Conclusion

I have been using printers for over 11 years, starting with the Epson Stylus Colour printer a humble four ink 720 dpi colour printer which could produce realistic looking photographs at an affordable price. This early colour printer had a large print dot and severe banding in subtle gradients such as skies. This is what I was expecting to see in colour printers for years to come. To get around the hardware limitations, a simple remedy was to add noise to the image, the banding and print dot were then disguised, the picture looked so grainy Seurat would have loved it. Never mind it added mood to the image, at this early stage not many people were working with digital images, art directors just thought you were using a high speed film (grainy), all very arty. Today’s printers have moved ahead in giant leaps, so how do I rate this latest offering, the Epson Stylus R1800 Photo printer?

The R1800 is a robust well built and highly specified printer. The main advantage of this printer is that it uses the tried and proven UltraChrome pigment inks. For a photographer who wants to sell prints, UltraChrome pigment ink is designed for print permanence, with a estimated at 80+ years for glossy papers and 100+ years on matte media's, this long print life rivals silver halide. Longevity of prints isn’t the only factor, the R1800 produces outstanding colours due to the new colour conversion engine, PhotoEnhance 6. The inclusion of red and blue ink increases the colour gamut and colour space, essential for photographers requiring premium colour reproduction. This takes the colour gamut from a conventional 79% to 98%, which means your prints are going to have expanded colour.

The R1800 uses 1.5 picolitre droplets for smoother looking gradients and subtle transitions. The gloss optimiser, which was introduced on the R800 (A4 printer), adds a high gloss finish to the print. The lack of a good gloss finish is perhaps the weak point on the 2100/2200, 4000, 7600 and 9600 professional printers. The R1800 printer uses variable-sized Droplet Technology and Epson’s MicroPiezo™ print head for faster printing speed. An A4 print took approx 1 min 37 sec using Photo setting and 2 min 35 sec using Best Photo. An A3+ full bleed print took 6 min 35 sec. Now this isn’t the fastest printer on the market, nor is the slowest, but it is a lot faster than making a CibaChrome print.

Contrary to belief the R1800 doesn’t replace the Stylus 2100/2200, these are still current in the professional range – no doubt there will be a successor to this printer before too long. The R1800 is going to appeal to the keen enthusiast or as an economical printer for the small studio. The quality of prints is markedly better than those produced on the 2100/2200 – don’t forget they are nearly three years old and technology has moved on in this time.

After fourteen days of testing every aspect on the R1800 I am in a dilemma. I have compared the prints to those made on Canon, HP, other Epson printers and traditional photographic prints. The thing that strikes me is just how good all the printers are. Canon printers produce bold sharp pictures, HP printers produce vibrant colours, Epson dye based printers produce lively colours and Epson pigment printers produce subtle shades. Choosing which is the best printer is like asking a mother to choose her favourite child. Each printer has its own good points and depending on your style of photography, you make your choice.

This afternoon I racked my brains about the R1800, how can I conclude this review, do the printer justice and at the same time not undervalue the competition. I then thought about what I and many users expect from a printer. Simple, I want a printer that produces excellent quality photographs. I also want a printer that is relatively easy to use, yet at the same time gives enough freedom to change colours and make other adjustments. I grabbed a 5x4 transparency and scanned it on my flatbed scanner to produce a 75mb file. Using the Best Photo setting I printed an A3+ full bleed colour print on Premium Glossy Paper. This whole process took less than 15 minutes, I printed one copy only.

As a professional photographer with over 30 years experience and exhibited at many venues, I can say that the print I produced this afternoon is better than anything I have ever done in the darkroom. The print has sharpness, great colour saturation and all the qualities that I would expect from a wet chemistry photograph, let alone a digital print. It is stunning. Any photographer who questions the quality or merit of a digital print compared to a wet chemistry print need only look at the output from the R1800.

I have criticised the yellow with this printer, I also showed you a method how to correct it. Many photographers expect all the work to be done for them by their camera or printer. After all they have just spent £500 or more on their equipment, so why shouldn’t it produce spot on results? As with anything creative, you have to add that extra touch to your work. Pushing buttons isn’t a creative touch, adjusting colour or exposure to convey the mood of a scene is. Forget about looking at prints under a magnifying glass, look at them at a normal viewing distance and in good light.

Would I buy this printer?

Without hesitation, it is a printer for the advanced hobbyist or photographer who wants to sell photographs or needs to produce high quality exhibition prints.

Pros:
Superb print quality
Print life
Separate ink tanks
Gloss Optimizer
CD/DVD printing

Cons:
Ink prices
Awkward roll media handling
Yellows

Price (£399 inc. vat)

Print quality	97%
Features	96%
Ease of use	95%
Design	95%
Value	100%
Rating	96.6%   Highly Recommended

The Golden i award is given to a product that meets the needs of the photographer and produces unrivalled excellence
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