probably take us a couple of years to even figure it out, and by then they will have reformulated into something else. Why wouldn't Hp license their ink patents to Canon and really piss Epson off. But that would imply that the majority of photographers even cared if their prints last and I'm far from convinced that is even on the minds of most of them today.

john

[Ernst Dinkla]

On fade resistance the only reliable sources are independent testing and user reports. I doubt Canon will ignore the good results of the past and the yellow ink change in the Epson sets indicates that Epson knows the weak link of the older sets.

HP is unpredictable in its market moves but remains innovative in several inkjet printer markets, I have no clue what they might do but they are still the giant in the printing industry. Next years Photokina is also 10 years after the Z3100 introduction. The Z3200-PS 44" is still available and newer Z models also rely on Vivera pigment ink but not the total hue range. So cMmYK + Light Grey + Chromium Red can be found in larger carts. Cyan too but that isn't used in the Z3200. Gloss Enhancer, Grey, Green and Blue are unique for the Z3100-Z3200.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
December 2014 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[johncustodio]

John-
I was at the Photo Expo but HP wasn't. They haven't been at the Expo for the last few years if I remember correctly. My 8 year old 24" Z3100 is still chugging away. When it dies (it's out of warranty) I'll probably get a Z3200 if HP still makes them.
-John

[ddolde]

I am very impressed with my HP Z5200 44" model. It even has a spectrophotometer built in for making profiles for any paper.  About $3200

[deanwork]

Yea, I know what you mean John. My Z is about that old and still prints like new. When it goes it will be hard not to have it here. I'd probably go for a 3200 too. As long as they keep making the machines they have to service them and provide inks and heads.

john

John-
I was at the Photo Expo but HP wasn't. They haven't been at the Expo for the last few years if I remember correctly. My 8 year old 24" Z3100 is still chugging away. When it dies (it's out of warranty) I'll probably get a Z3200 if HP still makes them.
-John

[Damir]

I did talk to a guy this week who works for the corporate info tech side of the company and he said their division into two companies, one for data services and one for consumer electronics is just about complete.

john

On 7 October 2015. I got this mail:

On 1 November, HP is planning to separate into two publicly traded companies: one comprising HP's market-leading enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services businesses, doing business as Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, and one comprising HP's market-leading printing and personal systems businesses, doing business as HP Inc.

You are currently subscribed to receive periodic marketing emails from Hewlett-Packard d.o.o. in relation to HP's printing and personal computing products and services. In Croatia, this business is transferring to a new company called HP Computing and Printing d.o.o., which will continue to provide our printing and personal computing products and services. HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. will be part of HP Inc. beginning on 1 November 2015.

As such, your contact information and marketing preferences will be transferred to HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. effective 1 November 2015. If you do not wish to receive periodic marketing emails from HP Computing and Printing d.o.o., click here to unsubscribe.

Your contact information and other personal information will continue to be handled by HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. in accordance with the same privacy practices set forth in our existing HP Computing and Printing d.o.o.'s Privacy Statement will be available on its website starting on 1 November 2015.

To learn more about the HP separation, please read the press release.
Thank you and we look forward to serving you in the future.

Link to press:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=1809455&.VYhF6vlViko#.VjFQc2u2poM

[deanwork]

That's nice Damir. But what we care about is what are you going to do about the high-end photography market? You have left us in the dark for about 6 years now trying to figure out whether the Z series for photography ( not design ) will be moving forward or, or will you exit this market entirely or quit developing new products for it? You never developed a fine art photo desktop printer to further promote these great inks so I'm not going to even get into that.

 I'm not one that believes that releasing new large format printers every couple of years is smart business or smart technology, usually it is not, but becoming totally silent to your user base isn't smart either.

It is just a little more than odd that the company that developed the most stable pigment colorant for photography on the face of the earth, and one of the most stable colorants of all time for any medium but still maintaining a good photo gamut, and developed such a stable and reliable delivery mechanism, with inexpensive but very durable user replaceable heads, a system that wastes absolutely none of that ink, a system with clean neutral grays and super black MK channel for ultra-stable monochrome, doesn't bother to even advertise the printer to the art and photo markets or show up at any of the major trade shows.

