Printer users worried photos will fade fast

By CHRIS BARTON

Buyers of Epson's Stylus Photo E870 and E1270 inkjet printers have been contacting the company's New Zealand office worried that the photo-quality colour prints the machines produce may not last the 10 years they are supposed to.

General manager Greg Skinner said about four buyers had contacted the company after seeing information on a website that outlines an alleged "orange-shift" fading problem with prints.

The web site claims the "shift in colour can, under some environmental circumstances, happen in as little as 12 hours."

Mr Skinner says no New Zealand buyers have reported the problem, but a few were concerned about the site's allegations. More than 1000 of the 870 and 1270 models have been sold here.

Mr Skinner said that if any customers were dissatisfied, Epson would follow normal Consumer Guarantees Act procedure, which might include recompense in an appropriate manner.

One New Zealand buyer who asked not to be named said what the website revealed made it far too risky for him to sell prints.

The buyer, who works as a photofinisher, purchased an Epson 1270 printer on the understanding that Epson's new ink and papers would provide 9 to 10 years' light resistance.

From reading information on newsgroups and websites such as home.cox.rr.com/meyerfamily/epson/epson.html - where a user shows an example of the orange shift problem - the buyer said he was convinced orange fading was a real problem.

The issue has also been reported in US computer publications Network World and MacWeek.

Mr Skinner said one case of fading in Australia was being looked at.

The New Jersey-based Persistence of Vision (POV) website run by Keith Krebbs claims Epson US "is currently engaged in a quiet unannounced buyback of these printers and consumables."

The site also complains that Epson has not made it made clear that prints not protected by glass or plastic sleeves can visibly fade in under 24 hours.

That information is available on the Epson New Zealand website as a footnote to the phrase "10-Year Light Fast Prints." The prevailing theory as to why orange fading may be occurring is that the dye component of the light cyan ink is degraded by ozone and "possibly other oxidizing free radicals."

It's also argued that the construction of the glossy papers used - in particular "the micropore structure used in the receiver layer" - leaves the dyes deposited on the papers significantly less protected from the ambient air than on the other Epson media.

Yesterday, Mr Krebbs received a letter from a lawyer representing Jack Reznicki and the Photo Network News (PNN), telling him comments attributed to him on the website were being "examined by us for possible litigation."

Mr Krebbs has also been banned from the PNN mailing lists. His lengthy response is at www.p-o-v-image.com/epson/greenberg20001.htm.

Links:

www.p-o-v-image.com/epson

http://home.cox.rr.com/meyerfamily/epson/epson.html

Epson New Zealand

www.p-o-v-image.com/epson/greenberg20001.htm