Re: Piezography

["Ken Carney" <kcarney@mmcable.com>]

Nick: My "source" for 1160s is that every now and then I see them pop up on
ebay, new.  Re MIS, I ordered the variable hextone set a month or so ago and
had no success.  Regardless or what curve or workflow I used, the prints
lacked dynamic range compared to Epson OEM inks.  That was my experience
with earlier quadtone sets I had ordered.  I guess  I should order the full
spectrum inkset and try it before committing to the Cone system.  One
interesting thing is that the feedback from the Epson list and others has
been on a scale that contains either 0 or 100, but no in-between.  Frankly,
my hesitation in ordering has been a really bad sample print, though others
have not had this experience.  My standards are pretty high, having done
primarily pt/pd from in-camera or enlarged larger format negs.  I hope
digital is not a case of expectations being too high.

Also:  The MIS b&w inksets have been for my 1270.  In _theory_ it should
produce the best tonal range.  Do you have any experience with six vs. four
"color" printers for this purpose?

  --Ken Carney

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Makris" <nick@mcn.org>
To: "Epson List" <epson-inkjet@leben.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: Piezography


> Ken, I've been down this road, Piezography, 1160 and all.  The tech
support
> for Piezography is somewhat limited - although I have been able to talk
> directly to Jon Cone, I never got any satisfaction.
>
> I originally had a 1520 (still have it) and Jon said he has had nothing
but
> grief with the 1520/3000 (they are apparently the same printer except for
> the paper size and they are quite old technology) - he recommended the
1160
> and I was able to get one (BTW, what is your source for a new one).  The
> 1160 was somewhat less of a problem than the 1520, however, the
Piezography
> cartridges I was testing with stopped working and I had only made a few
test
> prints with them.  They offered me no resolution to the problem.  FWIW,
the
> design of the Piezography cartridges appears to cause them to contain less
> ink and I just chalked up the whole thing to a bad experience.  I just
> couldn't justify buying into the Piezography CIS and their inks for 4-5
> times more money when I never was able to get a good print from the
system.
>
> Also, the Piezography starter kit doesn't include a CIS and the ink for
> Piezography is the very expensive part, especially if you're using
> cartridges and even if you're using the CIS.  The software is designed to
> sell the Piezography ink and is not very user friendly.  You can't save
> settings that you use - even the last used setting in the software
> disappears if you change the printer driver to the Epson and there is zero
> support for any other inks.  I sent a long laundry list to Cone but it
fell
> on deaf ears.
>
> I don't use the system any more, in fact, I use the MIS Full Spectrum
> (pigment) inks in my 1160 and the results are wonderful.  If you want to
buy
> my Piezography Manual and CD I would guess we could work something out.
>
> I can tell you that I would never have purchased the Piezography system if
I
> had known what I know now.
>
> My 2¢
>
> Nick
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Ken Carney
>   To: epson-inkjet@leben.com
>   Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 6:00 PM
>   Subject: Piezography
>
>
>   After trying to get  b&w prints from my 1270, with Epson OEM and
> third-party inks, it appears the Cone Piezography system is the best way
to
> go.  I will keep the 1270 for color prints.  Since I'm starting from
scratch
> on b&w, would appreciate any observations on a printer for Piezography.
The
> Epson 3000 is a bit long in the tooth, but from what I  can read is still
a
> good choice.  I can get a new 1160, but then it requires a CIS.  If what I
> have read is accurate, the 3000 does not require a CIS but instead will
feed
> ink from bottles.  So, the price of a 3000 with the Cone starter kit is
> roughly the same as the 1160 with a CIS starter kit, plus I get a larger
> print size on the 3000.
>
>   Any comments, suggestions, pitfalls greatly appreciated!
>
>     --Ken Carney
>
>
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