Printer help me choose

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

What printer would you choose to go with the 10D ?

I want really perfect printouts, and preferably a continious inkflow.

I was thinking about the Epson C70 or 1290 because we have good experiences with Epson.

It must:
* Printout perfect A-4's borderless
* Have good rendition of colors (I'm very sensitive for that)
* be an inktjet

Not important:
* cardreaders
* display etc.
* speed

I'm still not sure if I need a printer by the way :D, on the one hand I would love to have some printouts on the other hand I mostly look at my shots on the monitor, but because I'm doing some stuff for friends and family now I'm thinking about maybe selling some A4 style shots.

Greetings,
Frank

[eddylush]

Ive had a few epson's over the years but never been happier since I got the canon s900 I think its awesome I would guess that the 950i is even better!
Im pleased with it anyway!
Cheers Eddy

[cditar]

I don't think the 900 series of Canon printers will produce what your looking for. The Canon 9000 has archival ink and prints up to sizes you need. I have a Epson 1280 and have been very happy with it for the past two years. Great prints and quality prevents me from moving up to the 2200.
Best wishes

[rapierphoto]

Hi,
I've been using the Epson 870 for two years now and have been very happy. You can buy one refurbished from the epson website for around 100.00.

John Rapier

[tikkeltokkel]

if money wasn't an option, the Epson 2100 is the way to go (i have read, though i dont have one)

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Well money is alway's an option.
I'm willing to spend arround $ 400,00.

Greetings,
Frank

[boby]

Ihave the epson 890,It's done a great job.I edit in photoshop an print with qimage.ink can get costly but the results are great.I use only epson paper,the premuim glossy and premuin luster.Have my eye on the 2200 epson.

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Hi,

I took a C70 with me from our store and must say that on Kodak Glossy paper the results are allready STUNNING on A4.

I will be aiming for a six color printer probarbly Epson with continious inkt.

The only problem I now have is the photo's are a bit darker on the print than on screen, I will play a bit with the settings, I used photoenhance and am now testing with sRGB profile that allready looks a bit better.

Greetings,
Frank

[scottbergerphoto]

I've been using the Epson Stylus Photo 2200 since January. It is wonderful. People are amazed when I tell them I printed my photos at home. The colors are true to life and match what I see on my screen. They look like professional lab prints. The only downside is that it is somewhat expensive to use. For best results you need to use Epson Premium Paper. I've tried non premium Epson paper and Kodak Premium Picture Paper without success(dull colors, roller banding). It is however worth the price difference.

In the reviews on CNET.Com some people complained about print banding from the rollers. In my opinion the people experiencing that are not using Epson paper. Other paper coatings are not as absorbent and the ink is not dry when the rollers go over them. I had this experience with Kodak paper. Reducing the ink flow and increasing the printing time didn't help. There was a nice article in Popular Photography a few months ago about different types of paper coating (gel vs. ceramic)

I highly reccommend this printer.
PS: Epson no longer makes the 2100. It was replaced by the 2200.

[mkaplan]

I have the 1280 (1290 in Europe) and it makes spectacular prints, some say even a better print than the 2200 except for archiving durability of course.

The Canon's are nice and they are faster but I have friends in the graphics world and to them nothing beats an Epson.

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

I stepped down from the CIS system.
We sell inkt in our store from wecare they use the same formula as Epson and a total refill would cost me arround € 27,00 (ex VAT and margin) this would mean I have to exchange 15 times everything before I have the CIS payed out. When I print that much I sure am making money out of it :D.

As for this moment I have my heart set on the Epson 935 it's a new model with very good specs.

Anyone experience with that one.

The prints from the C70 are allready very good (good enough for me to be honest) so the 935 can only be even better with using 6 colors instead of 4.

Greetings,
Frank

[msvirick]

I like Epson, but cant stand the dance they perform at boot up.
Are ink subliminating printers not better than inkjets for photos?
If one was going for small ink sub printers what would you buy?

[cubfan]

A refurb 890 is a tremendous printer and Epson sells them refurbed for $150 or less. I have an 870 and its the best printer I have ever had. The 890 is a more recent model of it and should be better.

[CyberDyneSystems]

My own personal expeirence with Epson printers has been disastrous.. they work for a month or two.

I have the Canon i950 and love it.

[Mark Kemp]

I have a 1290

I am very pleased with it, good colours, edge to edge A3, good software, colour balance was good - out of the box, fairly fast.

I have seen output from the Canons, also very good and undoubtedly good software too.

I think that you would be hard pressed to find a really bad printer these days, especially from the major brands. I certainly can't tell what kind of printer was used by looking at a print!

An obvious choice is A3 or A4 - bigger is better I guess, as long as you have room on the desk. Its nice to have the option of printing larger, even if you don't use it often and a 10D should be fine for A3 prints.

