Continuous ink systems?

S4S

S4S

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You probably were thinking they're all crap opening up this thread and I'd have agreed from my experience some 8-9 years ago, but seeing how many people across the web are experiencing some quality results with the use of modern inks I was wondering if anyone here had any positive personal experiences of these modern CIS's.
 
S4S said:
You probably were thinking they're all crap opening up this thread and I'd have agreed from my experience some 8-9 years ago, but seeing how many people across the web are experiencing some quality results with the use of modern inks I was wondering if anyone here had any positive personal experiences of these modern CIS's.
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i use one one my epson 1400 and its great......thats full of pigment ink.......and i have no problems with it
it auto resets when feed carts are empty and just keeps working.

Gary
 
I use refillable cartridges on my HP6280 all in one (printer scanner I have in the bedroom), refillable toner cartridges in the colour laser downstairs, refillable cartridges in the Epson R2400 and a CIS in the R300...... I hate paying full wack for ink....

In fact the R300 is not even being used anymore. Might donate it to a good home but it will need 6 new bottle of ink as they are all about to run out (£8 for the equivalent of 25 SETS of cartridges)
 
Thank you guys.

hdseven.
I was intrigued by your answer for two reasons, the first being that I'm considering using a new 1400 to trial this and secondly I've read many a person coming up a cropper with blocked print heads using pigment ink on a dye system. What CIS are you using? Is it one that replaces the heads/jets?

cowasaki.
good luck on donating the R300.
3rd Party toner cartridges is something I need to look into seeing that my 2600n's are on print level 'over ride' right now. They're for every day crap but for inkjet I'm pretty sure these CIS systems are coming to the fore right now. Its just finding someone who galleries their images publicly when using these systems that would convince me.

From what I've read so far PhotoSpeed are right up there with PermaJet for quality and the price wouldn't swing my decision over result hence this thread. It'd be great to hear some results.

S4S
 
I use a fotospeed CIS and I have an exteral waste ink tank.

the main think to think about with any CIS is the ink, choose the wrong one and you'll have problems. you'll also have get new profiles for your papers when you go CIS.

I've seen quite a few people use the CISS system for the 1400 but they tend to get casts.
 
It is possible to buy a CIS and then buy genuine bulk ink. You can get an empty CIS for the R2400 for about £100 then buy genuine Epson cartridges for the large A1/A2 models. You can then extract the ink using a syringe and fill the CIS with them. Once you have done that you can actually then sell the cartridges on Ebay either having filled them with bulk ink again OR even empty for someone else to fill. Even without selling the old cartridges this halves (or more) the print cost.
 
I have a cis system for my Epson 1400 prints to A3+ bought it off Ebay for about £50 and a full set of bottled ink (100mls each) costs me about £20 it is really good have left it for up to 4 weeks while on holiday with no cloggs.
The 1400 is a dye based printer and from my readings they dont recommend using pigment inks in them.
Haven't noticed too bad a colour cast which can be rectified in the printing process.
Also can be great for B+W images if you follow this method
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=33148491

hope this helps
Dave
 
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I get clogs in my R2400 using refillable cartridges but that is because I constantly forget to print anything for 2 months at a time so then use 1/3 cartridge clearing it. This would happen with genuine ones too but it would cost me a fortune. I know a member who lives nearby who has a print calibration device so did several different profiles. The prints are good enough that I can print images to frame.
 
I know a couple of people that are using THIS system with great results.
I myself either use a third party ink, no clogging, no colour fade up to now or have the prints done out.
 
I Have a Epson 7800 Pro and Lyson CIS i havet to say the results are stunning and at a fraction of the price of Epson Ink

Al'
 
I am an authorised lyson dealer and before anyone says anything I am not spamming hence the reason for not including external links to my website as I am not sure if that is allowed on the forum.

I have alot of experience with their products and i wanted to throw in my 2p worth and offer any help I can with anyone who is concidering a CIS for their printer.

