> The question is how good are the 3rd part inks? do they fade
> are the colours consistent between refills?
I haven't tried any refill kits, just the low cost 3rd party
tanks. MIS inks are supposed to be quite good, but I don't have
any firsthand experience with them yet. There is also a bulk
system available for the Canon now which is intruiging, but the
payback is a bit long. The advantage to the Canon tanks is that
they are passive. There are no heads in them, nor any
electronics. Just a two chamber tank with cotton inside one
half.
As to the fade characteristics. Well, my point is that Canon
Yellow fades first, but the others stay stable. With the 3rd
party inks, the yellow fades about the same as the Canon, but
the others also exhibit some fading too. If anything, the 3rd
party inks are more uniform in fading. I'm not sure the fade
differences between OEM and 3rd party are important as both will
have lost the yellow anyway.
Fade resistance is, in my testing, more a factor of the paper
than the ink. Ilford Galarie Classic is holding up as well as my
FCA prints, if not better. The key here, is "Classic". It's the
encapsulating paper, not the instant-dry paper.
There are three basic styles of paper:
1. Paper that absorbs the ink into the fibers or clay. These
will fade due to UV and outgassing. Matte papers and most
inexpensive photo papers are of this class.
2. Instant-dry, microceramic papers. These have a plasticy
surface (emulsion) that wicks the ink from the surface and into
the emulsion (hopefully to the bottom). These papers typically
dry through the back of the paper! The dye is protected from
most UV by the surface emulsion, but is subject to outgassing.
If you can protect the print from air (mount and glass face),
these should last as long as anything out there. 25+ year life
spans before fading is even visible is not out of the question.
I have several prints like this in frames (exposed to direct
sunlight) that look exactly like fresh prints I made last week,
and they've been hanging for two years. Meanwhile, I have
chemical prints that have horribly faded. Most of my
enlargements from the late '80s have lost 1/2 stop of color. I
do have a FCA print from '93 which is as good as the day it was
printed, though.
3. Encapsulating emulsion papers. These papers also have a
plasticy surface that swells when the ink hits the surface. Like
a sponge, it expands to absorb the ink, but then as the ink
dries the surface shrinks back in place. As it tightens back up,
the pores in the surface are closed off and the dyes are locked
up inside the emulsion. The dyes are sealed away from the air
and protected from ozone as well as providing some UV
protection.
The discussion about archival properties of various inks misses
the point that matching paper and ink correctly is the best
measure. For glossy and pearl surface papers, I think the Canon
dyes are perfectly adequate and will have similar life spans to
chemical prints (nearing FCA, better than Kodak). I like the
idea of Epson Pigment inks not for glossy and pearl papers
(where there is little to no archival gain and are more prone to
bronzing), but for matte papers. I love that archival matte, but
cannot use it with dye based inks. This is one reason why I'll
probably get a pigment printer in the next year or two.
I had purchased a couple packages of early Ilford inkjet papers.
These were out of production for at least five years now. One
was semi-matte and the other glossy. Ilford hadn't quite
mastered the encapsulating technology yet, but was on the way.
Identical prints on both papers were tested. The semi-matte
started fading immediately and a print hanging in the bathroom
had lost nearly all yellow in two weeks. A glossy print is
thumbtacked to the wall of my cube hanging 8 inches below a
florescent light. This print has been there for over a year and
a half now and still shows no fading. (I actually wish the
yellow would fade a little since the picture is a hair too
warm). This print was made only a couple of weeks after I bought
the printer and has hung unprotected at the office, at home, sat
on tables, exposed to direct sunlight, etc. And this was the
OLD paper that they've long since discontinued.
I just think that the hysteria over dye-based inks is highly
overrated.
AG
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