Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/06/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sure, prices are pretty public on this stuff. The PC was $2900 with an 18" flat screen monitor (looked at a Dell and a build it myself option, the Dell was $800 more and had a 19" monitor, the build it myself was about the same as the Gateway. The printers were $1800 (for the two of them new)...you can buy these used on eBay for a lot less, but this is old technology and I was concerned about the condition of what I would get as it might have been used in an office or seen really heavy duty (and especially since there were so many things that were not officially supported, so new it was). The Photoshop I got as an upgrade for $229 because I had Photoshop Elements packaged with my scanner. The scanner was about $375. The Genuine Fractals come in two flavors one for about $200 and one for about $300 depending on which version of 2.5 you get....or if you have GF, as Tim pointed out the upgrades are very reasonable. The inks, software and a few packs of paper (about 150 sheets of 8.5x11 and 100 of 17x22) was pretty expensive at about $1,700. Of this a little over $700 was for the software so was a one time expense. They tell me the inks last a long time...I hope so. All told with equipment, software, paper, inks, racks to put it on, lights to shine in the printers so I can see to clean them, etc. it was about $7,500. - --- "Dr. Elliot Puritz" <drpuritz@bellsouth.net> wrote: > Thanks Darrell. > > Would it be impolite to ask for some sort of > estimate as to cost for such a > project? > > Elliot > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Darrell Jennings" > <darrell_jennings@yahoo.com> > To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> > Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 5:09 PM > Subject: [Leica] Report on putting in a digital > darkroom.... > > > > I mentioned a few days ago that I would get back > with > > a posting on my experience putting in a digital > > darkroom over the past 10 days. > > > > I used Tina Manley's set up as a bench mark, and > > installed: > > > > -Gateway 700 series Windows XP with 2.36GHz > Pentium 4 > > with a 120 Gig hard drive. > > -Photoshop 7.0 > > -Genuine Fractals 2.5 > > -(2) Epson 3000 printers > > -(2) Epson supplied parallel to USB cables > > - Epson 2450 scanner > > - An old HP Laser Jet for printing plain text > > documents. > > -John Cones Quad Black inks with the custom Cones > > Plugin for Photoshop. > > -Generations Color inks with Cones profiles for > the > > various Cones supplied papers. > > > > The driving item in this was the desire to use the > > Cones and Generations inks and their > plugin/profile > > software. I would probably have gone with an > Apple, > > but the Cones plugin was having trouble in the Mac > OS > > X environment and PS7 that they were not having in > PS7 > > and XP (though PS7 is still not officially > supported > > on either platform). > > > > I discovered that one of the major concerns facing > > anyone wanting to get a digital darkroom is the > issue > > of compatability. > > > > All the vendors only sell their "current" > > product...none will sell you their previous > release > > unless you happen to find a retailer that has an > old > > one sitting around. None of the programs you buy > (or > > hardware for that matter) will "officially" work > with > > anything but the previous releases. Bottom line > is > > that you can not buy a digital darkroom from > scratch > > with "offical" support. > > > > ...Luckily reality is not quite that bad. I never > had > > my request for tech support turned down because > "we > > don't support that yet"... > > > > I now have everything working (with the exception > of > > having to wait for a new release of Quad Black > inks > > that are supposed to be here tomorrow). > > > > The big problems were. > > 1. Getting the Epson 3000's to work using Epson > inks > > (a requirement BEFORE you install the Cones inks). > > Issues were: (a)my confusion over the fact that XP > > adds printer drivers if you don't use the default > > drivers that come in XP...so you appear to have > four > > Epson 3000 printers instead of two; (b) using USB > > ports to run the printers (some at Epson said no > > problem, others disagreed...in the end USB worked > if > > you buy the Epson cable at $40 each);and, (c)the > > biggie...getting Cones Wells River paper to feed > > through the printers (a trip to the local Epson > repair > > facility and instruction on cleaning the feeder > "feet" > > from a kindly technician fixed it). Seems that (at > > least the box that I got) Wells River paper has a > lot > > of residue on it and requires the printer feeders > to > > be cleaned with Q-Tips about every three > > prints...think I'll switch to another paper when > this > > box is done. And to be fair...if you brush the > paper > > before feeding it you only have to clean the > printer > > about every 10 prints. > > > > 2. Clogged print heads from the Cones Quad Black > inks. > > First print looked nice, but needed a bit of PS > > tweaking to bring up the contrast. Second print > was > > outstanding. Third print...heads were clogged. > > Multiple cleanings, "Windexing" the heads over > night, > > reloading Cones cleaning fluid twice, and finally > > reloading the original Epson inks and then the > Cones > > cleaning fluid again have cleaned out the clogs. > Cones > > have just brought out new (this week) Quad Black > inks > > that are supposed to be much less prone to > clogging > > and I should get my replacements tomorrow. > > > > 3. Documention on the Generations inks needs to > > improve. A 10 minute call to tech support at Ink > Jet > > Mall and my prints went from bad to great, but a > few > > pages of text telling me what the support guy > covered > > would help. The documentation is generally > written > > around a slightly differnent Epson printer and > > different Epson driver...makes it tough to follow, > and > > still doesn't cover what you need to know to get > the > > print done. > > > > Overall I am happy with the results. If you plan > to > > implement something like the above, plan on > spening > > quite a bit of time (in my case over a week at 4 > to 8 > > hours a day) getting everything hooked up, > > loaded/tested/reloaded, and reading enough of the > > documentation to at least get started. Also plan > on: > > (a) a steep learning curve if you (like me) had > very > > limited experience with PS and digital imagaging, > and; > > (b)lots of experience learning to clean print > heads > > and feeder "feet" on the 3000. If you use a > different > > Epson printer your experience may be a bit > differnt. I > > went with the 3000 both on Tina's recommendation, > and > > because it holds up to 17X44 inch paper. > > > > Finally, I'd like to thank Tina, Sonny, and > several > > others on the list that helped me out over long > hours > > of trying to get this stuff to work. > > > > I'd be happy to help anyone attempting this for > the > > first time with anything I learned in the process. > > I'm sure no expert, but I did enough stuff wrong > to > > have picked up a few tips on the front end. DJ > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup > > http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com > > -- > > To unsubscribe, see > http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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