That's just plain weird. We want to know what you commitments are to our field of imaging making. I get all these HP updates about pc offerings and office printers and stuff that I have no interest in, but never an update about the Z series or what you plan to do with it or how you plan to support the software and improve it in the future. In this area you have been totally silent. If you want to loose that market completely just keep doing what you are doing. You are almost there.  Looks like I have been a better supporter and ad person for your art photo products than you guys are. What the hell is going on?

John

On 7 October 2015. I got this mail:

On 1 November, HP is planning to separate into two publicly traded companies: one comprising HP's market-leading enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services businesses, doing business as Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, and one comprising HP's market-leading printing and personal systems businesses, doing business as HP Inc.

You are currently subscribed to receive periodic marketing emails from Hewlett-Packard d.o.o. in relation to HP's printing and personal computing products and services. In Croatia, this business is transferring to a new company called HP Computing and Printing d.o.o., which will continue to provide our printing and personal computing products and services. HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. will be part of HP Inc. beginning on 1 November 2015.

As such, your contact information and marketing preferences will be transferred to HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. effective 1 November 2015. If you do not wish to receive periodic marketing emails from HP Computing and Printing d.o.o., click here to unsubscribe.

Your contact information and other personal information will continue to be handled by HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. in accordance with the same privacy practices set forth in our existing HP Computing and Printing d.o.o.'s Privacy Statement will be available on its website starting on 1 November 2015.

To learn more about the HP separation, please read the press release.
Thank you and we look forward to serving you in the future.

Link to press:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=1809455&.VYhF6vlViko#.VjFQc2u2poM

[John Nollendorfs]

John:
I think Damir was just quoting an email he received from HP, just like you!

I agree that the HP Z series is one hell of a printer. Had my 3100 for 8 years now. Just replaced the parking station, but my original drive belt still seems to be fine! Parts are still available, so I intend to just keep my printing as long as I can. The print heads are great, and reasonably priced, unlike Canon & Epson.  And they seem to last at least 3-4 years with moderate use!!! And none of that constant nozzle checking and head cleaning that Epsons are famous for. Life is good!

[deanwork]

I'm really sorry Damir! I totally misread your post and wasn't paying attention.

Would be nice to have SOME HP sales person show up once a year to say something now wouldn't it? I guess it was wishful thinking that they listen to the photo customers. The tech guys in Puerto Rico or wherever they are are never told anything. But my machine has been so reliable that I haven't even talked to them in 4 years, and even that was a minor software issue.

Maybe now that HP has finally divided into the two totally different companies ( what Wall Street has been pressurizing them to do for a long time ) they will figure out what they want to do with the photo printer division. I'd love to seem them come out with a great desktop unit using those inks too to keep the pressure on Canon and Epson.

[Damir]

I'm really sorry Damir! I totally misread your post and wasn't paying attention.

No problem 

I am also interested in the future of HP printers.

[enduser]

The early development of the "Zs" and the 9180 was done by a team working in Spain.  Anyone know how to catch up with those guys?

[deanwork]

I wish I did know who they were. I actually met them at Photo Expo in Ny the year the first Z came out. They were the most interesting, impressive, and helpful printer engineers I've ever met. They designed it in Barcelona, but the group was from all over the world, Japan, the US, Germany and Spain. They kept asking us what WE wanted, and what WE thought about their design, and what WE would like to see added to it in the future. There were a group of us pro printmakers there and they talked to us for along time.
I wonder if any of those people still work for HP.

One of the worst experiences with Epson for me happened at the same time in the same location. This was 9 years ago and I asked the Epson reps why in the world would they continue to make a printer that you had to waste all this ink and go through all that hell just to move from printing a matte print to a gloss print. They laughed a disgusting smirky laugh and said you should buy two printers one for MK and one for PK. I said well do you think you will ever get that resolved, and they said don't count on it. So I went home and purchased the HPZ and then the Canon, and I don't think Epson has even now resolved this ink switch mess though they have apparently got their permanence back to where it was with the 10K, some 15 years ago.

john

The early development of the "Zs" and the 9180 was done by a team working in Spain.  Anyone know how to catch up with those guys?

[Geraldo Garcia]

The early development of the "Zs" and the 9180 was done by a team working in Spain.  Anyone know how to catch up with those guys?

My contact inside HP told me two years ago that this development center on Barcelona was dismantled and some members went to other companies. That was when the rumors about "HP leaving the fine art segment" started.