Hi Kate,
am am surprised that Daniel smith colours have quality issues. I have only tried samples and also bought some half pan paints to try. I have yet to buy tube paints of Daniel smith for now but I do want to try their half pans which are coming up soon.
like Sandra, I buy a good set of tube paints for big paintings. Reason being even the large full pans may damage the fatter brushes. I also agree with her that pan paints are better for storage. But I am trying to figure out what manufacturers out into their pannpaints to keep them hard to fit in pans but soft to easily reset them. Maybe glycerin? I think Daniel smith tube paints are really very dry and harden in pans.
schmincke is by far the best for pan paints but can be very expensive to do large paintings. And I’m only starting……..