Hmmm...wonder what that surprise will be? You have piqued my interest. :-)
Patrick
Okay...I got the prints back from Cone Editions. I had them printed on my most used papers, Canson Rag Photographie and Platine. Almost all of my color work is on Platine. I truly love that paper. However, for black and white, I'm really loving the purity of smooth matte paper.
I ran comparisons prints of my test image on my Epson 3880 using the ABW mode. I quickly tossed both the Platine versions out as I don't think I want to print BW on Platine. There are just too many reflections in BW for my taste.
I then compared the Piezo and ABW prints on the C Rag Photographie paper. The Piezo prints were indeed nicer, darker blacks and better detail. There was a subtle but undeniable better quality difference. My wife has a good eye and I asked her to pick her favorite, and she also picked the Piezo prints.
Darn....gonna cost me money.
But, after talking about it for awhile, we both agreed that if we weren't comparing the prints side by side, even the ABW prints look very nice. So, at some point I may want to spend $1000 in inks and carts to upgrade, but for now I can't justify it. If my BW work starts to sell and I'm using more ink, that will be one of the first things I'll add to my process. I'm sure it will be worth it.
Patrick