Epson R2400 vs HP B9180 for B/W

[John R Smith]

Folks

I am in the market for an A3 inkjet photo printer. I print almost exclusively in B/W, scanned from MF film, but might do a colour print just now and then. At present I have a (very cheap!) HP 8050 A4 printer, which I use with the photo-grey cartridge only (three greys), and I am very happy with the results. However, the Vivera dye-ink set does limit paper choice, and I would like to be able to use a wider range of paper.

The choice for a pigment ink printer in my price range (500 GBP or so) seems to lie between the tried and trusted Epson 2400 or the new HP B9180. But the HP only has two B/W inks (black and grey) whereas the Epson has three. Has anyone here got any experience with the printers, and is there a quality difference in B/W between the two?

P.S. Oh, by the way I did use the search facility. The results from that were enough to put me off buying any HP printer at all, let alone the 9180. But then I have been using my 8050 for 18 months with perfect results and never a single glitch, so I have some HP loyalty, I suppose. Is the B9180 really that bad?

Thanks in advance for your time

John

[Geoff Wittig]

I think it's the nature of on-line forums (fora?) that they attract gripes and complaints like moths to a porch light in July, which gives you a very distorted view of hardware. I have used an Epson 7600 for over four years, and have never seen a single head clog, ever. The thing has been as reliable as an anvil, which wouldn't be the impression you'd have if you relied on forum reports.
I have used an Epson 2400 for most of my black & white printing, and find it fabulous. The three blacks plus its native advanced BW driver (which permits toning by adding small amounts of other inks) produce beautiful monochrome images, and on semigloss/luster papers the D-max is very deep, beating any traditional darkroom print. The only downside is that it chugs through its little tiny cartridges like George W Bush on a college bender. It might save you money in the long run to stretch to the 3800 with its (much) larger cartridges, even if you never print larger than 13x19".

[DarkPenguin]

I quite like my B9180.

Anywho, a recent issue of B+W Photography magazine has a review of the B9180 from Mike Johnston.

[neil snape]

True enough about forums. Most happy users never post, why should they?
The 9180 did have its problems in the beginning in the asembly of the parts. HP did their best to address those and those of supplies distribution too.
Things are pretty much resolved according to the noise on forums for those who have the recent printers.
I don't have any problems with mine in any case.

I actually prefer the 9180 over the Epson screening as it is more film grain like. I find the Epson too flat, too plastic looking. It is very subjective just as developers were for B&W film.
The 9180 does have a full 16 bit screening for 4800dpi printing that is quite exceptional.
BTW the 9180 uses all three blacks on all fine art and non shiny media. Yet when you switch to color or photo media you don't have to change anything other than your media.

There is a review on my site for yet another opinion on the HP.
The Epson is very good too so both are good choices.

[John R Smith]

Neil

thank you very much for the link to your very helpful review. I have now got some print samples from the B9180, and have to say I am a bit disappointed. I am sure it all works wonderfully for colour prints, and probably for B/W on matt papers, but the samples on gloss paper show an unpleasant gloss differential and a magenta bronzing when held at an angle to the light. In fact my cheap 8050 dye ink printer is far better for gloss B/W printing, on this evidence.

John

[neil snape]

Yes B&W on glossy with the 9180 if containing a lot of mid grey will have substantial bronzing compared to a dye printer or the Epson K3 inset printers. It is not worse than the older Epson UC inks though. The new Z 3100 handles this with Gloss Enhancer better than other pigment printers on glossy.

[John R Smith]

Neil

do you get the same problem printing on the new FB gloss papers, like Crane Museo Silver Rag, and Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl? Or does this just happen on the RC gloss papers.

Thanks

John