EPSON P700 & P900–No More Black Ink Switching!!!!

EPSON SureColor P900

While we all endure being locked up at home for the apocalypse, it seems hell has frozen over as Epson is FINALLY catching up with Canon to release two new SureColor printers that don’t require black ink switching!!!!

Yes, you read that right – the new SureColor P700 and P900 printers feature a new 10-channel MicroPiezo AMC printhead with dedicated channels for both Photo and Matte Black ink types so no ink switching necessary – hallelujah! This was something previously only the the 24-inch P7570 and 44-inch P9570 enjoyed, so I’m glad it has made its way down to these stalwarts.

Introducing the new Violet ink too

Both printers feature new UltraChrome PRO10 pigment ink with Violet to deliver an extremely wide color gamut, support Advanced Black and White Mode, and offer a new “Carbon Black” printing mode to dramatically increase Dmax for best-in-class black density on glossy papers. I can’t wait to try out this new Carbon Black feature!!!

For those familiar with how the P5000 offered Violet, this is better because it’s not an either or thing – you actually get both a dedicated line for matte black and violet so its the best of all worlds! I’ve heard great things about the violet ink, but I made the choice with my P5000 to go with the Standard Edition (Light Light Black) instead of the Commercial Edition (Violet) so this is wonderful news!

I’ve also noticed that LLK seems to be replaced with a renamed Gray so I suspect that is part of the formula that makes the new Carbon Black feature possible. The P900 cartridges shown above appear to be the same design and capacity, but this is a new ink set so I’d plan on having to sell your existing inks with your outgoing printer.

Compact P900 design — 30 percent smaller than the previous generation

P700 vs P900 (and their predecessors)

EPSON SureColor P700 with a new design for its built-in roll support

From that I know so far, the P700 has roll support in the same basic way that the P600 did but the P900 is just like P800 in that it requires a more substantial roll media adapter – however, I have no info yet if the P800 adapter will work on the P900 (let’s hope).

Both models appear to have a new waffle pattern for the paper trays which should result in both a weight savings and limit the surface area for dust build up (P700 shown)

Press Release

Epson Reinforces Commitment to Changing Needs of
Creative Professionals with New Photography Desktop Printers

13-inch SureColor P700 and 17-inch SureColor P900 Incorporate Breakthrough Advancements from Large Format Printers to Produce the Highest Quality Prints for the Desktop

LONG BEACH, Calif. – April 21, 2020 – Epson, an industry leader in the photography market, today announced a breakthrough in professional printing technology with the introduction of the 13-inch SureColor® P700 and 17-inch SureColor P900 desktop photo printers. Replacing the award-winning SureColor P600 and SureColor P800, these new printers draw from over 20 years of experience to incorporate the same large format printing technology used by the world’s leading photographers into a sleek, compact design, allowing for the creation of exhibition quality prints from the convenience of the desktop.

“Fifteen years ago, Epson stunned the industry with the Stylus Pro 3800 that provided unprecedented creative control for photographers, allowing them to print up to 17-inches wide without a darkroom,” said Reed Hecht, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America. “With the introduction of the SureColor P700 and SureColor P900, a new generation of photographers will experience another breakthrough in printing technology – truly redefining not only the photographic print but also the printing workflow.”

The new SureColor P700 and SureColor P900 are the smallest professional 13 and 17-inch printers in their class, with a 30 percent size reduction from Epson’s previous generation printers, and are designed for use in photography, graphic design, fine art, and illustration. The printers tout a new 10-channel MicroPiezo® AMCTM printhead to increase productivity, with dedicated channels for both Photo and Matte Black ink types – no ink switching necessary.

Featuring new UltraChrome® PRO10 pigment ink* with Violet, the SureColor P700 and

SureColor P900 deliver an extremely wide color gamut and support Advanced Black and White Mode to create unparalleled, professional black and white photographs.

According to Henry Wilhelm, director of research at Wilhelm Imaging Research, the world’s leading independent print permanence testing laboratory, Epson’s new printers and inks are currently undergoing comprehensive ten-factor testing with a range of papers and canvas, with both color prints and B&W prints made using Epson’s Advanced Black and White Mode. “Preliminary data for the Epson 10-color UltraChrome PRO10 pigment inks in the new SureColor P700 and SureColor P900 create stunning museum quality prints with WIR Display Permanence ratings that we believe will equal the ratings achieved by the current UltraChrome PRO12 inks of up to 200 years for color prints and up to 400 years for B&W prints.1 Prints framed with UV-absorbing acrylic – and those displayed under LED illumination – will achieve significantly higher ratings.”

For the first time, users can easily print directly from iOS® devices2 to the SureColor P700 and SureColor P900 in a color managed workflow. Using an updated mobile version of Epson Print Layout software, full support and color management tools are provided for iPhone and iPad printing. These printers also feature a new print driver mode – Carbon Black – which dramatically increases Dmax by up to 11 percent, for best-in-class black density and reduced bronzing and gloss differential on glossy papers.

The SureColor P700 can accommodate both roll and cut sheet media, and the SureColor P900 accommodates cut sheet media and an optional fully enclosed roll media adapter supports both 2-inch and 3-inch rolls and roll printing up to 10 feet long. Additional features include a 4.3-inch customizable touchscreen, upgraded wireless connectivity including 5GHz and an interior LED light to watch the progress of a print.

