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Technology versus Art
by Sally Wiener Grotta

June 6, 2009

Tags: American Hands project, HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, HP xw4600 workstation, Film versus Digital, Fine Art Photography, Sally's entries, Sally's photography, Silver Efex Pro

A few years ago, Daniel and I were writing profiles of prominent professional photographers for Lexar Media’s Website SayCheese.com (which has since been discontinued). They were feature stories (illustrated with my photographs) about the photographers' philosophy, style and adventures, with some tips and tricks thrown in. The pieces were a delight to do because of the people we got to spend time with and watch at work.

At the time, I was at a trade show party (I think it was PhotoPlus in New York City), when someone said, “You absolutely must profile... [name withheld to avoid his embarrassment]” for SayChesse. I didn’t know the photographer being recommended, but he happened to be present at the party, just on the other side of the room. So, I went over to him, introduced myself, and asked him what he shoots. His reply was an energized discourse about his camera equipment! When he finally took a breath, I smiled, told him how nice it was to meet him and walked away. Daniel and I never wrote a profile on him for SayCheese or any other publication.

What that photographer had lost sight of (more…)

Printers by the Pound
by Daniel Grotta

May 31, 2009

Tags: DigitalBenchmarks Lab, Printer testing, Printers, Daniel's entries, Printer reviews, Computer Shopper, Sony DPP-FP97, HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, Xerox Phaser 6128, Kodak ESP 9, Epson Stylus Photo 2880, Lexmark X204n


For nearly a year, DigitalBenchmarks Lab has had hot and cold running printers, with different models coming and going just about every week. We put each through its paces – testing for speed, performance, image quality, value, media costs and so forth, comparing it to others meant for the same market – write the review (most often for Computer Shopper at present, since we’re doing almost all their printer reviews), then pack it up, ship it out and set up the next one.

It’s become an interesting routine, but last week, we had to laugh, when we received delivery – one after the other – of a teeny 2.63 pound Sony DPP-FP97 Digital Photo Printer, a sensible 31 pound Lexmark X204n monochrome laser all-in-one, and a humongous 189-pound, 44" HP Designjet Z3200 Photo fine art giclee printer. (more…)