printer help

[JohnCrowe]

which would be a better choice of printer...the kodak 8670, or the pictrography 3500....and why....thanks

[dtmphoto1]

This is a very good question, I am trying to decide this for myself as well.

Here are my thoughts so far,

Fuji

Higher initial cost

Not quite as portable for event photography

You have some routine maintenance with
changing distilled water.

Possibly, slightly sharper output at 400 dpi

The one thing that will probably push me away from the Fuji is the weight of the paper and the surface finish of the Matte Donor.
The paper is too thin and creases easily and the matte finish is more of a semi-gloss and shows fingerprints Very easily.

The prints do not have that nice surface texture I am accustomed to with E surface portrait prints (I know you can spray or coat the prints but I do not have that kind of time).

The Kodak (8660 is the model I am looking at)

Less expensive initially and the same per print cost as the Fuji.

More portable design, lends itself to event imaging if needed.

The paper seems to me to be of a heavier weight.

Possibly a little faster print output, I cannot say for sure only realworld testing would tell the tale.

Possibly less maintenance, with no distilled water to fool with.

The final benefit that may swing me towards the 8660 is the new matte finish overlaminate ink cartridges for the 8660. I have heard that the surface finish is exactly like a Kodak E surface print, if this is true (I am going to a local studio today to find out with my own eyes) I will go with the Kodak.

I would love to hear other opinions on this.

Todd Morrison

[Glen_Rosendahl]

I am using the 8660 for portraits and have made about 500 prints with the new matte finish. They are beautiful. Most of my customers don't even know or care that the prints are digital. They just like them.

Glen

[JohnEvans]

When we were thinking about digital we looked at the Fuji but felt the cost of material was too high. We still use film as a backup but print on a Sienna 2000 using regular RA4 paper. Within 1 year we used enough paper to warrent the much higher expense of the Sienna. The 2000 will print 8x10 borderless prints, the 5000 will go to 11x14. You can get used 2000 printers for about $20-25k and can get buyout leases so you don't have to fork over all at one time.

[Jerry]

We've been using the 8660 for about 6 months and swear by it. Reliable, robust, and consistent; it's quite portable as well.

We just starting using the Matte ribbon, and are finding that prints all have a noticeable green cast to them (when exporting from Photoshop 6.01, under Win2K). The finish, though, is beautiful.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Using the original glossy ribbon has spot on color.

Thanks,

Jerry