OLYMPUS P-440 on the way . . . .

[RacerX]

Purchased it from: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000CEUMD/qid=1070676482//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl23/102-5156949-1181761?v=glance&s=photo&n=507846

And a snipit from the responding email I recieved shorthly after placing the order regarding the estimated ship date.

Shipping Method: FREE Super Saver Shipping (5-9 business days)
Shipping Preference: Group my items into as few shipments as possible
Subtotal of Items: $449.99
Shipping & Handling: $25.05
Promotional Certificates: - $25.05
------
Total for this Order: $449.99


Shipping estimate for these items: December 10, 2003
Delivery estimate: December 15, 2003 - December 17, 2003 (1) "Olympus P-440 Printer"
Electronics; $449.99


As you can see it's a pretty good deal. Hope this info helps someone here. Thanks to "kgravett" for information on where to buy it.

take care . . . .
Rick

[Swampy]

Dog.

Just left you a VM. Gimme a call.

[High ISO!]

Hey Rick,
Have fun with the P440! I have 2 P400s...Only one works. I wore the first one out earlier this year, and had to replace it fast. I WAS planning on getting the P440 in Oct. But due to lots of promises broken by the place I buy the majority of my equipment & supplies, I decided to go a different direction this winter.

Now in spring, I need to buy a P440 & replace my 1280!

If you haven't used a dye sub printer before....I can't say enough great things about them, you won't regret your purchase!

Alissa

[RacerX]

Thanks for the reassuring words. Between yourself and swampy, who already has one by Sony, sounds like I made the right choice.

Thanks!
Rick

[NRA]

Rick,

How are you doing with the 440. Its on my list of things to get but I am finding it very difficult to get samples out of Olympus in the UK. If car companies had the same sales style you wouldnt be allowed to test drive a new car before you bought it, only look at it in books!!!!.

Ime particularly interested in how it would cope with a Black and White image.


Nigel:cheers:

[Swampy]

I've only printed one B&W with mine and it came out supurb. But, that's my eye. Don't know how to show you how it turned out, but I could take some close up pics of it or something if you want...

[RacerX]

Let me help you on that test drive. Run and buy when you can! It works awesome. The prints are really good. I only use it when I'm giving or selling my pictures to someone. In fact I usually keep it covered up to keep from getting any dust on it. Kinda like a car cover on that new car. I got mine through Amazon.com and was very happy with the shipping and overall cost.

I hope I was able to ease your mind in making a decision to buy without test driving. Hell! That's how I bought mine. Read allot of reviews on it and pulled the trigger. Trust me, you'll be happy. Let me know what you ended up doing.

[High ISO!]

HI NRA,
I don't have my 440 yet, but I'm on #2 of the 400, which is the same except the size format is a little smaller. I have had the P400 since I think 2001, maybe 2002, whenever they came out. I LOVE mine! I sell most everything I print off of it, everyone is extrememly impressed by the high quality & color prints I get from it.

I abuse mine though...I don't keep it covered, heck, I only dust it off with my shirt sleeve now & then. Works great, even without that car cover! :D .....and I have LOTS of dog hair and parrot dander floating around in this room too!

SPLURGE!!!!! You won't be sorry!

Alissa

[NRA]

Thanks guys for your replies. It has given me more confidence in getting one.

The B&W issue is I supose all about deep blacks and plenty of gradation.

If you could try a pic Swampy it would be good but we may loose the plot a bit with monitors etc, anyway worth a try if you have 5 minutes to spare for me.

Regards


Nigel:cheers:

[Swampy]

I'll do it tonight when I get home from work....

[Swampy]

Ok. Maybe not THAT night, but I did get around to doing it finally.

Here's the resized file that was printed. Just kinda messing around and a bunch of people liked it, so I printed it and hung it.

[Swampy]

And here's a picture of the print. Of course it does look a bit better in person and it doesn't have the horizontal lines in it like it does in the picture. Don't know where those came from. This is behind glass too. And the shell is not blown out. Bad swampy. Kinda bad color temp too in the pic. Shot at an angle cause of the lighting, it's also not stretched like the pic shows. Man. This is just a bad example! It looks VERY close to the print on the screen though.