More About the SureColor P700 and SureColor P900 Desktop Photo Printers

Designed to help photographers reproduce every detail of their creative vision, the new SureColor P700 and SureColor P900 incorporate a range of features to produce exhibition quality prints from the convenience of a desktop:

• Outstanding image quality and color — All-new UltraChrome PRO10 Ink with Violet produces a wide color gamut for vibrant and rich colors

• No Photo and Matte Black ink switching — Dedicated channels for both black ink types – no switching needed

• New 10-channel MicroPiezo AMC printhead — Consistently delivers prints with outstanding speed, consistency and accuracy; supports variable size droplet technology as small as 1.5-picoliters for remarkable output quality

• Easy printing from smart devices — Print color-managed files directly from an iOS device2 with an easy-to-use interface

• New Carbon Black Driver technology — All-new Carbon Black Driver mode dramatically increases Dmax for best-in-class black density on glossy papers

• Professional media handling — Accommodates rolls3 and sheet media up to 1.5 mm thick of Epson Professional, Signature Worthy® and Legacy papers as well as third-party media

• Easy to use — Features 4.3-inch customizable touchscreen, wireless connectivity and interior LED light

• Compact design — 30 percent smaller than the previous generation

• Industry-leading print permanence — UltraChrome PRO10 ink is expected to create prints that last up to 200 years for color and 400 years for black-and-white1

Pricing, Support and Availability

The SureColor P700 ($799 MSRP) and SureColor P900 ($1,295 MSRP) will be available through Epson Authorized Resellers starting in May. The printers offer a standard Epson Preferred Limited Warranty, a one-year program that includes toll-free advanced telephone access Monday through Friday and usually next business-day on-site service in the unlikely event of any hardware failure. For additional information, visit www.proimaging.epson.com.

About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to becoming indispensable to society by connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. The company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics, and is underpinned by original microdevices. Epson is proud of its contributions to realizing a sustainable society and its ongoing efforts to realizing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than U.S. $10 billion.

Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson’s regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/EpsonAmerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica).

# # #

* This product uses only genuine Epson-brand cartridges. Other brands of ink cartridges and ink supplies are not compatible and, even if described as compatible, may not function properly or at all.

1 Print Permanence in testing. Ink lightfastness rating based on accelerated testing of prints on specialty media, displayed indoors, under glass. Actual print stability will vary according to media, printed image, display conditions, light intensity, humidity and atmospheric conditions. Epson does not guarantee longevity of prints. For maximum print life, display all prints under glass or lamination or properly store them. Visit www.wilhelm- research.com for the latest information.

2 Most features require an Internet connection to the printer, as well as an Internet- and/or email-enabled device. For a list of Epson Connect enabled printers and compatible devices and apps, visit www.epson.com/connect

3 Roll media handling is standard on SureColor P700; optional on SureColor P900

EPSON, MicroPiezo, Signature Worthy, SureColor and UltraChrome are registered trademarks, EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark Seiko Epson Corporation. AMC is a trademark of Epson America, Inc. Epson Preferred is a registered servicemark of Epson America, Inc. iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2020 Epson America, Inc.

Conclusion

I’m very excited about the addition of violet and the end of black ink switching. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to review one as my P800 and P5000 have been great additions to my studio. These improvements are definitely worth the upgrade. My P800 has been getting a workout in my office lately during the lockdown and P600 impressed me way more than I ever expected, so It will be fun to see how the new models perform.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more and get on the waiting list to buy once they become available in June 2020.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Printing Series 
• Epson SureColor P600 Printer Review
• Epson SureColor P800 Review
• Epson SureColor P5000 Preview
• Epson Perfection V850 Pro Scanner
• How To: Using Epson’s Advanced B&W Photo (ABW) printing feature
• REVIEW: Epson Metallic Photo Paper Glossy & Luster
• Epson Legacy Papers Reviews & Video Tutorials with individual articles on Baryta, Etching, Platine and Fibre

Enjoy these and more on the Reviews tab as well as Ron's Recommendations.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Canon PRO-1000 - Part I of II

Canon PRO-1000 11 Color + Chroma Optimizer Pigment Ink Printer

I'm a printing geek who loves getting those digital images off hard drives and on to paper, so when I do I want the highest quality possible. What's more, when I sell those prints to clients I want to do it once and be sure they'll be happy with the quality of that print for the rest of my lifetime as well as theirs. With the PRO-1000 printer I can create beautiful vivid prints that can stand the test of time as well as look great in a wide variety of lighting conditions. The reason for this is thanks to Canon's Chroma Optimizer technology which at first seems just like another ink, but when you see it in action it's more like magic.

What is Chroma Optimizer and how does it work?

If you search the web you'll find this definition:

The Chroma Optimizer reduces the difference in ink droplet height to form a flat and smooth ink layer. The result is evenly reflected light, deep blacks, and bright, saturated colors.

However, I found this obscure video to be a lot more accurate at explaining and actually showing how it works in real life:

The colors and blacks - especially in black and white prints - just pop thanks to this miracle of modern printing technology.

So this is the secret sauce that makes these prints look great, but like any printer a good print always requires a combination of a outstanding ICC profile and correct usage of the application and and printer driver settings to get the best result.

