epson 4800 and alternate ink options

[mr.dude]

hi all

  i'm new here, and new at printing as well.  so far i have my eye on the epson 4800.  knowing that it is impossible to get exact numbers, i looked around the web to get an idea of how much ink would cost per print, and found two sources that suggest the following:

$2.25-2.75   for   8x12in
$3.00-3.50   for   12x18in
$7.50-8.00   for   16x24in

are those figures roughly correct?  if so the costs may be a problem as i will need to make hundreds of prints.  keeping in mind that i'm a newbie and may not know where to look, i didn't really find any info about using third party inks with the epson 4800.  are there any good 3rd party options (and profiles for them?)

i also looked at the imageprint RIP and didn't see any support for inks other than the k3 stuff on the 4800 - i didn't miss anything right?  

are there any options i should be looking at, such as different printers, software, etc.?

thanks

[Ed Foster, Jr.]

hi all

  i'm new here, and new at printing as well.  so far i have my eye on the epson 4800.  knowing that it is impossible to get exact numbers, i looked around the web to get an idea of how much ink would cost per print, and found two sources that suggest the following:

$2.25-2.75   for   8x12in
$3.00-3.50   for   12x18in
$7.50-8.00   for   16x24in

are those figures roughly correct? 
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Wow - for ink alone, those figures appear quite high.  About 2 years ago, I did a detailed analysis based upon the figures that my Epson 7600 reported averaged over a batch of 8 x 10 prints and using an ink cost of $0.50 per ml of ink.  (That is $110.00 per 220 ml cart - so, if anything, it is a little high).  According to my calculations at the time, each print consumed  a total of 0.665 ml of ink which would place the ink cost at $0.33 per 8 x 10.  If you include cleanings and waste, I would figure no more than $0.50 per 8 x 10.

While I am now using an Epson 7800 and have not done a detailed analysis, I cannot imagine that the ink cost factor is much more, if any.  And, I cannot imagine that the Epson 4800 is laying down that much more ink.  

Perhaps the cost figures that you were looking at included paper costs?

Ed

[Peter McLennan]

Perhaps the cost figures that you were looking at included paper costs?
Ed
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They may also include the overhead ink-use necessitated by frequent head clog cleanings.  Don't forget that you need to pay to dispose of this waste, too.  The "maintenance tank" fills with ink and must be replaced.

Those costs don't seem out of line to me, however I haven't done forensic accounting like MarkDS has.  

I do know that clone ink manufacturers claim ink costs of half to a quarter what Epson charges.

Peter

[abiggs]

I think it is easy to start being picky about costs, but at the end of the day there are many variable to the mix. Print size, type of paper (yes, some papers require and actually use more ink than others), etc etc etc. So I just think of the costs as being in 3 categories: An Epson 2200/2400 is 'x', a 110ml cart is less than 'x', and a 220ml cart is less  than 110ml carts. So it is all relative.

Although I appreciate MardDS's contribution to ink cost per print, it is way out of the scope of what is useful for me. Photography is an exercise in creativity and output, as opposed to an engineering exercise. At the end of the day I just think of each of my prints as costing me a few bucks, give or take a few bucks.

:-)

Mark, this isn't a slam at all on your calculations. I just has to do with my particular take on the whole exercise and how it may (or may not) related to my particular interests. That's all.

[sergio]

Somewhere on this site there is ver detailed and excellent excel spreadsheet to do the calculations done by someone who really knows how to do it. Maybe someone has a pointer.

[mr.dude]

thanks for everyone's replies so far

i plan to use 220ml carts on the 4800
if paper makes any difference i'm planning to use epson ultra-smooth fine art, enhanced matte, and premium luster

does anyone know where i could find that info from MarkDS?

anyone else care to chime in on if the listed figures are at least close, or way off?  

thanks

[abiggs]

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/4000-cost.shtml

[Mark D Segal]

The Up-date for the Epson 4800 is here:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/4...0tracking.shtml

The 4800 is considerably more economic than the 4000.

Actually Andy, you may be surprised - a fair number of photographers are interested in what it costs them to print, how the cost of using one machine compares with another, and there is precious little rigorous and transparent information about this that is publicly available. This of course is a completely separate matter from artistic creativity, but is nonetheless an aspect of what we do to make the images, and will obviously be of more interest to some than to others.

Cheers,

Mark Segal

[mr.dude]

really appreciate the help