[VA_Shooter]

I just bought two of these printers and haven't had time to get them out of the boxes yet. Plan to use them at various shows in the area with another photographer to print "on demand" prints for guests and participants. Are these printers fragile? Can they be moved from place to place--with care--and still do the job? Sorts of events would be dog shows, NASCAR events, stock car events and even some weddings where couples have asked if we could print "momento" prints of the candid reception shots and some of the formal shots for guests at the actual wedding! Can you imagine? So, how do they hold up?

[RacerX]

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who watches NASCAR. :D
As far as how to they hold up moving them from location to location, it sounds like we here will find out after you've done it for awhile. I myself don't move mine at all. As far as the picture quality you WILL BE very happy. I believe it runs me about $1.65 per sheet to print. No matter what size the picture is on the page. (Sell those 8x10 or (2) 5x7)

Good luck shooting & printing at those NASCAR events. If you ever come out here to California Speedway, I'll look you up. I have season tickets there since day one.

Good Luck!

[VA_Shooter]

Thanks Racer, I'll keep that in mind. We do NASCAR about twice each summer, and do stock every Friday night. Stock is lots of fun--we sell lots of crash pictures to the kids! I'll treat these two P440's with kid gloves and hope they hold up. $1.65 a print, eh? I'll have to think about the markup on that for a minute.

[Swampy]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Don't move mine around. I think the only thing you have to worry about is dust. They seem pretty sturdy printers. Think about getting a hard case on rollers for them or something maybe. Make your life easier.

I had figured 2 bucks a print max. After 80 prints, the printer becomes free for me since printing on the Frontier system in my area costs about 7 bucks a whack. :)

You might think about getting some of them cheapo 4x6 printers to sell smaller prints for like 2 bucks a piece or something as well. Just a thought.

[NRA]

Swampy,

Thanks for copying the print into the thread. Ive just obout to order mine as soon as I can get around to putting some more 6x6 stuff into a box and posting it to the dealer for a part ex deal.

I had imagined I would still need my old C220 for bigger (A3) prints but the quality from the S2 has blown that theory out of the window. Ime even selling my MF Scanner so that I can get a 60mm Micro.

Ive looked at one or two forums on the net but reckon this one is certainly the best source of considered opinion and comment. Long may it last !!.


Nigel.:cheers:

[High ISO!]

Connie,
I take my P400 to locations ALL the time. I have been since I got my first one, whenever they first came out...2001? I had to replace my first printer last spring...I lost one of the heat elements, resulting in a fine line through the prints.

My printers have been to horse barns, race tracks, dog grooming shops (talk about DUST!) dog shows etc....Mostly outside under an eze up tent. Sometimes in rain, wind, cold, and even snow one time!

On top of that, my printers live in a room with a parrot! They are VERY dusty creatures! Combine that with the hair of 3 dogs with coats, who shed, and you have a pretty good combination of the worst! In all the years of printing I have had, the ONLY printers that didn't fair well in the conditions I present them with were my ink jet printers. The Olympus have all done very well. Only an occasional hair will mess up a print, once in a long while.

The way I transport my printer is in a large plastic tool box on wheels, with a pull out handle. I also carry my supplies in another plastic toolbox.

The box I use for the printer is called a ZAG, I believe I picked it up at Menard's or Home Depot for about $30.00. I had to do some alterations on the box to get the printer to fit snug. I also put a big towel folded up, for cushioning on the bottom of the box. Works great!

I don't take my printer to events so much anymore.....I find I have trouble with color quality, since I am out in very bright light trying to get things just right. I prefer to work in a darkened room, so I can adjust color better. People who purchase images from me, and other competing photographers, see the difference in quality, and would rather wait an extra day, to get really great prints rather than so so images.