Hardware Observations

 

Physical Size & Weight

At 28.5 x 17 x 11.2" (72.4 x 43.2 x 28.4 cm) and 70.5 lbs (32 kg) this isn't some tiny desktop printer - it's substantial so you'll want to put it on a very solid surface and leave a little room behind it for the steep angle of the paper guide. What's more, if you don't have a strong back and arms then you'll want help getting this printer placed in your house.

It's a real imagePROGRAF

For those who have used Canon printers in the past, the PRO-1000 is a proper imagePROGRAF printer which means it's a professional quality archival printer meant to do the highest quality jobs for fine art prints - despite it's consumer division name.

Not to be confused with the PRO-1, PRO-10 and PRO-100 printers all of which were consumer grade printers with tiny ink cartridges and lower price points, this is a pro duty printer that tries to build on the success of the PRO-1 as well as addressing its many usability shortcomings.

Canon is also trying to align with its professional "L" lenses which use the famous red strip to indicate that they are for the pros, so this is how you end up with a name that seems like it could be worse than the PRO-100 (the lowest of the consumer photo printers). Confused, yeah, me too but ignore all that because what you get is a printer that looks awesome in real life and feels very well built.

Control Panel Operation

While it lacks the touch screen from the PRO-2000, from a usability standpoint this printer has been a pure delight to use. What's more, they have taken one feature from the consumer side that some might appreciate and that's the ability to print templates for things like graph or staph paper  really easily. This does add some value in the household setting where you just have one multi-duty printer.

The buttons operate with a good tactile feel, the menus have been easy to understand, and it's got the right amount of access to stuff geeks care about.

Paper Handling

Tasks like paper loading have been great - to date I've not had one negative experience or  print ruined using a wide variety of papers from as small as 4x6 to as large as 17x22 through the sheet feeder. I've tried plain paper up to hearty ILFORD GALERIE Prestige Smooth Pearl Photo Paper (12mil 325 gsm) and there's been no head strikes or scratches and no issues with ink being too heavy for plain paper.

Performance

I haven't done hard performance testing, but I will for my long-term report. For now a complex letter sheet size print is taking about 4 minutes to print out when doing one job at a time. It also takes the printer about 54 seconds to get going if it has been sitting idle and energy saving features have kicked in (longer if in full-sleep mode).

Software Observations

On the software side of things, everything just works for the most part so I've been quite happy.

Setup

Setup was brilliantly smooth and just worked without ever having to connect a cable or go through any hoops.

If you want to bypass the router for a faster direct connection you can, but I didn't find that necessary as overall performance has been reasonable.

After your printer is set up it offers you some tools that assist you in your printing tasks.

Documentation

After installing the printer you see the above page which looks nice and seems very helpful, plus you eventually end up here at the online manual which seems promising as well. Finally, there's even a bunch of video here that all inspire confidence. However, in practice it seems that Canon's attempt at trying to serve the needs of many printers with a limited amount of actual content behind the pretty buttons often results in documentation that leaves you wanting for more info.

With that said, most things "just work" so fortunately this isn't a huge issue in practice.

Interoperability

I've printed via the Canon Print app, AirPrint and Google Cloud Print as well as via Windows 10 using the regular and XPS drivers, and everything has "just worked". In fact, wireless printing has been so good that I haven't bothered to set up wired Ethernet or USB even though it supports both.

Accounting Manager

Canon PRO-1000 Accounting Manager

This has always been one of my favorite features of Canon printers because I love being able to see detailed job data, and in this case if I plug in the consumables cost then I can see exactly how much a print cost.

It works well and I love it. What's more, now I can see both my PRO-1000 and PRO-2000 jobs together or filter down to just what I want to see.

I love this and it is great for answering the question - what is my exact cost for this print?

Compared to the PRO-1

My Canon PRO-1 printer was capable of making nice color prints and excellent black and white images, and its introduction of the chroma optimizer was a big deal. When I had clients in my studio and showed them prints from my Epson and PRO-1, they generally preferred the PRO-1 results thanks to its warmer tones and rich blacks.

With that said, the lack of an LCD made it a pain in the buns to figure out what was going on when things were out of sorts. What's more it loved to drink ink fast from its ink tanks that seemed like they were about the size of a pixy stick.  Lastly, it's lack of wireless support made it a dated printer in the modern world not too much longer after it was released. Despite it's superior image quality, I still preferred the ease of use of my PRO-10 so my PRO-1 didn't see as much use as it would have if it was wireless with bigger ink tanks.

Now that I have my PRO-1000, I have no use for this printer anymore. Sure, it still produces great prints, but the PRO-1000 is just so much better in every imaginable way.

Compared to the Epson SureColor P800 

Epson SureColor P800

I've really enjoyed the PRO-1000 much more than I thought I would. I'm a huge Epson SureColor P800 fan boy so when I saw the specs for this printer I thought that Canon was playing catch up to build a 3880 with wireless networking support.

In practice I can honestly say that I like the prints I get from this printer more than I do from my Epson P800. Those are big words because I still really love my Epson P800 and didn't think this printer could outshine it. However, this printer has better software, a network wireless connection that doesn't break when you reset the router, and most importantly phenomenally good prints!

With what I have in my studio today, if I had a job to print $500 and up prints then they'd definitely go on the PRO-1000 - the prints are just too good not to do that.