[ChrisNardone]

Ditto what CyberDyneSystems said. I was a faithful Epson guy. 3 printers in a row. Finally went with the Canon i950 and love it. It also does good text.

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Ok,

I will go for the Canon i950, the seperate tanks did it for me, and the high resolution.

I will order it tomorrow :D.

Greetings,
Frank

[CyberDyneSystems]

Seperate tanks is a big plus :D,.

...for instance,. my "Ink Tank Guage" right now is telling that 4 out of the six colors are still nearly full,.. but two of the six are below half!

When one of these two runs out,. I would be tossing out four nearly full colors if it didn't have seperate tanks.

Also,.. you replace the print heads seperately,. so if the print heads become unusable... you don't have to throw out $40.00 worth of ink to replace them. :D

[mrphoto]

I just got a new i950 (2 weeks) i love it prints grate out of the box and it has a grate program w/it but you cant print wallets or 8x10 only 8.5x11 im looking for a 2ed program to do those 2 things but the quality is greate.

[jimsloy]

I'm an Epson 960 guy and LOVE IT. The software it comes with to print everything/every size has been nothing but my friend. 6 separate ink tanks, and great if you want to buy an Epson scanner that employs PIM (Print Image Matching). Cost you about $350 USD. Canon i950 is somewhere in the mid $2s if memory serves me correct. Never used it and people say it's great, but you gotta wonder where the extra $100 savings is??

[khenn]

How about the new Canon i9100. It will print up to A3+ (13x19) borderless. Check out this review - http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/canon_i9100.html

[ahmadof]

i too am lookig for about the same features. i see alot of people saying certain printers have good software and can print edge to edge etc. i am using Mac OS X and have been frustrated with epson's drivers. the features seem severely limited. is it any better on the canon front?

[Highland]

I have an i950 and I am NOT a fan. Prints right out of the printer look great but the ink fades within a few hours. Any picture with green or yellow in it gets a greenish haze. Canon customer service has been TOTALLY unhelpful with this problem except to tell me that "...where you are printing the ozone must be out of whack..."

The olympus p-400 - makes amazing prints - drawback - no borderless prints.
Good luck,
Don
Using these printers with the 10D - which I LOVE.

[eos10dmacosx]

I have owned both Canon, HP and Epson inkjet printers, and would thoroughly recommend the Epson Printers. Perfect prints every time, but you must choose the right stock. Have tried them all, Kodak (yuk), Canon (fair), TDK (was great but changed their stock brightness), Epson (Good), Ilford (Great -- still using). 280gsm, comes in both Pearl & Gloss.

Cheers

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Hummmmm,

I will wait a little bit I think.

Greetings,
Frank

[msvirick]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
My own personal expeirence with Epson printers has been disastrous.. they work for a month or two.

I have the Canon i950 and love it.

How are the pictures, and is the printer heavy on ink?

[andrew1]

The one problem I found with the Epson2200 you have to callibrate your monitor every 2 wks. Never did this with HP, but Epson isn't RGB like the monitor.
Epson,s default settings are their idea of a perfect photo is TOO DARK & TOO MUCH MAGENTA.

If you want true color you must customize your settings depending on the type of paper used.
For all papers +10 on contrast & brightness, -2 on cyan & -8 on magenta.

Obtained settings for Kodak Ultima paper from Kodak + the prev mentioned settings, and quite pleasant,
assuming that you callibrate your monitor every 2 wks.

Also a great site is WWW.injetart.com .
They carry the same formula papers from the same factory that Epson's come from but whiter.
It's tough to start with almost yellow cast paper to get a true color image.

Another thought stay away from NON EPSON INKS.
ON LINE OFFICE DEPOT PRICES SEEM TO BE THE BEST.

Lastly Office Depot Premium Glossy Photo Paper is great
using my orriginal settings above, just dont know how long color will last in light. (Archival Quality)
Archival quality of Epson Inks with Non Epson paper is questionable.

Best bet is either a sale on Epson Premium Glossy Paper or buy your paper from Inkjetart, much whiter & retains archivak quality.
Andrew Landwehr

[andrew1]

The one problem I found with the Epson2200 you have to callibrate your monitor every 2 wks. Never did this with HP, but Epson isn,t RGB like the monitor.
Epson,s default settings or their idea of a perfect photo is TOO DARK & TOO MUCH MAGENTA.

If you want true color you must customize your settings depending on the type of paper used.
For all papers +10 on contrast & brightness, -2 on cyan & -8 on magenta.

Obtained settings for Kodak Ultima paper from Kodak + the prev mentioned settings, and quite pleasant,
assuming that you callibrate your monitor every 2 wks.

