An Informal Wide Format Printer Comparison

What is it about photographers? Give them a great new tool and the first thing they want to do is compare it to their last great tool. And so when HP came along with their new Z series printers it didn't take long before the comparison bug bit Craig Samual, the proprietor ofStudio One in Toronto, and your faithful reporter. We therefore scheduled a shoot-out between theHP Z3100, and theEpson Stylus Pro 9800using theStudioprint RIP– Studio One's in-house system. We also included anEpson 9600fitted withK7 Piezographyinks, which Studio One uses for their monochrome work, so as to also do some high-end B&W print comparisons against the new HP flagship.
Participants were Craig Samual, one of Canada's leading professional photographers as well as the owner of Studio One, his lab associate Greg Danbrooke who also teaches digital imaging at Humber College, Nick Devlin – a photographer whose highly sensitive eye to print nuances I have come to trust, and me. For those not famil...