laser printer or copier with tonality / smooth gradiations for black and white photos

[rod]

I am looking to print 750 newsletters per month, each 12 or 16 8.5 x 11 letter-size pages printed in ledger paper, folded and saddle stitched. This newsletter will have half text and half black and white nature photographs. What are my options for equipment to print this in house? If I lease a copier for this, are there any recommendations to handle the job economically but with good quality?

 

[xpquickprint]

Color copiers will do a better job even with black and white than any black and white-only printer I've seen to date. Reason is 256 gradations (8-bit) vs. 1-bit per dot. If you calibrate carefully and frequently you can also run black and white using color to make up a rich black image where color halftones actually create the neutral gray tones with much richer and smoother detail than can be done with one color toner alone... but great care is needed to keep the prints neutral and not slightly warm or cool.

 

[Xirc]

This sounds like a job for an offset press. A 1-color quality offset can be had for a good price now (e.g. an older GTO). Combine that with a good CTP and you have a great quality print with no artifacts, banding, etc. Yes there is more setup time and some waste on an older press, but you won't match the quality and consistency with a current digital solution in the same price range.