Finally… after a “brief” 3 year vacation, Epson has upgraded its professional 17″ photo printer (the 3800) to include the features enjoyed by newer pro printers like the 4880. The new Stylus Pro 3880 uses the now familiar K3 inkset with Vivid Magenta, as well as offering a more advanced print head and screening technologies like AccuPhoto HD2. One slight disappointment is that the new photo black and matte black ink sharing technology falls short of the mark, as it appears you cannot have both cartridges installed at the same time, though the ink usage during the swapping process has been reduced according to Epson.
The printer lists for around $1200, depending on where you buy. For those who need to make the highest quality prints possible up to 16×20, but who do not have the space of budget for a high volume printer such as the 4880 or 7880, this is seemingly the perfect printer. And we only had to wait three years to get it. I hope to find the budget to add this beast to my studio sometime later this year or early next. Will definitely post up a review at that time.
Another hot item : Nikon recently announced a new Nikkor 70-200 zoom, which has replaced the prior model with improved edge-to-edge sharpness across the focal range, “next gen” vibration reduction and improved weather sealing among other things. It clocks in over $2Grand, so not a cheap item, but it does fit perfectly in Nikon’s new FX DSLR lineup, alongside the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8G, and the AF-S Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8G, both of which were designed to be used with the D3 and D700 generation cameras and subsequent FX high end DSLRs.
