My first DSLR, the Nikon D70, still serves me well. Since my target print sizes are typically 12x12 or 11x14 or less to fit photo albums I'm under no pressure to upgrade to higher resolution cameras. Eversince I bought my first Epson Stylus IIs, a primitive first generation color printer, I began the quest for an ideal printing vehicle. This proves to be a long challenging journey. Image capture has been made easy with the digital camera, perhaps a little more time consuming with film and scanning, but printing is quite another animal.
After going through several Epsons up to my last two R1800's, I'm now settled with the HP Designjet 30, a dye based printer, for its reliable operation, ie. no clogs whatsoever. And to get the best print from this printer I use Wasatch SoftRIP with a Gretag Macbeth profiling package to print on Monadnoch 100 LB cover paper coated with Inkaid or Golden Digital Grounds (I don't have to worry about a dwindling supply of swellable polymer anymore - there are now only two sources: HP's Premium Plus and Ilford Classic).
So I doubt it if I'll upgrade my camera any time soon, and it looks like I can take a breather in the enduring quest for a printing approach that dries quickly, accepts archival coatings well, and tough enough to endure the clamping and hammering as it goes through my album binding process, and the print engine that does not consume 90% of my time to get it to work properly.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for listening to mine, --nick
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