Epson R1800 or R2400?

[JohnAC]

This summarises the pros and cons and might help you to decide:

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/infocenter/articles/2400or1800.htm

I have the R2400 and love it.

John

 

[Ray Rosewall]

Do you print glossy color? Happy with results?

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Ray R

 

[JohnAC]

I print on Epson Premium Glossy and Epson Premium Semigloss. I am very happy with the results. The only thing that might be a concern to some is the gloss differential than can occur if there are any blown highlights - ie no ink is applied to these areas and therefore there can be a low gloss appearance relative to the rest of the photo. This is only evident if the photo is viewed from a fairly sharp angle. Lately I find if I use ACR I can usually quite easily deal with any highlights so its not a problem for me. Even if I do have to print with highlights I am not in the habit of scrutinizing my photos from an angle. If a photo is framed behind glass I expect this would not be a problem at all. The great thing is it is also encouraging me to pay more attention to taking properly exposed photos in the first place. The color accuracy and detail of this printer is wonderful. I have no regrets, and am glad I bought the R2400 instead of the R1800.

John

 

[DRG]

This summarises the pros and cons and might help you to decide:

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/infocenter/articles/2400or1800.htm

I have the R2400 and love it.

John

I had both for a month and there were precious few differences between them except for B & W (which favored the R2400). Almost zero difference on matte paper and a slight advantage to the R1800 on glossy and semigloss due to some gloss differential in blown highlights on the R2400, as mentioned by another poster as well. The R1800 also had the advantage of not needing black cartridge swaps based on paper type, which can lead to wasted ink.

As a result, I kept the R1800 and saved $360. If B & W were more critical to me, I'd have been willing to spend a little more. For 99% color printing (and no thick media printing), however, there was nothing to specifically justify the R2400 in my case. Hopefully, spending less now means more money to buy the successor printing (which I hope will be similar to the R2400, but cheaper and without the need to swap gloss and matte black cartridges).

David

 

[Ray Rosewall]

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Ray R

 

[Moxxi]

I prefer matte but this site said the r2400 is better for that. As a graduation present I was given a r1800 (which I get after Christmas). Is this a bad idea since I would print on matte all of the time until I wanted to print on satin or something like that?

 

[DRG]

I prefer matte but this site said the r2400 is better for that. As
a graduation present I was given a r1800 (which I get after
Christmas). Is this a bad idea since I would print on matte all of
the time until I wanted to print on satin or something like that?

I used both printers side by side for the same test prints for a month. For color matte, both printers are highly similar. The reason people say the R2400 is better for matte is simply because (a) the R1800 hi-gloss ink set with its gloss optimizer offers no specific advantage on matte, where the optimizer isn't employed and (b) the R2400 does better with B & W and handles thicker meida. So, cost aside, the R2400 is more versatile and with no disadvantages compared with the R1800. However, it also has no real advantages (perhaps some subtle color advantages in the neutral tones stemming from its ability to employ the light and light light black inks) unless you do wish to print in B & W and/or use thick media. Since I do neither, I decided to save 50% and keep the R1800 (which was a lot cheaper due to a rebate). If I should ever do more B & W printing, I'll apply that money toward the next-generation printer, which should be even more capable for the same money.

David

 

[DanColo]

I have an 1800 and it has been excellent on matte, glossy and semigloss paper. I even get pretty decent B&W on some papers (Epson Enhanced Matte, Epson Prem Glossy) when I make a few minor adjs to my color balance and print as RGB files. A lot depends on the printer profile being used. I had an R800 which I also loved and that was the reason I bought the bigger version. Since I really like both glossy and matte papers, I don't want a 2400 due to having to switch blacks when switching paper. I will probably get another R1800 as a dedicated BW printer with 3rd party Inkset like Piezography Neutral. I have seen quite a few R2400 prints made by people who really know what they are doing and the BW ones are better. But I doubt the B&W will be as good as those with all bW inkset. But I agree with the last poster, buy an R1800 and save money and the aggrevation and cost of switching inks.

 

[BHP517]

I am using the R2400 and a R800 professionally. For my matte larger format printing, the R2400 is giving me very good prints for my exhibitions and client orders. I am astonished at the color and the resolution from my Nikon D2x files, jpeg no less. For small glossies and b/w, the R800 serves me very well for promotionals and near perfect b/w glossies. No color shifts. There are some subtle differences in the two printers, however, it is nitpicking for me. The glossy optimizer is lacking in the R2400, therefore I restrict it to matte surfaces. But glossies also turn out pretty well on the R2400. You can also dial in advanced b/w tinting in the R2400 which is a nice feature. Epson should resolve the photo black and matte black interchange hassle, enough people have complained about it.

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BHP517