Original or compatable inks

There appears to be little advice out there on which is best in terms of output photo quality. Compatable inks or original? Compatable is much cheaper but can it compare with quality?

What do you all use out there in the digital darkroom?

Personally, I believe Epson is the market leader in photo quality printers and I currently have a Photo 790, which produces excellent quality prints. I am looking shortly to upgrade to a more pro printer (2100). I have used both compatable & original inks for thre 790 & found no quality difference, equal duration, and vastly different price.

Is this a case of paying for the name? and is the average punter being ripped off? I believe so.

Look forward to peoples opinions and experiences on this.

Mark

I have an older Epson 1160 with a continuous feed system. I buy "compatible" inks by the bottle . . .

I use an Epson 1280 and get great results............I would be interested in using "compatible" inks and paper also

What brands have you used and where did you get them? Any sources on bulk paper?

EPSON INKS ARE LIGHT-FAST, THE CHEAP CRAP THAT GOBS UP YOUR JETS IS NOT.

EPSON INKS ARE LIGHT-FAST, THE CHEAP CRAP THAT GOBS UP YOUR JETS IS NOT.

Though I respect this opinion, allow me offer my own. Aftermarket inks are not necessarily CRAP. For example, MediaStreet, the folks I bought my continuous feed system from, sell several very nice archival inks that many (MANY!) professionals use to produce the prints they sell. I use their "plug and play" inks (vice archival ones) in my 1160 and have not yet seen any bad fading on prints that have been hanging, unprotected, for several years. Will they fade -- YES -- because they hang, unprotected, on my bulletin board. Had I used the archival inks behind glass, I have no doubt they would last longer than me at this point. If you do a bit of searching on the net, you'll see that one of the things a lot of people are complaining about with Epson is COLOR FADING. I have seen documented proof of severe fading of prints after 14 months of standard room lighting with the standard EPSON inks. I have used the aftermarket stuff for several years now and am COMPLETELY happy with it. Is it possible that there are people out there selling crap? Sure. Luckily (I suppose), the people I buy from seem to be very, very good.

Clogs: I have had one printer clog since installing my continuous feed system. However it was MY FAULT as I left the printer on, unused, while I went diving for 10 days. This left the print heads off their sponge for the whole time and they simply dried out. I was able to unglog them using Fantastik and a syringe. Haven't had a problem since. If you check the usegroups, etc., you'll see there are plenty of people who have clog problems with the Epson inks as well as aftermarket inks . . .

The newer "chipped" Epson printers require a more expensive aftermarket system but still, if you do lots of printing, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a continuous feed system or aftermarket inks. Now that my system is installed, I can get a four ounce bottle of ALL FOUR COLORS (yes, I have an old four-color printer!) for about the price of one Epson color cartridge. If you really want to do a professional job that will last for 100 years, you should probably look at archival inks anyway . . .

Just a satisfied customer,

Mike

A lot of Epson talk, anyone have any success with Canon S900 aftermarket inks? And, where do you get your supply?

What brands have you used and where did you get them? Any sources on bulk paper?

I would recommend

http://www.mediastreet.com for inks and aftermarket cartridges, chip resetters, etc. Media Street and http://www.nomorecarts.com sell continuous feed systems (No More Carts used to supply the systems to Media Street but stopped once Media Street also started selling some made by other companies). I would recommend http://www.redriverpaper.com for bulk paper. Red River will send you a sampler for a very low price to let you try their papers. If you don't care about a few very small blemishes in paper you use for personal comsumption (or for checking print color matching) Red River occasionally has some real deals in their closeout section . . .

anyone have any success with Canon S900 aftermarket inks? And, where do you get your supply?

Media Street also sells aftermarket ink cartridges for Canon printers. I cannot attest to the quality as I have only used their Epson-compatible products . . .

Mike