hello! i'm thinking of buying the new Epson 5500, which uses the Epson archival inks. i've heard that these inks have a reduced color gamut compared to the dye-based inks, and i wonder if anyone knows if Epson is working on more pure pigment-based inks that will have the full gamut of the dye-based inks? seems like something they'd be doing to compete with the 3rd-party companies like media street who are producing wide-gamut pigmented inks. I do a lot of shooting at night and my colors are outrageously saturated (pure cobalt blues and violets) so I need the full gamut, but i want long-lasting prints too. Thoughts?

~cj

[www.chrisjordanphoto.com]

-- chris jordan (cjordan@yarmuth.com), August 01, 2001

Answers

According to Epson...their new generation of pigmented inks are formulated so that each inkdrop is now encapsulated in a resin-like bubble, which helps in two ways...first...the inks are now suposedly waterproof. Second...this resin bubble aids in achieving a more uniform reflectance of light, whereas...before...pigment chips were laid down on the paper in a random, scattered fashion, scattering reflected light in an uneven fashion and reducing the color gamut.

I have seen samples of the new Epson pigmented inks and agree that they are much improved, but still...to my eye, dye-based inks provide more saturation and pop.

-- Tony Novak-Clifford (photoho@mauigateway.com), August 02, 2001.