Saturday 31 October 2009

Kicking and screaming into the digital age!

Well. I've finally gone and done it ... got myself a "proper" printer - an Epson 3800!

I've procrastinated for the last year or so since getting an Epson V700 scanner but I've finally bitten the bullet.

If I'm honest the reason for the delay was a in-built, deep-rooted fear of technology! I was 100% sure I wouldn't be able to get it started and if I did then I had nightmares about what I could achieve from a printer. Having judged camera club competitions from 2001 I had seen some "suspect" inkjet printing and was sure that I would follow suit.

I cut my teeth on traditional printmaking and was happy with the level of expertise I had reached - even managing to sell a number of my monochrome landscapes over the years too! However, a forced house move meant that I lost space for a new darkroom so I entered my "wilderness" years.

Two years or so ago I sent a few of my 5x4 negatives to my good friend Joanna Carter - she has alone convinced me that inkjet printing is far superior to traditional wet printing! She produced scans and prints from my negs that were way better than those I produced in the darkroom and I'm no slouch in the dark!! I used a wall-mounted, fan-cooled enlarger with top quality Schneider lenses so certainly not lacking in the equipment department either!

About a year ago I purchased an Epson V700 scanner and tried to master it! I'm still trying!
I can get "okayish" scans from it from my LF negs but not seeing prints "in the flesh" was always a bit of a disappointment - but I was too worried about splashing out on a printer as I was convinced that my technophobia would ensure I produced "rubbish".

I had narrowed the choice down to an Epson 2400 - then Epson discontinued it! It's replacement; the 2880 seemed an improvement but the general concensus was that the ink cartridges were too small/expensive. The answer seemed to lie in the 3800 - an A2 sized printer offering bigger/cheaper ink cartridges and the option of printing to A2 in size! But these were expensive - nearly a grand! I felt I couldn't justify this sort of outlay so delayed purchase.

Then I found a company offering the 3800 for a shade under £750 - with a full set of ink. I ordered one along with a Spyder 3 monitor calibration device - another piece of technology to fret over!

It was delivered next day - massive box!

I then spent a very fraught couple of hours - more like 4! Setting it up.
Calibrated my monitor - dead easy!!
Unpacked the printer - huge!
Re-arranged desk to house it along with scanner, keyboard, monitor etc.
Note to self - buy cordless keyboard/mouse.
Set printer up - no mean feat as the manual is a pdf download and I'm a visual learner so need the instructions to hand!
Eventually, after much trial and error produced my first print ... amazing!!!!!!!!!

The detail on the print is incredible. I was able to compare it alongside a print I made a few years ago in the darkroom with one that Joanna made on her Epson.

The difference is mind-blowing!

What's more, I had the same feeling of nervous excitement/anticipation watching the print chugg out of the Epson as I did watching the image materialise in a tray of developer.

I am converted!