Ahhhh....bright light reminds me of one other consideration you should think about. There is a sensor in the printer, that goes amuck when light hits it. It won't print & gives strange messages that dont' make sence. I used to have to keep a towel or something over the sensor, in order for the printer to print.

Alissa...anxiously waiting for that new 70-200VR to arrive!

[Don65Stang]

Alissa, good for you getting the VR lens, let me know what you think about it at the agility runs,

I am thinkng about the P440 also. Is everyone's expierience $1.50 to $2.00 per page?

Also, where do you get supplies / paper?

[High ISO!]

Thanks Don!

Personally I believe the price difference between the Oly & an ink jet is negligible, when you take into conserdation the waste inherant in ink jets...cleaning heads, wastes ink....photos that have banding, or other problems wastes paper & ink.

I have next to NO waste from the Olympus, basically the only waste I have with the Oly, is an occassional dog hair...Maybe 2 or three wasted pics a year for that. So I think the increased expense for supplies for the Oly is not an important factor, and it evens out in the end.

I purchase my supplies from CDW. If you buy from them on a regular basis & in quantities, you can ask for deals, and they will give you really great prices!:righton:

Alissa

[NRA]

Alissa,

Your experience and comments on this printer (400) are a great help.

What is the software like and does it take too long before you are getting good prints from "out of the box".

Ive just got my 2100 printing properly after many failed attempts and would like to think the OLy is not going to take that long.

Nigel :cheers:

[High ISO!]

Hi Nigel....

I think I was amazed at the very first image I printed with the P400. It was several thousand images ago, so it's not easy to remember. I don't remember any bad problems getting started, is maybe what I should say.

The printer, and the slightly more expensive consumables, are well worth the money!

I think Olympus should be paying me!
:eek:

Alissa

[Swampy]

I was printing in under 5 minutes with very little color/brightness problems, most people wouldn't even look at them they were so slight. Just install the driver, plug it in and you're set to go.

The driver is smart as well. You can turn the printer off and not get an error for ejecting hardware. Turning on the printer is all you need to do to print the next time.

In otherwords, the printer is easy to set up and use.

[Don65Stang]

Sounds like I need to sell the Epson 2200.

Any takers. Ha!!!

[High ISO!]

Originally posted by Don65Stang
Sounds like I need to sell the Epson 2200.

Any takers. Ha!!!

Hahaaaa! That's one of the printers I am probably getting later this year. I have plans to purchase up to 3 printers this year. SHEESH!

Don I wouldn't get rid of it...You can do some cool things with that printer, you can't do on the Oly! ......Did I ever tell you my deep dark secret????




I'm a pack rat!!!!!!! I can even get rid of things that don't work anymore!!! I even have some old flash CUBES......USED! It's a sickness!!!!!

:rofl:

Alissa

[VA_Shooter]

FLASH CUBES?! Those things on the stick? Wow. Now that is high tech. Thanks for the suggestion on the cart Alissa--I'll run over to Home Depot to check it out. Bright lights on locations usually aren't a problem for us because at the NASCAR track we're provided an enclosed, "enviornmentally controlled" booth in which we can work...pretty nice for a bunch of stringers, eh? Same goes for the stock car races...it's not environmentally controlled, but it's clean and there is electricity and decent light and all the races take place at night. One guy shoots, the other runs the printers and a third hawks the prints. We're real capitalists.

The few dog shows we've done so far have all been inside buildings in rings--nothing outside under tents and we have not been invited to do any agility trials or field work. So, for the time being, outdoor bright lights is not a problem.

The wedding deal is something new we're trying this year...we threw it out to a few couples and they thought it was a cool idea...so, what the heck, we'll give it a try. I'm looking forward to setting P440 up this weekend. Expecting all good things.

Monday's the big day, eh? Got that 70-200 VR yet?

[High ISO!]

Originally posted by VA_Shooter
FLASH CUBES?! Those things on the stick? Wow. Now that is high tech. Got that 70-200 VR yet?

