Inks and Cartridges

It's grey and overcast here right now, so I'm unlikely to be videoing my CISS in full flight today. But I can comment on the ink quality as against that of the Epson Claria inks supplied with the printer.

It's always a bit of a gamble using 'compatible' products, particularly with ink, where it's simply impossible to assess the permanence of the results. I have however been using compatibles for the last 10 years now, almost exclusively for photographic work, and at this point my earliest prints have lasted quite as well as those printed with OEM ink. One of the other problems with compatibles is shifting ink formulations; it's difficult to be certain that the ink you buy one month is going to be the same as the one you'll get the next. Not least this is because UK distributors can start to source from a different supplier, or simply because branding on these generic Chinese products is always a little on the vague side. But again, I can say that I've not experienced any problems whatever so far.

When I am printing photos, I tend to normally print on the same media, and to use the same printer settings, which at least produces consistent results. And I think that the media is a far bigger factor in determining the final quality of the print than the ink. I use Epson Premium Glossy paper, and get excellent results with it. I prefer to have my printer set for 'standard' rather than the Epson 'vivid' default. And if the ink dictated it, I would tweak the colour balance for the best result. I print at 'Photo' rather than 'Best Photo' quality; it uses a hell of a lot less ink for an absolutely minimal drop in quality.

So how does the 'Colorfly' ink that came in my CISS compare with the Epson Claria? Remarkably well, actually. I have done several identical A4 prints with both inks, and the compatible ink colours are far more accurate than the Epson. The Claria has a pronounced magenta bias, which is clearly visible in flesh tones and light areas, and probably not quite enough yellow, as greens lean slightly towards the turquoise. This could of course though be dialled out. The Claria colours are also excessively saturated although most people tend to favour this; I actually prefer a more natural appearance. If I wanted stronger saturation with the compatible ink I would simply revert to the 'vivid' setting on the printer. So I'm happy, and I suspect most other users would be too.

Digressing slightly, I have been looking at various reviews and seeing repeated comments about ink consumption and the perception that there's a benefit of having individual ink cartridges. But is there any benefit? I certainly thought so when I decided to buy an R300, but now I rather suspect that it is actually the reverse. Firstly it seems to me that the Epson chips calculate ink consumption on the basis that you are producing prints with an average colour balance, that is to say that they don't actually measure your ink usage. There's only one way to definitively test this hypothosis; start with a full set of cartridges and repeatedly run off plain yellow prints. Either the yellow cartridge will empty while the others remain full, or they will all 'empty' at the normal relative rates (maybe I'll try one day). So your individual cartridges could be showing as empty when they are in fact completely full. And secondly, ink consumption is heaviest when a cartridge is replaced, as the ink supply to the head re-primes. And this priming draws off ink not only from the new cartridge, but from the partially-used cartridges that are in situ as well. So replacing a set of six cartridges on six different occasions draws off six times the amount of ink.

Priming the print head is done by pumping ink through the head, and out into a waste pad at the back of the computer. People who fit an external waste ink trap are always surprised by the amount of ink discarded in this process; something approaching 5mls. As a guestimate I would say around 10% of the content of the cartridge. And now that I've done the maths, I would say that a combined colour cartridge probably represents significantly better value than a set of individuals, as well as being far less hassle in terms of cartridge changing. These printer manufacturers; never miss a trick, do they?

I found a curious Epson Printer Support blog (I've linked to their R285 review). Despite its unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Epson (most posts sound as if they come straight from Epson's promotional literature) it surely can't be an official site. But I was interested to see that they identified the same magenta tinge in flesh tones with the Claria inks.