Print Studio Pro

Print Studio Pro was designed for advanced users who wanted all of their driver settings in one easy to use view with layout management options available. In theory it all sounds good, but in practice I've found this app to be slow and cumbersome to use.

If I want to do complex layout I'll use QImage on the PC or fight with Lightroom on the Mac. If I want color management then I'll use Photoshop or Lightroom along with the driver, so while I appreciate the intention here - the execution of this app leaves me wanting for something more (and faster!).

That said, after wrestling with it you can get good prints and it's consistent between the PRO-1000 and PRO-2000 so that's handy if you are trying to train someone to print with both printers.

What's more you can do cool things like the imagePrograf series Export Module from Photoshop used to do like Pattern Print (aka variations) to test get a test sheet of thumbnails that illustrate what impact certain settings will have on the print without wasting a lot of ink and paper as shown here:

There is an even more advanced example here too, so this app offers value - I just wish it was faster.

ColorByte ImagePrint v10.0.17 & up (SOLD SEPARTELY)

Print on Epson paper with ColorByte ImagePrint 10.0.17 & up

ColorByte Software makes a RIP for this printer that is worth mentioning, despite it being a separate and significant expense. ColorByte Software has supported Epson printers for years, but it hasn't been until recently here that they finally supported their first ever Canon printer - the PRO-1000 (requires version 10.0.17 and up). In fact, I can easily say that the best prints I've seen come out of ImagePrint are the prints from the PRO-1000!

This product offers a wealth of custom paper profiles that have been optimized for various daylight conditions which means you can not only get a perfect color print, but you can also make sure it's going to look its best in the lighting conditions in which the print will be displayed (and yes, they have mixed condition profiles too). They also have profiles optimized for black and white for the best tonal range you can get out of this printer.

The quality of their paper profiles are outstanding and that alone would be worth the price when you consider the cost of a profiling kit and the hours you spend creating each profile. However, this product goes beyond that and controls the printer at the droplet level to yield the best tonal range possible for every paper type that it supports (and that's a lot and more are possible upon request).

I'll have more info on this product in an upcoming review.

Get 10% OFF ImagePrint

I have worked a special arrangement with ColorByte to offer you the first ever discount that has been made available for a blog. ColorByte is offering a 10% off discount to readers of this article when you contact JVH Technical, LLC by phone or email. You can not get this discount through the web or ColorByte directly, so you must contact JVH and you MUST mention this blog in order to get the discount. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact JVH, ColorByte or contact me directly about this discount program.

Conclusion

In case you haven't noticed, I love this printer. It does what it sets out to very well - it prints gorgeous archival quality prints on sheet paper and doesn't' try to be anything more than that. It also does it in a "it just works" fashion which is greatly appreciated these days.

Yes, I wish it had a roll adapter like the P800, but other than that I think they are on equal footing with the PRO-1000 having the edge thanks to the chroma optimizer.

My only negative that I've noticed thus far is that compared to the PRO-2000 the images are slightly more yellow even when using the same exact paper and ICC profile. I suspect that despite having the same print head and ink set, there's some additional factors that are coming into play at the hardware level that cause the slight variation. I wouldn't say it is a negative thing as I tend to like warmer images anyway, but it's something to consider if you were thinking you could save time by using one profile for both the 1000 and it's larger siblings - you can't.

I definitely highly recommend this printer based on my experience so far, but let's see how it does with the long-term test. .

MORE TO COME in Part II and be sure to check out MINI-REVIEW: Canon PRO-1000 & PRO-2000 for more info

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today at B&H or click here at Amazon.

To see how much ink costs CLICK HERE.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• MINI-REVIEW: Canon PRO-1000 & PRO-2000
• Canon PRO-2000 Part I - Device Features & Thoughts
• Printing Series
• How to print a 4x6 strip of prints without wasting paper
• Lucia EX Ink Rain Test
• Canon iPF6450 review
• Canon iPF6300 review
• Canon PRO-1 review
• Epson P600 review
• Epson P800 review
• Canon 1D X Mark II
• Canon 5D Mark IV
• Canon 5D Mark IV vs 1D X II - an unscientific comparison
• Canon 5Ds
• Canon 5DsR
• Canon 6D (vs Canon 5DM3 & D600)
• Canon 7D Mark II
• Canon 11-24mm f/4L
• Canon 16-35mm f/4L vs 16-35mm f/2.8L II
• Canon 24-70 f/2.8L II (vs 24-70 f/4L IS Comparison)
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM First Look
• Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS vs 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO
• Canon 100-400m f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM (NEW)
• Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS with 1.4X Extender
• Canon SX-80 Pro Photography Projector
• ILFORD GALERIE Prestige Smooth Pearl Photo Paper
• Red River Paper San Gabriel Baryta Semi Gloss 2.0 - Just as good as expensive Baryta's

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Canon PRO-2000 Part I - Device Features & Thoughts

Canon PRO-2000 after a couple weeks of heavy use
It's a sexy beast, but it will show fingerprints despite being very durable otherwise

Welcome to the first of my multi-part review of the Canon PRO-2000. This is a large format photo ink jet printer that supports up to 24" wide rolls. It uses the best archival pigment ink that Canon has ever made, called Lucia Pro, so under the right conditions your prints can in theory last well beyond 200 years.

