Dye Thermal Printers Kodak 8500

I am looking at a Kodak 8500 Dye Thermal printer and wonder if anyone on the
forum has any experience with it. The price is $689, which is quite a
discount from the list price, but still high and I am wondering if it is
worth it.

My present printer, Epson 785 EPX, prints 8 1/2 by 11 prints that are very
good, but I wonder how long they will last? I have heard good things about
the Dye Sublimation method, which is what some call it, and assume that the
8500 method is what they are talking about. I read a review somewhere and
it costs about $2 for each 8 X 10 print, which seems high, but if the
quality is there, it might be worth it.

I welcome your comments.

Don Dunlap

 

i have 2 of them that (we) i use for on the spot prints and im very happy and
confident with the results .

we use to use a canon s9000 and they definetly fade ,thats not a good thing if
you are selling your prints .
in my case doing the local little leauge, wrestling teams, dance studios etc i
see these people on a regular basis and the last thing i need to do is be
selling them pictures like that .


kodak claims the life expectancy is the same as a silver based print .

i get the best results editing and printing thru photoshop c.s. not the
software supplied with the machine .

gene

 

I am still using a much older version of it (the old Kodak ColorEase) and
even that
is quite a bit better than an inkjet printer...plus, no smear and everyone
thinks it is a
chemistry-based print. One of the things that makes dye sublimation look so
good
is that, unlike inkjets, it is continuous tone...inkjets have to approximate
tones some-
what like a halftone. BTW, that is a very good price on the printer...who
has it for that?

George

 

This is the URL

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/from-shopping.asp?id=964587029&rf=dt

It sounded pretty good to me also. I think that I'll get one in January if
they still have it at that price. I will have to wait till after Christmas.
I read a review about it here:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/kodak8500.html

Don Dunlap

 

Greetings DDDD,

The price and printer you note, sounds like a great price to me. Dye
thermal is an excellent process and will last as long as a chemical print.
It is also more protective against water and such, as well.

The difference between Inkjet Technology and Dye Sublimation are
significant. Actually, there are two types of inkjet technology: continuous
flow and what is called 'drop-on-demand'. Continuous flow inkjet printing
uses electrostatic movements to select ink drops to form an image.
Drop-on-demand printing is either piezoelectric or thermal. Piezoelectric
inkjet printing uses a mechanical means to eject ink.

Some of the current inkjet printers out there use thermal inkjet technology.
This technology uses heat to vaporize a very thin layer of ink that forces a
small drop through a tiny opening. This process is repeated very rapidly,
thousands of times per second. The hardware needed to bring all this to bear
is built right into the inkjet cartridge. Since the inks used are
basically the same as any other inkjet printing system, this has no
significant, measurable effect on the longevity of the print itself.

With Dye Sublimation printing, on the other hand, the process starts with a
dye-bearing film (ribbon). This will be either a single, four-layered film
or four separate films. The primary colors for dyes on the film are cyan,
magenta, and yellow. Also, the fourth film contains a semi-clear coating
that is used to improve image stability and longevity.

During the printing process, the 'film' or ribbon comes in contact with the
paper and is heated up by the print head in the printer. This very precise
heating and contact of the media (paper) with the ribbon causes the dyes to
leave the film (ribbon) and enter into the very special paper emulsion where
it cools and re-solidifies. This is called "sublimation." Sublimation then,
in this explanation, is when a solid changes directly to a gas, moves to the
paper as a dye cloud, and then goes back to a solid again (basically melts
into the paper). Because the dyes go from solid, to gas, and back to solid,
there is much less "mess" compared to liquid inks.

The result of the above process yields an excellent image. It is akin to
what happens to film and paper when they are processed in chemicals. The
result of that kind of process yields the same dye or 'Dye Cloud' left in
the paper, similar to the dye clouds noted above, but created just a little
differently.

The 8500 uses the noted technology, and for the price, you have an excellent
buy.

Talk to you soon,

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company