NO the CUBES! They are older than the things on the stick! :lol:

The new lens hasn't arrived yet...Hmmm..... I should ask the guy who I am getting it from when he expects it to come in. I got a FANTASTIC price on it...Helps to know the right people! LOL!

Here is a quick shot I did of some of my old stuff....my first camera & the flash attachment, along with some old flash cubes, used & fresh. And two of my old F bodies (vinatge 1968 & 1973), I appropriated from my father's Nikon collection. He was a pack rat too....Must be in the genes!

Sorry to get off track........Alissa

[VA_Shooter]

What a great shot, Alissa. Those were the days...metal film cannisters, manual everything bodies and Sylvania flash cubes. Beautiful table, by the way. Don't throw any of this stuff out...it's too good to throw away.

[High ISO!]

Originally posted by VA_Shooter
What a great shot, Alissa. Those were the days...metal film cannisters, manual everything bodies and Sylvania flash cubes. Beautiful table, by the way. Don't throw any of this stuff out...it's too good to throw away.

Thanks Connie.....

As far as I know everything still works too...Even the meter heads on the Nikon cameras! I could NEVER through any of those things out!

Alissa

[LightWriter6208]

Ok...Having gotten taxes back, hubby has given me the ok to get the P440. I've read all the posts here and did some research on this printer. I guess I'm just looking for a little more reassurance. I have ideas of taking it to wedding receptions and maybe to other location shoots and printing on the premises, selling them for maybe $10-$15 a piece. Is this feasible and would that be a reasonable price?

Thanks,
Alice

[High ISO!]

Originally posted by LightWriter6208
Ok...Having gotten taxes back, hubby has given me the ok to get the P440. I've read all the posts here and did some research on this printer. I guess I'm just looking for a little more reassurance. I have ideas of taking it to wedding receptions and maybe to other location shoots and printing on the premises, selling them for maybe $10-$15 a piece. Is this feasible and would that be a reasonable price?

Thanks,
Alice

Alice,
Are you doing this as a hobby or as a professional? Not a slam, just asking.

Your fee seems very low to me. I think you should check out what photographers on Photoreflect (for example) sell work for. Try to find wedding photographers. I know I sell my work for more than that...but I am shooting completely different subjects, and have a completely different customer base for my work.

JMHO....

Alissa

[LightWriter6208]

Alissa...can you go to chat?

[VA_Shooter]

LW--Taking the P440 to a wedding and printing candids and formals for the family and guests right there on the spot is a hot, hot idea. I have the opportunity to work with a wedding photographer and we do this occasionally when the bridal couple ask for it (after it has been suggested, of course). The guests LOVE it...the prints sell like hot cakes, 8X10 for $25 a pop. Only caveat is that you have to take the shot right the first time, no time for Photochopping and getting creative...the shot has to be printable out of the camera because things move sort of fast. It's also best to have an assistant...you take the pictures, your assitant mans the printer(s).

[High ISO!]

Connie is right on base, with price. I was selling my 8x10s for $20.00 for a few years, then people started giving me $25.00 for them, so I raised my prices!

When I shoot events I don't print out of the P400. I do a lot of post processing, so straight out of the camera/printer isn't what I do. I have a competitior who works this way, so 2 photogrpahers who do this at the saem event is silly. I take advantage of my PS knowledge and ability to greatly improve my images.

People have come to expect only the best from me. They expect electric green grass, poor compostition, off color dogs, see through paper and less from my competitor. Of course part of the problem is that they don't use Fuji cameras! :rofl:

Alissa

[LightWriter6208]

Ok...I think I will try the $25/ print and see what happens. If that doesn't seem to work, then I'll go down a couple dollars till they sell.
How easy is it to transport this printer?

[Swampy]

I was out shooting this weekend. Uhg. I'm paying for it, but you'll see why over the next few weeks. ;)

One of the places I was shooting was at some sand dunes. I could have set up a few days early and made my years wages selling 8x10's probably of people on thier off road vehicles.