If you've read my eBook or followed my Printing Series, you know that I have a lot of passion for printing and that I'm a long-time owner of Canon large format printers dating back to the iPF6300 and most recently the iPF6450. I can easily say up front that this printer blows its predecessors away in so many ways which is why I had to do this early sneak preview review which I encourage you to read if you haven't already.

I've got a lot to say about this printer so with this article I tried to limit my scope to features on the printer itself. Again, I covered a little of this in the early sneak preview review so I try to avoid duplicating content as much as possible.

Touch Screen Control Panel

One of the nice features of this printer is that it offers a touch screen control panel which is great, but if you also own a PRO-1000 like me which does NOT have that feature, it can be a little frustrating going back and forth.

Loading Ink

This printer supports 11 Lucia Pro pigment archival inks + Chroma Optimizer in three different ink sizes: 160ml, 330ml, or 700ml. It comes with a full set of starter 160ml ink cartridges but this ink goes much faster than any you'll ever use later due to the need to filling all of the print head lines (shown below) with ink):

Loaded ink lines coming from the print head

When using the 160ml these big 700ml capacity reservoirs swallow the ink cartridges as shown here:

Paper Handling

Paper handling on this printer has been the best I've had the pleasure of using. My printer is also equipped with the optional multifunction holder which allows you to have two rolls at one time. I've also heard that you can use it to automatically wind up your long prints as come off the first roll, but I haven't tried that feature yet.

Here's what the control panel for this device looks like:

It's worked brilliantly so far, BUT my biggest complaint is that there's no cover for the second roll so I worry about my paper attracting dust which can destroy a big print. Fortunately that hasn't happened so far.

I'm also pleased to report that both rolls can be loaded at the same time, but as far as I can tell you can only print to one at a time.

Another small but significant improvement is the new lever that locks and unlock to make removing the left portion of the roll holder off the spindle very easy:

It's a little thing, but I've really loved how much easier this has made changing rolls. I should also note that the locking mechanism for the smaller core adapters is significantly easier to add and remove.

Manual Paper Loading

I'm thrilled to report that paper can be manually loaded WITHOUT you having to remove your roll paper - this is a huge improvement over previous roll model printers I've used which didn't support this simple concept. I will admit that loading paper is a bit tricky since you have to manually aligning it to an orange line as shown here:

However, if you are careful with your loading then it works quite well. If you make a mistake it will generally just give you instructions to try again, although once I did have my paper ejected out the back which was annoying.

Video Demo

Here's a crude video that demonstrates how the touch screen control panel works plus how to load paper manually and change inks:

Printing from USB

Direct view JPEG's on the touch screen LCD

While I suspect most people won't use this feature, surprisingly this printer supports direct from USB printing. In the animated image below I demonstrate how you go through the menu to do a standard color print of an unedited in-camera JPEG from my Canon 1DX Mark II shot using the SIGMA 85mm Art lens: 

An quick animated walkthrough of print from USB

Surprisingly you can't direct connect your camera and have it read the USB storage, but if you put your memory card in a supported reader or use a flash drive then it works just fine. For those who are wondering, RAW files are not supported.

After a quick few minutes the print comes out as shown below, but if you have a landscape image like I did here you'll want to use the rotate menu option so that it fills the page.

More to come

I'm quite excited about this printer and have so much more to share, but I need to go to bed tonight. Stay tuned for more info and a vide very soon.

Where to Buy?

Here's where you can learn or buy your own:

• PRO-2000 at Amazon or PRO-2000 at B&H
  • 160ml ink link or 330ml ink link or 700ml ink link

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• MINI-REVIEW: Canon PRO-1000 & PRO-2000
• PRO-1000 review
• Printing Series
• How to print a 4x6 strip of prints without wasting paper
• Lucia EX Ink Rain Test
• Canon iPF6450 review
• Canon iPF6300 review
• Canon PRO-1 review
• Epson P600 review
• Epson P800 review
• Canon 1D X Mark II
• Canon 5D Mark IV
• Canon 5D Mark IV vs 1D X II - an unscientific comparison
• Canon 5Ds
• Canon 5DsR
• Canon 6D (vs Canon 5DM3 & D600)
• Canon 7D Mark II
• Canon 11-24mm f/4L
• Canon 16-35mm f/4L vs 16-35mm f/2.8L II
• Canon 24-70 f/2.8L II (vs 24-70 f/4L IS Comparison)
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM First Look
• Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS vs 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO
• Canon 100-400m f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM (NEW)
• Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS with 1.4X Extender
• Canon SX-80 Pro Photography Projector

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

MINI-REVIEW: Canon PRO-1000 & PRO-2000

Canon PRO-1000 17" Photo Printer

If you've followed my printing series, you know that I love printing quite a bit and that I've got a lot of time invested in both Canon and Epson printers. Both brands have their strengths and weaknesses, but I'm so excited about my two new printers that I had to write a quick blurb before the reviews are ready.

PRO-1000 Early Thoughts

Epson 80ml ink

Canon LUCIA PRO 80ml ink

While I am disappointed that it lacks the roll support that my Epson SureColor P800 offers, and the larger ink set on the Canon (12 vs 8) means higher ink costs, so far that's where my concerns have ended. With excellent build quality, a much more durable finish that looks fantastic, and most importantly gorgeous prints sent seamlessly over wifi, I've been very happy in my early testing with this printer. 

