( 34 reviews )
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( 0 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: 08-05-2009
I'll start by saying that for many people, this has clearly been a great printer. Just not in my case, unfortunately. Prints come out a good shade darker than they should be. I've tried all the obvious fixes with Epson tech support: 1) Calibrating my monitor to make sure it's not too bright, and trying other monitors (all at or below L=100) 2) Printing from other machines (one of my PCs is XP-64, the other is XP-32) 3) Letting apps manage colors and using ICC profiles 4) Random/desperate other combos of color management (printer controlled - awful, and other variants) 5) Printing from apps like MSFT paint - Here, my printer prints almost a shade darker than what i see in the file (based on the print color pallete). 6) Reinstalling xp64 drivers (for the xp-64 machine) and using 32-bit drivers for the xp-32 machine In the end, the Epson tech admitted i have a defective unit and should return it. Maybe that's the case. Seems likely given the number of happy customers here. But I can't be sure, and don't want to go through this again. It won't be another Epson for me... Just thought I'd share my story. Perhaps it will be useful for others who experience this problem. Hopefully there will not be many of you. Good luck.
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( 2 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: 06-18-2009
Working with Velvet Fine Art and using Colormunki printer calibration. I fine that the printer doesn't seem to do well working in moderate F stop changes to the darker side in the photo. An example is an antique car under a carport at a old gas station. Gas station is fine but the car in the shade has muddled color? My R1800 seem to handle these changes fine. My advice is to test print on 8X10 paper before you jump to the 17X22 stuff. There seems to be an F stop tipping point where the printer gets it right and where it doesn't..haven't figured it out yet. Another point is the rear feed is really a pain! 3-4 times to get it to feed right before the printer says the alignment is right..
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Posted: 05-02-2009
I've been using this printer for over a year now. After getting my paper and profile choices dialed in (Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk with profile provided on Ilford's web site) the 3800 has been making consistently outstanding prints. Color prints are as good or better than Lightjet or Chromira prints I've had made by high-end professional labs. Black and white prints, using the ABW driver, exceed the quality of anything I was able to produce after years of work in the wet darkroom or messing around with 3d party inksets, tone curves, etc on earlier Epson printers. And the 3800 provides a near infinite range of toning options at the "touch of a button." The printer has worked flawlessly; not a clog yet. There are also some excellent on-line resources for the 3800(worth checking out before making the decision to buy). The only downsides for me have been the time and hassle involved in moving back and forth between the matte and glossy blacks (with the result that I almost never use matte papers anymore) and the cost of cartridges when you (finally) have to replace them. Although, to be fair, I'm just needing to replace my first cartridge after a year of moderate use. I expect that I will be very happy with this printer for years to come.