A couple of people came by and in short, I told them that I normally get 40 bucks for an 8x10, but if they wanted to get 8 or 10 shots that they wanted from them all, I'd knock them down to 30 bucks for them.

They were pretty agreeable to it. We'll see. I'll send them proofs this week and see if they do actually buy.

[VA_Shooter]

LW--We did what Alissa suggested...went to Home Depot and got us a big square bucket type deal on wheels, lined the bottom of it with towels to cushion the ride and put both of the printers right inside of it and then carried the consumables in trial cases (those big squarish/rectangular cases lawyers carry to court). It worked great.

I'm certain Alissa's not suggesting we take bad pictures--us?! never!:lol: --like I said, it moves fast. No time for Photochopping at the event. Take 'em right the first time and keep the printers rolling. You'll have that S3 paid for before it's released from Fuji's production line. Good luck.

[High ISO!]

Originally posted by VA_Shooter
LW--We did what Alissa suggested...went to Home Depot and got us a big square bucket type deal on wheels, lined the bottom of it with towels to cushion the ride and put both of the printers right inside of it and then carried the consumables in trial cases (those big squarish/rectangular cases lawyers carry to court). It worked great.

I'm certain Alissa's not suggesting we take bad pictures--us?! never!:lol: --like I said, it moves fast. No time for Photochopping at the event. Take 'em right the first time and keep the printers rolling. You'll have that S3 paid for before it's released from Fuji's production line. Good luck.

I'm glad the box on wheels works fro you too! Sounds like you got a bigger one than I have.

...and if I sounded as if I was implying anything, it was that *I* am NOT the best photographer & I need to post process the crap out of my images! :o

Alissa:cheers:

[VA_Shooter]

You did not imply anything, Alissa. and nothing was inferred...you take great pictures. All I was saying to LW was that there wasn't a lot of time for post processing if you're going to print at the event...that's all. Shoot 'em and print 'em.

[High ISO!]

Hey Connie...It's OK!!! :rockon:

Alissa:cool:

[LightWriter6208]

I'm a little nervous about the shoot and print...I'm not always the best photographer either...but with my lack of skills in PS, I strive to get the best I can right out of the camera. Hopefully good enough to sell right there.

[LightWriter6208]

I bought the P440 today...I've printed two out so far and I love them!!! Can't wait to use it on locations.

[Swampy]

We told you you'd love it.... :P

[LightWriter6208]

I have a lot to learn yet, but so far it seems pretty straightforward. Any tips I should know about?

[Swampy]

Heh. Not really. I haven't really experimented with it too much. I size my pics in PS to 8x10 and change the PPI to 300 and print. Looks great. Some people will probably say that 150 PPI is fine or another number.

Some day, I'll try a couple different ways and see, but at 300 it's been doing fine for me.

[VA_Shooter]

I've had my P440 sitting in my office for nearly 3 weeks without the time to get it open and setup. I finally got it out, and printed off some photos taken at a basketball game Saturday afternoon. Took the prints and a proof sheet made in Photoshop CS to the next game on Sunday afternoon and sold $235 worth of prints to parents. Man, at that rate, the printer will have paid for itself in 3 games. Was even invited to take the official "end of season Team Photograph". Nice printer. Way nice.

Learning how to punch out Picture Packages in Photoshop CS...man does this make things easy. Lovin' this...might have to think about giving up this day job I've got. Shhhhhhhhhhh...don't say anything to the wife yet.

[Swampy]

I also did some print tests last night with it and different DPI settings.

I have a Sony Dyesub for 4x6 and 5x7's and it has no problem pumping out shots, un-resized and at 72dpi. Not so much the case with the P440.

Just for giggles. I did a bad print at 300DPI. So I thought, what the heck. Set to 72DPI and 8x10 and it was blocky, set to 150DPI and it was better, but there was still a little bit missing there. Set it to 314 (native res of the printer) and it was great. I didn't try anything else or higher than that, but this is just a test to say pump up the DPI for this.

