Epson R800 or R3880 as a first printer?

[Manfr3d]

Hi,

I want to start printing my own "fine art quailty" photos (mostly A4 sized)
because it seems much more economical to do it myself than getting
them printed at a lab for 4 or more times the price.

So far I have narrowed down my choice to the A4 Epson R800 and the
A2+ Epson R3880. (The R2880 didn't make it to the list because the
R3880 costs the same if you substract the ink shipped with the unit.)

I would love to start out with the R800 so see how I like producing my
own prints, but I can't find any official profiles for (Epson) papers for
that printer. However, Epson provides good profiles for the R3880 which
would allow me to get by without having to purchease a specrometer on
top of the printer right away.

I plan to print between 10 and 50 images per Month depending on season.
Ink costs are 2:1 between the R800 and R3880, and being able to print
A3 or A2 when it is needed is a nice extra to have. But I am not sure if I
want/need to pay for those extras right now.

What do you think is the better choice for me? R800+Spectrometer
(possibly even without?) or the R3880 without?

Thanks,
Fr3d

[arodney]

Initially I’d say go 3880, its a much higher quality build, has Ethernet, accepts larger papers. IF you want to get your feet wet with the R800 AND build your own profiles, you could do this with the X-Rite ColorMunki, drop $500 on it, get the R800 and some money left over. But if you end up making a decent amount of prints, the difference in ink costs between the two printers will catch up and bite you. The 3880 has big ink cart’s that cost you a lot less per print.

[Manfr3d]

Thanks Andrew. Looks like you are the only one with a good advice around
here :) But you are confirming my gut feeling to go for the (seemingly) more
expensive model first, in order to reduce the running costs.

[Helvegr]

Thanks Andrew. Looks like you are the only one with a good advice around
here :) But you are confirming my gut feeling to go for the (seemingly) more
expensive model first, in order to reduce the running costs.

I bought the 3880 as my first "real" photo printer. Its amazing. I love it. That doesn't help much in terms of your decision between two printers. Just thought that I'd say the 3880 was a great first for me.

[Manfr3d]

I bought the 3880 as my first "real" photo printer. Its amazing. I love it. That doesn't help much in terms of your decision between two printers. Just thought that I'd say the 3880 was a great first for me.

Thanks for your reply. I pretty much setteled on buying the 3880 as well.
But I give it some time so that my wallet can recover from my latest lens
purchease, a 50mm f/1.0 :)