5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best 13 inch (A3) type printer you can get!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2015
This is The Best 13 inch (A3) type printer you can get.
I bought this instead of the Epson R3000 as this has just been released and has had rave reviews on the Web and in Print.
Amateur Photographer gave it 5/5 stars in the latest review, and the results are superior to any other comparable printer out there!
So bottom line is, if you're thinking about buying this but cannot decide between this or the R2000 or R3000 - or Canon/HP offerings, just go for this, it is Seiko Epson's latest offering and has their latest and best results and user friendliness.
The box was very heavy, weighing around 40 lbs and contained the printer, all the inks - complete 9 pack with full 25+ml capacity.
The package also contained accessories for Roll Paper and CD/DVD printing and a CD Rom plus simple instructions.
It was very easy to set up - easily explained on the leaflets inside.
The wonderful thing about this is the WiFi wireless printing. The printer is BIG, so I connected it in my Darkroom/Studio upstairs and not in my room where my Macintosh and Scanner are.
Turn on the printer and set it up as instructed, installing the inks too - and it's touch screen interface gives you the option of connecting to your Wireless network - basically the same procedure an iPhone or Computer would use- you select the WiFi network out of available networks and type in the password.
I switched on WiFi on my Mac and selected printers on the preferences and it had already discovered it!
I then went on Epson's website and downloaded the P600 driver package which I installed with a few clicks.
I use Photoshop CS4 to print, and on that the ICC Profile was present of the Printer plus papers etc.
Printing was a doddle, everything is straight forward on the menu to sleect - you can use the Printer to handle colour or use Photohsop to do it and the paper types plus tray/feeder/front load selections are all there and the print quality is astounding.
I printed just two different test prints which were very accurate in colour, very vibrant and had great deep blacks. Flawless, gob smackingly brilliant!
I then went straight into my project which consisted of three prints to be mounted and framed - these were to replace identical photographs I had done in a Lab on Fuji Crystal Archive paper - and the three prints I made (on Epson Ultra Glossy Photo) simply BLEW the lab prints away in all ways - sure the Lab prints weren't professional.
The colour is wonderful, the gradients and tonality is astounding - I scan Medium Format Fuji Velvia and Kodak Ektachrome (of which the three prints I made were scanned from) and the prints were befitting the nature of the Slides! Of course, you'll never get Cibachrome/Ilfochrome but you sure as hell are going to get some fantastic end products using the various papers available.
I'm looking to order some Epson Traditional Fiber based paper for another project and am looking forward to it - I an only imagine how Fiber paper or Fine Art will look!
It's so clever, you press print, and the wireless method is blindingly fast! Within a couple of minutes your photo has been printed beautifully.
So there you go, brilliant printer, easy peazy to set up, quick to print, looks great, build quality is top notch - it's a heavy big beast! Ink cartridges are BIG 25ml monsters and the end product is breath taking.
NB. The other reviewer has made more prints than I, but he possibly received a dud, I've used Epson printers and scanners for years and years and I find that they're the Best in their ranges in terms of build quality and longevity, I have had my Epson 4990 scanner since 2006 without any problems.
The Box - it's a BIG cardboard box, easily opened with a blade along the brown tape sealing it, and you lift out some polystyrene to access the printer - my box and packaging is all intact so I don't know how the other reviewer manged to rip his up!
Apple Photo's works great!
Use Colorsync to install the ICC profiles for other papers.
Epson papers profiles are auto installed in your Library (Mac OS X)
UPDATE:
Made a few more prints and tried the front loading with Hahnemühle Canvas matt (A4) I downloaded the ICC from their website - installed in the colorsync folder in Library.
Made two prints one colour one BW. The Printer auto swapped ink for the black matt ink - SUPERB results!
Easy straight forward, as the Printer tells you what to do!
Made another two 8"x8" prints on the Ultra Glossy - using Photos - superb results!
Apple Aperture 3.6 is IDEAL for printing with this.
Simple, straight forward and a God send with everything you need there on the first pop up!
Printed a photo of Barmouth Harbour which was shot with Agfa Ultra 100 and a 21mm Biogon lens on a Contax G2.
The print was sublime, lush, saturated popping colours without looking garish, fine detail, great shadow detail and gorgeous.
I think Apple Aperture and the Epson SC-P600 will be my final print combination.
UPDATE
Made a complete set of Prints on what I believe to be The Best Photographic paper for this printer - Epson Traditional Photo paper, also known as Epson Exhibition Fine Art Fiber paper. A Fiber based paper which is very close to traditional fiber based photographic paper.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005ZBMDMM?ref_=cm_cr-mr-title
The prints were another level entirely compared to the Ultra Glossy.
So to conclude, after using this printer for many prints, with different papers and software I can only say that my experience has been 5/5 stars and the printer is better than I expected it to be.
UPDATE.
Several prints later, no problems. The previous reviewer was probably unlucky as happens with electronic items at times.
NB. Another reviewer has complained about the print not looking as if it's a part of the paper, and looking as if it's over it.
This is not the case, perhaps the other user needs to learn how to print.
Printing on Epson Premium Ultra Glossy and Epson Exhibition Fiber (Epson traditional photo paper) the ink has merged beautifully with the paper. The Ultrachrome HD ink and the printer itself are but upgraded versions of the tried and tested and supreme R3000 printer, so any criticism of this kind os obviously an error with the user's methods.
The correct ICC Profile's for the relevant Paper can be downloaded and installed!
And as for printing the whole area - I guess that depends on the settings. I've never had cause to print a whole paper (I print to fit a frame size in the aspect ration/dimensions gathered from the scan I customise in Aperture).
UPDATE.
After 3 weeks of printing, and getting to grips with colour, wysiwyg profiling and getting my vision from screen to final print I'm extremely happy with my purchase.
The print quality, done the correct way, with the correct profile, and with the relevant paper is simply breathtaking.
I have to admit, the Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper (USA) / Traditional Photo Paper (in UK) is phenomenal! Brilliant look and feel and very precious when coupled with a worthy print. It's my paper of choice, it has the perfect balance of lustre and fine art mat quality with that real fiber look. Prints meld with the paper. To be honest, I had my heart set on this paper anyway, from reviews and from the fact that I adore using Fiber based paper in my Darkroom and love the quality and feel and look which is way beyond anything resin coated - drying Fiber paper after printing in the darkroom is a royal pain, no more ironing the paper or using a hoffman press with this Epson! For BW it's simply superb, I would not use mat fine art paper for BW as this has so much depth to it and is a different class.
I also printed B&W on this same paper and the results were fantastic - don't ever expect the same as a traditional expertly done darkroom wet print on high quality Fiber paper - but expect something which is about as good as it gets in BW digitally and I am so happy!
So if you're serious about printing, and don't want to blow £1000's on the larger A2 range, then I can't think of any other printer than matches this - and reviewers in Magazines and Online think the same!
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