I personally use their system on my Epson R2880 and it has to be the most efficient and cost saving piece of kit I have ever bought for my Photography Hobby.

From a business point of view, customer service is as important as the product especially if your hooking it upto a printer in excess of 500 quid.

They offer FREE Profiles for their paper, and the technical support is 100%
 
I am currently using Marrut/Lyson solely because the R2880 that I purcahsed last week came fitted with their CIS. I cannot comment on the respective qualiy of prints as I have never used the printer with genuine inks but I can say that their customer service is nothing short of exceptional!
 
S4S said:
Thank you guys.

hdseven.
I was intrigued by your answer for two reasons, the first being that I'm considering using a new 1400 to trial this and secondly I've read many a person coming up a cropper with blocked print heads using pigment ink on a dye system. What CIS are you using? Is it one that replaces the heads/jets?
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i have had several epsons over the years with cis systems installed.....dye based inks will clog just as much as a pigment one could

i decided i needed pigment on this printer because of this "The most important reasons for using pigment inks are archival print life and color stability." i sell my prints and want them to last.........fact pigment lasts longer than dye.....thats a FACT

i cannot recall the make of the ciss i bought but its performed perfectly so far
it just replaces the ink carts
it i had head probs i would just buy another printer.....it doesnt take it long to pay for itself

the inks cost more.....but not much........its up to u what u go for but for me its pigment all the way

Gary
 
Thank you for coming back to me Gary and thank you to everyone else for taking the time. I'll be ordering the printer and chosen CIS Monday morning and your thoughts are helping no end.

One thing that sticks out from what's been mentioned is that pigment inks are more archival than dye which goes against past consensus. I don't doubt your input but I imagine that pigment inks have developed over time. Definitely food for thought and in need of some more investigation before deciding on which ink to go for. Thank you for that one as I thought dye inks were the only way a dye designed printer.

There are several systems that I'm considering but as ever with me I'll come back on Monday and have purchased an Espon printer and CIS system similar to putting a blind pin on a map, of sorts. Mind you, the Lyson system is getting a big up within this thread which speaks volumes. If only I could find a dealer who'd do a deal :thinking:

Thanks again everyone. You've been a sterling help getting your thoughts laid down and which has me sold that CIS is the way to go.
 
Gary you're a superstar. Just read that fast and will be reading it again now and tomorrow. Very interesting thank you (y)
 
the lyson - fotospeed kits are essentially identical

both offer free profilling of their own papers


lyson is currently on offer for £130 (60ml of ink) or £200 (125ml ink) with ink refills are £25 for £125ml

fotospeed CIS is £90 (65ml ink) with ink refills are £10 (100ml ink)


not much in paper price differences.


CIS systems on the whole do need more head cleans than OE carts so I would get an external waste ink tank too.
 
After intending to purchase the Epson 1400 I've gone for the R2880 from Currys online. Using the promo code 10PRINTING at checkout you get a 10% discount taking the printer from £544.99 to £490.49 delivered (offer ends July 5th). After days of searching for a non grey import this was the best price available.

I've also ordered the Fotospeed 9 pigment ink system and will update this thread with how I get on once installed.

Thank you all for the input as its been invaluable.
 
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I use a Canon 9000Pro with Canon inks and the results are superb. My previous printer was a Canon 965 and I was persuaded to use compatible cartridges. Result? One written off printer. I now stick to manufacturer's cartridges.
 
I have an Epson R2400 which is 5 years old. I've been using a Lyson CIS with their inks, running custom profiles for each of the papers I use, for a couple of years. Quality is superb. If I'm not planning on doing any printing for a while, I print off a 6x4 every week which keeps the heads clear. Summer temperatures can also contribute to blocked heads, so it's worth keeping the printer somewhere cool.

I had the 'Change waste ink pads' message come up about 2 years ago, and bought an external waste ink tank off ebay, which took about 15 minutes to fit. A much cheaper alternative to changing the pads. Additionally, you can see how much ink is wasted by head cleaning, which is actually a lot.
 