All of the ICC profiles I've tested for this printer from Canon, Red River Paper, and Ilford have been excellent so far.

PRO-2000 Thoughts 

Canon PRO-2000 24" Photo Printer with Optional Multi-Function Roll

I loved the prints I got from my iPF6300 and I loved the hard drive feature of the iPF6450, but the quality of the ICC profiles created for the 6450 never matched the quality that I enjoyed with the 6300. This meant that if I wanted a good print, I had to go through the effort of generating the profile myself.

For the PRO-2000, the print quality has been excellent and all of the ICC profiles I've tried so far have been very good. I did have one for the Ilford Galerie Prestige Smooth Pearl 310gsm paper that was slightly darker than I think it should have been, but the PRO-1000  profile was great so I think this was an anomaly.  All of the Canon and Lexjet profiles have been great too.

The optional multi-function roll support has been fantastic and loading sheet paper has gone very well so far. However, the biggest news here is that the phenomenally improved unibody construction makes this printer significantly more stable (and heavy) resulting in less movement and noise than its predecessors. This is a good thing and the looks of this printer just puts a smile on my face every time I walk into my studio - it's stunning to look at!

Features Video

Here's a great video that Canon did that shows how sweet these printer are, and much more is to come from me when I do my official reviews:

Black & White

Black & White support is on par with Epson Advanced Black & White (ABW)

One thing that Canon has always done an excellent job with is black and white prints, and the chroma optimizer makes those blacks look even more incredible.

The new Print Shop Pro software is like a scaled down RIP that replaces my beloved Canon Export Module, but you get to this one off the Automate menu in Photoshop to create print jobs with more features than the export module supported. Sadly it lacks the roll preview feature, but I'm getting used to it despite some quirks.

Pattern Print (aka Print Variations) lives on in both color and B&W

Initially I thought my beloved variations / print pattern feature was gone, but it's alive and well in both color and black and white modes. As usual it does better with big prints vs smaller sheets, but I got up to 45 thumbnails on a letter size sheet (not that you can see squat but it's possible).

PRO-1000 almost equals the PRO-2000

Other than size, ink capacity and roll support, these printers seem to behave identically in every way. The software and print results have been identical which is a good thing for people who like to have a dedicated sheet printer to go with their big roll printers (which is great if you can afford it as you don't have to fight the curls on smaller prints).

Both supported easy to setup wireless and wired network printing. The PRO-1000 does have the added support for integrating with Google Cloud print and AirPrint, so that makes it handy for every day jobs as well. The PRO-1000 also features a night mode to make it a little quieter at night, but neither one made enough noise to wake my 13 month old daughter in an adjacent room with the doors open, so I wouldn't consider either model to be noisy.

I'm thrilled to have this combo in my studio!

Conclusion

I'm quite excited about both of these printers which is why I'm doing this early sneak preview. I've got a couple dozen prints under my belt with them but need more testing before I can draw any official conclusions. I can say that it's everything I liked about the PRO-1 print quality with the amazing LUCIA PRO ink set and the fantastic Chroma Optimizer has been very, very good so far. The Canon faithful should be extremely pleased based on what I've seen so far.

See my full PRO-1000 review here and my PRO-2000 review here.

Where to Buy?

Here's where you can learn or buy your own:

• PRO-1000 at Amazon or  PRO-1000 at B&H + 80ml ink link 
• PRO-2000 at Amazon or PRO-2000 at B&H
  • 160ml ink link or 330ml ink link or 700ml ink link

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• PRO-1000 review
• PRO-2000 review
• Printing Series
• How to print a 4x6 strip of prints without wasting paper
• Lucia EX Ink Rain Test
• Canon iPF6450 review
• Canon iPF6300 review
• Canon PRO-1 review
• Epson P600 review
• Epson P800 review
• Canon 1D X Mark II
• Canon 5D Mark IV
• Canon 5D Mark IV vs 1D X II - an unscientific comparison
• Canon 5Ds
• Canon 5DsR
• Canon 6D (vs Canon 5DM3 & D600)
• Canon 7D Mark II
• Canon 11-24mm f/4L
• Canon 16-35mm f/4L vs 16-35mm f/2.8L II
• Canon 24-70 f/2.8L II (vs 24-70 f/4L IS Comparison)
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM First Look
• Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS vs 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO
• Canon 100-400m f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM (NEW)
• Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS with 1.4X Extender
• Canon SX-80 Pro Photography Projector

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

PhotoPlus 2016 Gadget Report–Day 2

Here are my thoughts about the cool products I saw while touring the PhotoPlus Expo 2016 in New York. All mentions are unsolicited and are based on what caught my eye on this day of the show.

Canon PRO-2000 24” Printer

Canon imagePrograf PRO-2000 24" Fine Art Printer

I was glad to see the new 24” Canon PRO-2000 printer in real life along with the optional 2nd roll support. While I was disappointed that the 2nd roll housing doesn’t have a cover to avoid dust build up on the paper, it still would be handy in real life scenarios where you just need to load a roll for a one-off print, and you don’t really want to have to unload your primary paper.

What’s really cool about this new printer is the ease at which you load the the roll. It doesn’t matter if you put your roll on with the paper under or over, just flip the switch to let the printer know and it will auto grab the paper –vs– roll in to feed design of my iPF6300 & iPF6450.