Just my experience and in now way a professional "test". :P

[VA_Shooter]

You're absolutely right, Swampy. I set the resolution on my shots and in the resulting picture packages I made to 314 dpi and the prints were great, both the single prints and the resized prints made by the photoshop action for the picture packages. Great stuff this printer.

[SteveH]

Just catching up on these threads about the P440 - recently got one. Does anyone use the Camedia software? Or can suggest the best settings e.g. sharpening etc.
I found that increasing the contrast setting to about 15% seems to give a punchier print with the sharpening on 2 - camedia software not PS.

I tried printing straight from the printer but found that this took huge amounts of processing time so now do it via laptop. What are other peoples' experiences?

Steve

[dhphy]

I have recently bought one of these and am getting pretty good results.
However, not being too hot on colour management I'm not sure on what is the correct settings to have.
I'm printing from a PC laptop at functions but I'm a bit confused with the settings options. Also I seem to be getting different results from the same printer settings when printing from PS7 and the Camedia software.

These are the options in the printer settings:

Non Colour adjustment
Driver
ICM (gives additional options of:Pictures, graphics, Match and Proof)
Scene
Non Colour Correction

The manual is pretty scarce on information about what these do.
Can anyone help with an explanation and also what would be the best option for printing from PS7 mainly.
I am trying to get to grips with colour management but struggling to understand how it all fits together.
I do have profiled monitors though.
Thanks for any advice
Dave.

[iajephoto]

hey all. Just saw this group this morning and thought I'd join in. I'm anxiously awaiting the Fed Ex truck with my new p440. I to have been using a p400 for the past 3 years almost (Aug 2001), and it has performed superbly although now it is starting to jam up more and more, which wastes a lot of ribbon. The 400 still works nicely. What I have found to get a great print, is to up the Saturation by +20 in PS just before printing. I do all my prints at 314 dpi.

I too haul my p400 to all my events, which is 95% bodybuilding shows these days. Gotta love vanity and instant gratification. I have just kept the p400 in the original carton with original styrofoam to transport. Since the p400 didn't do a true 8x10, I always printed it (and sold it for that matter) as a "matted" 8x10 or 7.5x9.5, for $15.00 each (or per page or unit, for those Bryn Allen/Glamour Shot folks out there).

Anyway, thought I'd throw my $.02 worth into the fray. This looks like a great group of folks. Hope to keep in touch.

Thanks!

Ian
----------
Ian C. Ware
iaje photography
http://www.iajephoto.com

[RacerX]

I've had mine for some time now and really love it. You should continue liking it just like your P-400. Welcome to the site. Hope you post some of your pictures here so we can see what you're printing.
(Hopefully you're using a Fuji S2 camera. :) )

[iajephoto]

Well, unfortunately the p440 arrived yesterday afternoon, and I had the same problem with it that caused me to have to return two p400s. When I opened the box, which looked fine on the outside, the inner styrofoam was crushed, and the dust cover over the paper tray insert was broken such that the hinge part was broken and dropped into the printer. You could turn the printer upside down and hear it rattling around. I needed this printer for Saturday. When I called my distributor, he at first said he didn't have anymore, but found one that he is going to overnight to me.

When I had bought the original 400 back in Aug 2001, I had to take the first one back, and the second one for the same EXACT problem. On the second trip back, we stood there and opened an entire pallet of printers until we found one that WASN'T broken. Five out of the six printers on the pallet were broken in the exact same way, and that one unbroken printer is the one that has been my workhorse for almost three years now.

I called Olympus yesterday to voice my "concern". Not irritation, not anger, just concern for the design that has not as yet been rectified. He pointed out that Olympus sells to a distributor, who then in turn sells to most of the photo houses. The printers are sometimes shipped a minimum of 4 times, inclusive of the final trip to me. Not that this solves the problem, or justifies the error, just an explanation. It has seemed to be cheaper to take the printers and refirb, or throw them away, rather than fix the fragile dust cover for the paper path.

Oh well, so ends my rant. Hopefully my replacement will be here this morning. I'll let you all know the outcome.

Thanks for listening.

Ian