Cheap Ink for Epson 2400

Moranton wrote in post #2354643
I now have enough information to do a little research and fine the best ink for me.

I guess all those remarks about 3rd-party inks sunk in, eh?

Bummer. I was hoping to tell you how cheap inks suck.

coreypolis wrote in post #2353024
i don't buy it at all. theres a reason why they keep improving on inks. If you are happy with yours, thats fine. But the rest of us really care about perfection, archivalness and color gamut, not to mention reliabilty and warranty.

I forget, how do you know that I don't care about perfection, archivalness and color gamut not to mention reliabilyt and warranty?

Please share with me your testing and experience with other than OEM inks. I'd be very interested to know your experience. I can read Epson's marketing about the "evil dangers of 3rd party inks" on my own. Choosing to believe it is another question entirely.

J.

JohnJ80 wrote in post #2355005
I forget, how do you know that I don't care about perfection, archivalness and color gamut not to mention reliabilyt and warranty?

Please share with me your testing and experience with other than OEM inks. I'd be very interested to know your experience. I can read Epson's marketing about the "evil dangers of 3rd party inks" on my own. Choosing to believe it is another question entirely.

J.

its well tested and documented. Like I said, if it works for you, then good. But the differences are well tested and documented

All suppliers of 3rd party inks are not the same or have similar quality, longevity or characteristics.

For example, please go to mediastreet's inks have been tested to be greater than 50 years by Wilhelm - the same people that have tested Epson etc.... If you please read my previous post, you would also see that I have them in my own UV longevity test along side Epson inks and have no fading from each.

If you take the profiles for the Mediaststreet inks on most papers and compare them to profiles of the OEM inks, you will see that the color gamuts are highly similar. In some places the OEM ink is slightly better, in other places the Mediastreet ink is better.

I do concur that some third party inks are a nightmare. It is absolutely not true that they all are. That is nothing more than Epson FUD marketing.

Do you have an personal data or experience to support what you say? If so, I'd like to see it. Not to put a point on it, but I can read Epson's stuff on my own for their party line.

J

JohnJ80 wrote in post #2357200
I do concur that some third party inks are a nightmare. It is absolutely not true that they all are.

I agree with this too.

Going back to the OP's desire for "cheap inks" - chances are very very good that this is a bad idea, especially for photographers.

But there definitely are some 3rd party suppliers that make inks that are - in ways - superior to Epson's. But until I see data and facts concerning paper-ink combos that work well - which is easy to find - I will stick to manufacturer ink.

'cheap inks' are not a good idea. But then, any ink is cheaper than Epson's because there is no burden for the printer subsidy tax.

I'm able to do my own profiles and have found that I get much superior prints vs using the Epson inks. My main paper is Red River Polar Satin, I shoot a lot of landscapes (so green/blue gamut is important to me). The ink is the Generations ink from Mediastreet.

I suppose the OEM inks would also benefit from a custom profile to cover variation in printers etc... but I didn't try that and probably won't.

J.

It's not a bad idea if you have a calibrated monitor. I think it's Dry Creek Photos that will do it and update the profile for a year for a reasonable price. But profiling your printer doesn't make any sense if your monitor isn't calibrated.

JohnJ80 wrote in post #2358553
I'm able to do my own profiles and have found that I get much superior prints vs using the Epson inks. J.

When you say you're doing your own profiles, are you talking about something like the ColorVision PrintFix Pro? I purchased one about two months ago, but have not had time to open the box. /Dan

Scottes wrote in post #2357238
I agree with this too.

Going back to the OP's desire for "cheap inks" - chances are very very good that this is a bad idea, especially for photographers.

But there definitely are some 3rd party suppliers that make inks that are - in ways - superior to Epson's. But until I see data and facts concerning paper-ink combos that work well - which is easy to find - I will stick to manufacturer ink.

there are some inks for the epson that are better than epson's inks, they are called lysine or something like that. you have to buy a kit to hook them up to your epson, but from what i hear, they are outstanding.