It’s built like a tank, which is something former Epson owners will appreciate, as the design of the previous models had enough shake to “make a martini” as one person at the show said joking. Funny, but definitely kind of true.

I have high expectations for this printer, so I was glad to hear that Canon will be sending out a PRO-1000 & PRO-2000 for me to review, so expect to hear more in the not too distant future as I finally get my hands on these all-new pro printer models.

Click here to learn more or order today from Amazon or click here for B&H.

GTI Graphiclite® Light Boxes

GTi graphiclite® Personal Desktop Viewers

I’ve been a big fan of my GTI PDV-2020EX light box for years, so it’s always cool to see these at a show especially when they are housing prints by the legendary New York fashion photographer, Douglas Dubler.

While these aren’t exactly all-new, they are still the best way for a print master to view their prints. If you do your own printing, I still encourage you to check them out.

New Sigma Lenses

Sigma seems to be doing a great job of listening to customers feedback and desires with the release of the three new lenses featured in this section. All these improvements continue to send the message to consumers that it’s a company that wants to be the proverbial Lexus of lenses where they offer quality that meets or exceeds their higher priced competitors, but still offering a value that others will find difficult to match. This puts them squarely in the value luxury segment, so I don’t doubt their great momentum created by the release of the Art and Sports series is sure to continue.

One feature common to all of these new lenses is an improved all-new focus motor that is 30% quicker than its predecessor.

What that, here are on my thoughts on the the highly anticipated trio of new lenses that I got a chance to check out at the show.

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art Series

Sigma makes no bones about the fact that they were targeting customers who want Zeiss Otus 85mm quality, without the hefty price – with the added bonus of auto-focus support. It’s a very interesting proposition, especially when you hold this lens in your hand and it definitely has high quality feel of the Zeiss Otus 85mm. They’ve also added a rubber seal that doesn’t necessarily qualify it as weather sealed, it certainly should in theory help with dust and misty weather days.

Canon and Nikon’s 85mm lens owners are very likely to have a decision to make as all signs point to this new art series lens being one that everyone will want. It only makes me wonder how long before they decide to release their own, but until then I’m very looking forward to trying out what could be one of the most exciting new lenses for 2016.

Click here to learn more on Amazon or click here for B&H.

Sigma 12-24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Series Zoom

Sigma 12-24mm f/1.4 Art Series Zoom

As a proud owner of the Canon 11-24mm, one of the finest lenses I’ve ever tested, I’m skeptical how this lens could be better. However, with a more attractive price point the real question will be – is it good enough to save the extra money. Sigma feels confident that I’ll be impressed with this lens featuring what they claim is the largest aspherical element in the industry.

Just like the new 85mm, this lens has a hefty solid build that feels great in the hand but some will wonder if they want to carry the weight. I have high expectations, and Sigma has been very good lately, so my hopes are high.

Click here to learn more at Amazon or click here for B&H.

Sigma 500mm f/4 DG OS HSM Sport Series

A 500mm lens is always going to be sought out by wildlife users primarily, so Sigma put a lot of thought into the design of this new $6000 USD lens to satisfy the needs of this market. Thoughtful features the the ability to silence lens beep sounds, turn off the click sounds of the collar when you rotate it to a different orientation, customizable buttons to switch AF points quickly, and custom modes for different focusing speeds all mean that you can easily make in the field adjustments without scaring away the wildlife.

Sigma 500mm tripod collar click switch

While this lens is a very substantial lens, Sigma did its best to minimize unnecessary weight including creating the all-new hood made out of carbon fiber featuring an improved locking mechanism. These improvements helped to knock over 1.2 lbs off the weight of the Nikon 500mm and get it just under the weight of the Canon 500mm.

Sigma 500mm carbon fiber hood lock

Click here to learn more about this lens at Amazon or click here for B&H.

Meural Fine Art Digital Frames

It was interesting to see how many people were excited about the digital frame that I think is the one to rule them all. After all, once you see this frame in real life you understand my enthusiasm for this product.

One interesting tidbit of information I learned is that the well-made wooden frames for these devices aren’t made in China like most other places, but instead by Amish people in Pennsylvania. This explains the quality that reminds me of Stickley furniture, and it is what impressed me from the moment mine first arrived. The image quality from the LCD display is good enough to impress your visitors, so you'll be surprised to see how much time they spend standing in front of it to watch your art circulate through. 

I still think this is one of the top products of 2016 and look forward to seeing more people join me in my excitement for it.

Be sure to check out my review to learn more and to get a discount on this excellent product.

Other Articles You Might Enjoy

NOTE: More gadget reports to come about PhotoPlus very soon!

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy these:

• PhotoPlus Expo 2016 Day 1 Gadgets Report
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR & PC 19mm Hands On
• Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4
• Canon 11-24mm f/4L
• Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS with 1.4X Extender
• Meural Digital Canvas (Photo Frame) - Discount
• Discount Coupon Codes Page
• Printing Series 
• Ron’s Recommendations 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission.

REVIEW: Epson Legacy Fibre & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 2 of 5)

Epson Legacy Fibre Paper

Epson Legacy Fibre paper is a cotton fiber substrate that uses matte black ink to create archival quality fine art prints. Here are a few important facts about this paper:

• 100% cotton fiber
• Image Permanence: 200 years color / 400 years B&W (when used with Epson HD and Epson HDX Ink)
• 19 mil / 483 Mu caliper
• Acid and lignin free / pH buffered
• No Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs)
• Smooth surface / Matte finish

Check out the Print Your Legacy landing page with videos here to see what some well respected photographers think of this and all of the Legacy papers.

