I'm a busy working photographer, not a colour guru so I thought it might be useful to post my experience with the new HP 3100 printer for those thinking of buying it.
I'm a professional fine art/landscape photographer. My previous printer was an Epson 9600 which I had professionally profiled for Fuji Hunt paper (twice by different people so I could choose the best profile.)
I bought it at Focus on the recommendation of John Henshall (Henshalls Chip Shop)
90% of my work is printed on Fuji Hunt paper. I have my own gallery and sell prints of all sizes in fair quantites, both to the public and to hotels etc.
Thats the background, now here's my $.02 worth.
Build Quality. The HP machine is built like a tank!
Maintenance. Should be easier. For instance you can just lift out a print head and clean it with a cotton bud.
Colour. I'm getting better blacks and more detail in the shadow areas. after printing around 100 different landscapes and different subjects, no real life practical problems with colours.
Monochrome. Here's where the real difference lies. In the Epson I just could not get rid of bands of faint colour. The HP prints monochgrome prints have no trace of colour at all. This is printing in colour mode, not grayscale mode. Brilliant.
Support. When I rang HP for help, Bronagh was excellent and even rang me back the next day to make sure everything was OK.
Yes, it took me a couple of hours to sort minor problems and get the best settings for Fuji Hunt paper and I've had to calibrate the print feed which is no biggie.
However, from a busy working photographers viewpoint. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
Hope this helps someone.
Roy McKeown FRPS FBIPP FMPA
www.portfolio-gallery.com
