Epson® Stylus® R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer

Comments about Epson� Stylus� R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer:

I like Epson printers. The Epson R3000 Printer is my fourth Epson Printer. I started out with a 1280 model, moved to a 1800 model (loved that glossy look) and then went to a 2880 because I wanted to do Black & White, which I thought the 2880 did superbly. But my 2880 rear paper feed never really worked with any consistency and when the pump and other noises began to make me think that the old 2880 was on its last legs I decided to spring for the R3000 rather than take the risk that a new 2880 would simply have the same rear paper feed problems. Plus, Epson advertised that the R3000 offered better color, so I went for it. Installation & set up of the 3000 went well. There have been a few changes but nothing big and if you have used Epson printers previously you should not have any problems. Printing with the Top Sheet feeder is basically the same as the other Epson products. There has been a redesign in the way that thick “Fine Art� paper is installed. Rather than feed these papers through the rear as in previous designs, the Fine Art Paper is now inserted through a paper tray in the front where the printer grabs it, feeds it through to the rear where the machine aligns it prior to feeding the paper back into the printer it to make the print. I found the directions for this process rather opaque in the owner’s manual and had to call Epson for explanation which Epson provided without any problem. Once you get the feel for the process things go fine, but the process requires you to follow explicit prompts on the screen in the front of the printer. This process takes time though, the machine is in control, it takes its time and you cannot hurry it. The good news is that there have no paper jams. I have not yet decided on the print quality. I have printed everything on Level 4 Quality. The first prints I made on Cold Press paper seemed to have a little more vividness but it is hard to tell. The monochrome prints I have made do not seem to have the great tonal values that I got with the 2880, but that may be a case of me getting used to the machine. The negative comment I have is Ink Consumption. The R3000 seems to suck up ink like the desert sands absorb water. Ink consumption is definitely much higher with the R3000 than the 2880. My preliminary estimate is that consumption is up by as much as 50%. I am going to have to reduce the number of casual prints I make with this machine simply because of this increase in ink consumption. The prints are nice though. Except for the consumption issue I am pleased with my printer but if you are considering a purchase think about how you will be using the machine.

Comments about Epson� Stylus� R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer:

This printer is quite capable - Epson should go into more detail out of the box on ICC profiling, as if you simply click print on a picture - the picture is quite different than viewed on a monitor due to difference in colours between devices. I find this is where Epson fell down as everyone has different hardware between cameras, monitors , and than for this particular case the R3000. My printer when it arrived had less than 5% ink in the cartridges. Which was quite a concern, after I printed one single 4x6 photo I was out of ink. Now I have to buy new cartridges, all aside it is a nice printer, but I have had shortcomings on such an expensive product for a consumer.

Comments about Epson� Stylus� R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer:

I sold my R2400 to buy the R3000 because I wanted to print all my artwork on canvas. First, let me say the printer prints beautifully, as did the 2400. But feeding canvas into the Front Tray is a problem if it isn't long enough to stay poked out the backside. To get it to poke out the back I had to place a 13x19 cardboard on the tray, slide the canvas in and up, then remove the cardboard. Even then I had a paper skew problem, so I turned that feature off. I have to fight to make it feed an 8.5x11, for when the canvas hits the back of the printer, it is too thick to bend and slide up the rear tray. I have ordered a roll of canvas and I believe that will not be a problem. If it is, I will let you know.

Comments about Epson� Stylus� R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer:

I bought this recently and am quite happy with it, especially given the amazing sale price I managed to get at the time. I can't tell the difference between its output and that from the 3880s at school. It might as well be the Epson Stylus Pro R3000, in fact I don't know why they don't just call it that. Maybe it's only because it's below the price point that they want to provide premium support for or something, but it seems like a 13" version of the 3880 to me. Anyway, check around for printer tests on the net. The thing gets very high ratings in many areas. The only real issue I've had is that my R3000 stopped in the middle of the first priming attempt with an "ink error" (that's all it said) during initial setup. This meant that it had to start over, wasting a massive amount of ink (the tanks were only 1/3rd full after this, making me think that perhaps they had sent me "starter" cartridges). Luckily Epson gave me absolutely no trouble about addressing this; they sent me a brand new FULL set of 9 ink cartridges for free without a second thought. Though there might be some sort of bug with the priming, Epson is willing to more than compensate for it without any complaint. My only theory as to why this might have happened is that it was almost freezing outside during shipping, and though I did wait a while to set it up maybe I didn't wait long enough for the ink cartridges to warm up. However I didn't see any warnings about this anywhere in the setup instructions, and the printer/ink were not obviously unusually cold. Cons: The only thing about this printer that really annoys me is the amount of ink that gets dumped when switching from matte to photo black and vice versa. If you switch from photo black to matte black, then switch back, the thing dumps 5ml ($5) worth of ink down the drain! The 3880 has the exact same issue and dumps the same amount of ink doing this, but I really don't get why any of these printers need to do this. Why can't they just run another ink line and have another set of matte black nozzles on the printhead? They already have 8 sets. Is doing 9 that much harder or more expensive than 8? Anyway, that's the only thing that's annoying me about it. (The priming problem was a one time thing and Epson more than compensated for that, so I really can't complain.) If you switch from photo to matte to print one thing on matte, and then switch back immediately afterwards, then you're literally using 6 totally covered Letter sized sheets worth of ink just to print one sheet.

Comments about Epson� Stylus� R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer:

My focus is on landscape and macro photography. The Epson R3000 conveys accurate colors and shadows. The tank supply is sufficient to be much more practical for a high volume quality photo printer. I have waited three months to review this product so that I actually have the experience to focus on elements that are important to me. I have managed to print a number of prosumer high quality photos on this printer, several of which I have been encouraged to submit to contests. I have used a variety of glossy, matte and satin papers of a number of weights. This Epson has successfully handled virtually all forms of paper that I have tried to feed it. Previous Epsons that I have had in the past have not been capable of feeding the variety of weights that I have put through the R3000.

Comments about Epson� Stylus� R3000 Wide-Format Photo Printer:

I love this printer! Its fast and the prints are outstanding! The only thing they need to change is the paper holding capacity, it will only hold about 30 sheets of 8 x 10’s, that means when you have a 250 run you are always going back to add paper. The good news is you can do those long runs without changing ink cartridges. Take the time to learn the Black & White settings, if you just let the printer go, the B&W prints have a blue cast. Use the B&W settings in the print setups.