For more on my thoughts, continue reading.

Geeky Comparison

If you aren’t a geek you might want to skip this section.

When comparing Fibre next to a variety of other Epson papers you’ll see that its color gamut isn’t quite as large as some of the others:

Epson Legacy Fibre vs Legacy Etching,
Cold Press Bright & Natural, and Hot Press Bright and Natural
Click  for a larger view

However, in practice the differences don’t feel that large. In fact, if you compare the color gamut as a 2d chart (from ColorThink Pro) against Cold Press Natural then you’ll see they are fairly similar:

Epson Legacy Fibre vs Cold Press Natural Color Gamut
on a Epson SureColor P800

In The Hands Analysis

When holding the paper in my hand I observed that it is slightly brighter than Epson Velvet and much brighter than Hot Press Natural, despite the absence of OBA’s. This makes it more aesthetically pleasing paper with whites, yet it still retains the archival longevity of papers that do not have OBA’s.

The texture and thickness of my sample paper felt much like Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte in that it is very flexible. If you hold it at the edge it will flex down unlike Hot or Cold Press papers that stay rigid. However, the sample provided by Epson using Vincent Versace’s print felt more solid like a 19 mil paper should. As a result, I think might have received a sample that was closer to 10 mil vs the final paper that is 19 mil.

UPDATE: I did confirm that two of the three sample packs I had contained 10 mil Fibre Etching whereas the third contained 19 mil – which fills like the hot and cold press papers. I confirmed that the print results didn’t change, but the feel in the hand was significantly better without the flexing.

The texture is extremely smooth with no hint of any texture, so I really liked that. While there are times that I like texture, and appreciate papers like Etching, there’s also certain subjects that can be ruined if the paper has too much texture (i.e., a smooth vegetable or fruit). As a result those who are looking for a super smooth paper that isn’t going to have annoying reflections like RC papers, will find this to be an excellent choice.

In terms of durability, it’s like all matte papers with matte ink – you have to be careful as it’s easy to scratch or smudge so using gloves is recommended and protect as soon as possible.

Real World Print Analysis

Epson V850 scan of Legacy Fibre on a Mac (16-bit)
(Click for Original Mac Version above or Windows Version Here)

While the colors look a bit washed out in the scan, in real life it isn’t quite so faded looking. In fact the prints vibrant and the blacks look deep, but it’s not like Baryta bright and deep. As a matte paper, I found it to be very good. In fact, unless you have it next to better color gamut papers you’ll most likely find that feels exceptionally vibrant for a matte paper. This is definitely true of this photo (included by permission of Vincent Versace author of Welcome to Oz 2 and Oz to Kansas: Black & White Conversion Techniques):

Actual Epson V850 Scan of a Print from SureColor P9000 on Legacy Fibre

as well as this one which is available as a full resolution 24MB TIFF scan:

Full Resolution Tiff V850 Scan of a SureColor P800 Legacy Fibre Print

On a scale of 1 (worse) to 10 (the best I’ve ever seen), I’d give it a 7 whereas I’d give the Hot Press Signature Worthy papers a 8.5. It’s very good and pleasing to both the eye and hand.

Tutorial Video

This video teaches you how to print on this paper in both Photoshop CC 2015 and Lightroom CC 2015 on OS X El Capitan, but future reviews will also cover Windows 10:

If you’d like visual instructions, including Advanced Black & White, then be sure to check out the visual tutorial in the Epson Legacy Papers Reviews & Tutorials video which covers both Windows and Mac.

The printer paper profile you use will be in the format <printer> LegacyFibre_MK_<version>.icc (or sometimes icm) so for the Epson SureColor P800 you’d choose SC-P800_Series LegacyFibre_MK_v1.icc

Conclusion

Of the four Legacy papers I tested, this was my least favorite. While I did like it and found it to be very good, I honestly would go for Hot Press Bright (despite the OBA’s) if I wanted a bright smooth paper and if I wanted no OBA’s I’d reach for Hot Press Natural. If I wanted texture, I’d go for Legacy Etching, so this paper is left in a category where I’d use it if I had it but I probably wouldn’t buy it or chose it over the others for an important fine art print. 

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order at Adorama

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Epson Legacy Papers Reviews & Tutorials – Intro article that links to all of the Legacy Series paper reviews
• REVIEW: Epson Legacy Etching & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 3 of 5)
• REVIEW: Epson Legacy Platine & Video Tutorial (Legacy Series 4 of 5)
• Printing Series – Tons of resources on printing and print related tech
• Epson SureColor P600 Review
• Epson SureColor P800 Review
• Epson Exhibition Canvas Natural Gloss Review
• Epson Hot & Cold Press Papers
• How To: Using Epson’s Advanced B&W Photo (ABW) printing feature
• Getting great 4x6 prints without any hassle
• Choosing The Right Display Calibration Device
• NEC PA242W Monitor Review (PA241W & PA271W Review)
• NEC PA302W Monitor Review (PA301W Review)
• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing
• Ron’s Recommendations

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.