Thanks again. As regards to profiling Fotospeed appear to offer a top class profiling service but this is only a minor reason for choosing them. My main reason was their Pigment inks having been tested and approved by the Fine Art Trade Guild, but I also like the company personnel backgrounds.
The fine art guild approval is a little ahead of me to be honest and I'm no fool in thinking there's a CIS that will run out of the box trouble free for eternity, but if I'm going to nurse and get accustomed to a systems foibles I'd feel much happier at persevering with it knowing it has some sort of standing in the world of CIS & the inks available.

Thank you for the waste ink tank recommendation Paul. This is something I've questioned myself and although like you most people are horrified by the amount of visible waste ink I'd much rather that than pay the prices I see for replacement pads. I'll order one of those now.

The printer and CIS should arrive this week although it probably won't be until two weeks later I can give my initial findings.
 
ianbarber said:
TBH, your better of profiling your own papers with your own Ink and Paper combination as there are certaain factors that need to be taken into concideration like print head, ambient temperature etc
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what do you think I just offered the guy :shrug:
 
fotospeed will only profile their own papers for free. if you want non-fotospeed ones done I'll do them for free :wave:

just to let you know I've had my fotospeed CIS for just over a year and I've gone through almost 180ml of ink for all colours ( thats almost 14 carts of OE epson carts) which has cost, including the CIS, £400. Had I used epson carts it would have been £1344.

I get my ink from the RK photographic ebay store as it works out a little bit cheaper than buying direct from fotospeed or from the RK photographic store site.

The waste ink tank is worth while - pretty easy to install too



S4S said:
Thanks again. As regards to profiling Fotospeed appear to offer a top class profiling service but this is only a minor reason for choosing them. My main reason was their Pigment inks having been tested and approved by the Fine Art Trade Guild, but I also like the company personnel backgrounds.
The fine art guild approval is a little ahead of me to be honest and I'm no fool in thinking there's a CIS that will run out of the box trouble free for eternity, but if I'm going to nurse and get accustomed to a systems foibles I'd feel much happier at persevering with it knowing it has some sort of standing in the world of CIS & the inks available.

Thank you for the waste ink tank recommendation Paul. This is something I've questioned myself and although like you most people are horrified by the amount of visible waste ink I'd much rather that than pay the prices I see for replacement pads. I'll order one of those now.

The printer and CIS should arrive this week although it probably won't be until two weeks later I can give my initial findings.
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Thank you POAH. I just looked at RK and have saved them for future reference. Fotospeed have offered free profiles on Hahnemuhle as well as their own papers but until I see some profiled prints in the flesh I won't know which papers I'll settle with. If anyone knows of multi multi packs available to purchase (many manufacturer samples in one pack) then I'd appreciate your knowledge.

Thank you for the offer POAH. I'm far from ignorant and never too proud to turn down the offer of help so I'll keep you in mind for profiles.
 
hahnemhule, fotospeed, permajet, ilford, innova, lyson all do test packs of their papers. What I've found is that Harman papers don't work well with the fotospeed inks (poor gamut).

Costco gloss works nicely (cheap too) and I use a lot of epson traditional when they have it on offer lol (play sell it cheaply at A4 sized). I tend not to bother with the cotton rag matt papers anymore although I do print on matt canvas (using the photoblack ink).
 
I just wanted to update and say the FotoSpeed ink system looks a peach.
Installing it was child's play but I have to admit I made a user error. After getting the free paper profile from FotoSpeed I miss-read the destructions and failed to read the part where you let photoshop manage colours > Profile > perceptual.

Also, if it helps I get almost identical results using the FotoSpeed lustre profile on Kodak Premium gloss / silver. I only tried Kodak for the hell of it but the colours turned out superb. In fact the grey tones were even better than their own paper using this profile.

I want to thank POAH who was bearing with me through my shenanigans of miss-reading instructions. Top fella.

I'll update on how these inks perform in print comps come Autumn.

Thank you all for the input.
 
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