Product Reviews

Epson has already demonstrated its ability to produce stunning inkjet photo printers with the superb Epson Stylus Photo 890 (see Reviews, issue 79, p178). The quality of output from this amazing six-colour printer took us quite by surprise, bringing almost photo lab-quality reproduction to the individual user. Then Canon's equally impressive S800 (see Reviews, issue 81, p151) took things further by adding superior print speeds into the pot, leaving us wondering quite how photo printers could be improved further. Epson's answer to this is the Stylus Photo 895, the first to feature PIM (Print Imaging Matching), a system designed to cultivate the relationship between digital image creation and reproduction.

On the face of it the 895 looks very like the 890, sharing a similar core specification, which includes a 2,880 x 720dpi, six-colour print engine with the ability to print edge to edge. However, there are notable changes, including a control panel and a PC Card slot, essentially pitching it primarily against HP's Photosmart P1218 (see Labs, issue 77, p92) as a standalone unit for digital camera users.

The 895's appeal to the digital camera fraternity is further enhanced by the addition of PIM. This is an exclusive development from Epson, designed to maximise the output quality when printing photos recorded by a digital camera. This is achieved by digitally 'tagging' the data files inside a compatible digital camera with a number of optimised PIM parameters. These include settings such as colour gamut, noise correction and contrast adjustment, with a total of 20 in all. This information is stored in the header of the image file and can be read by a printer with PIM-compatible drivers, such as the 895. In fact PIM has already had a noteworthy start, gaining support from a large number of digital camera producers, such as Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Minolta.

As the 895 uses similar printing technology to the 890, the general photo quality output from our photo tests on Epson's Premium Glossy Photo Paper was impressive. Prints displayed vivid colours with no banding and were very smooth with little evidence of grain, unlike the Photosmart P1218.

Unfortunately, the 895 doesn't markedly improve on the 890's print speed, with its time of 23 minutes, 33 seconds being equally as exhausting as the 890. Canon's superfast S800 still rules the roost in this department with a rapid five-minute A4 print time, and HP's

The 895's standalone printing capabilities consist of a PC Card slot and a large, easy-to-use LCD control panel. The use of a PC Card slot means you'll need an adaptor for the various memory types, which is slightly more limiting than the Photosmart P1218, which accepts CompactFlash and SmartMedia natively. However, Epson does provide a CompactFlash adaptor in the box. Another interesting feature is the ability to attach a small LCD monitor for viewing previews. Unfortunately, this wasn't available at the time of writing, but should be available by the time you read this, priced at £67.

Printing from the PC Card was simple and for the most part you can jump straight in, without needing to refer to the manual. The control panel itself has a large number of options mirroring most of those in the PC driver, allowing you to select from a number of image-enhancing filters and several types of media, including Premium Glossy Photo paper.

With this being Epson's first PIM printer we were eager to test the effectiveness of this new feature. To do this we printed an unadjusted PIM-tagged image using Epson's PhotoQuicker 3 software with and without PIM enabled in the driver. The difference was subtle, but put side by side the image printed with PIM was sharper and more detailed, although it was perhaps a tad over-saturated. It's worth noting, however, that PIM isn't an option in the main printer driver Properties tab and is only available through the PhotoQuicker software. Also, since PIM is part of the image file, modifying and saving images with third-party software would destroy the PIM information.

As this is a photo printer it would be unfair to expect high levels of performance in other areas. Text printing, for example, was poor, with the 895 managing just two pages per minute in our plain text test printed at the normal settings. Output quality was also disappointing, with shaky text in a muddied dark grey. That said, things improved dramatically at the maximum settings on Epson's Photo Quality Inkjet Paper, and our four-page PDF test looked fantastic. Once again, though, the price for this quality is speed - it took a frustrating 25 minutes to complete the test.

The Epson Stylus Photo 895 is another superb photo inkjet from Epson. As a standalone photo printer for digital camera users it's clearly superior to the HP Photosmart P1218. The 895 also presents a good case for PIM, although Epson should consider providing PIM support in the main driver, rather than limiting its use to within PhotoQuicker.

In terms of performance, the Stylus Photo 895 produces superb-quality photos that look as good as you'd get from a photo lab and, although general text reproduction is poor, it can still produce brilliant DTP results if you're willing to wait. My main complaint would be the long print times at the highest settings but, this aside, the 895 is a first-class photo printer and the best proposition for digital camera users.