Also a great site is WWW.injetart.com .
They carry the same formula papers from the same factory that Epson's come from but whiter and less expensive.
It's tough to start with almost yellow cast paper to get a true color image.

Another thought stay away from NON EPSON INKS.
ON LINE OFFICE DEPOT PRICES SEEM TO BE THE BEST.

Lastly Office Depot Premium Glossy Photo Paper is great
using my orriginal settings above, just dont know how long color will last in light. (Archival Quality)
Archival quality of Epson Inks with Non Epson paper is questionable.

Best bet is either a sale on Epson Premium Glossy Paper or buy your paper from Inkjetart, much whiter & retains archivak quality.
Andrew Landwehr

[msvirick]

mrphoto wrote:
I just got a new i950 (2 weeks) i love it prints grate out of the box and it has a grate program w/it but you cant print wallets or 8x10 only 8.5x11 im looking for a 2ed program to do those 2 things but the quality is greate.

I would suggest you use ArcSoft PhotoPrinter. You can download a trail copy. It will print photos in any sizes and combinations. I use Arcsoft PhotoPrinter 2000, but I would imagaine there is a newer version available now.

[caldgrp]

mrphoto wrote:
I just got a new i950 (2 weeks) i love it prints grate out of the box and it has a grate program w/it but you cant print wallets or 8x10 only 8.5x11 im looking for a 2ed program to do those 2 things but the quality is greate.



I thinking of getting the Canon i950 also but do not understand your post. Looking at the i950 spec it says it handles multiple paper sizes including letter, legal, A4, A5, 4" x 6", 5" x 7" etc

[justme_dc]

ahmadof wrote:
i too am lookig for about the same features. i see alot of people saying certain printers have good software and can print edge to edge etc. i am using Mac OS X and have been frustrated with epson's drivers. the features seem severely limited. is it any better on the canon front?

Canon i950, s9000 and i9100 work flawlessly with a full feature set in OSX.
Epson still doesn't support most of its cool features on the mac platform.

To the orignal poster. I think either the Epson 2200 or the Canon i9100 will fit your requirements. I would get the canon as I have had nothing but trouble from epson but that's just me. I have a Canon i950 right now and couldn't be happier.

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Hi,

Never thought the thread would get so large.

I did not yet buy a printer, because my Sigma is away for rechipping I bought a Sigma 145-400 APO first, because I wanted that extra reach.

When I want to print I can take one of the printers we have in the store (they are used for demo's anyway).

I think that the Epson 1290 has very good chances now, I dropped A3 in the start but after seeing a A3 printout last week I'm not so sure anymore.

THe 2200 is just to expensive for the use I have, I never print for myself.

Greetings,
Frank

[CyberDyneSystems]

msvirick wrote:
CyberDyneSystems wrote:
My own personal expeirence with Epson printers has been disastrous.. they work for a month or two.

I have the Canon i950 and love it.

How are the pictures, and is the printer heavy on ink?


The photos are stunning. I have not seen images this good from an Inkjet,.. (that's not to say that Epson's aren't as good,. just that I haven't owned one this good! )

To me it is NOT heavy on ink. I did a lot of experimenting with different papers,.. and have printed mostly 8X10 sized images on letter paper,.. and yet I am still going strong with the first set of ink :)

And as I say,.. the individual ink taks is a real plus!

It works great with Canon paper (obvioulsy) but I also really like the output on Epson papers.

[Marignan_1515]

I've tried several, and the best quality is the HP photosmart, with hp paper glossy premium.
They have also slot to read you mem cards, (I use it to avoid plugging the camera or using camera's batteries. I don't know if they keep that on new models
There are several model. I wouldn't see any major quality gap btw the model. the speed is mainly the gap, but you doesn't seems to be senditivr to that, so I would recommend ones of the followings:

price: $150
hp photosmart 7350 printer
Six-ink color photo printer with full-range of digital camera connect options and text LCD control panel.
• Up to 17 ppm (with optional black cartridge), up to 10 ppm (with included print cartridges) black
• Up to 11 ppm (with optional black cartridge), up to 11 (with included print cartridges) color
• Up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi (on premium photo papers) and 1200 x 1200 input dpi when printing from a computer
• up to 1 input trays
• holds up to 100 sheets

hp photosmart 130 printer
The HP compact printer that easily prints borderless 4 x 6 inch photos with up to 4800-optimized dpi.
• Up to 4800-optimized dpi color (up to 4800 x 1200-optimized dpi color on premium photo papers when printing from a computer and 1200 x 1200-input dpi)
• holds up to 20 (9-mil photo), 26 (7-mil photo) sheets

price $ 300
hp photosmart 7550 printer
The advanced seven-ink printer with color LCD and full range of digital camera connect options.
• up to 17 ppm (with included print cartridges) black
• up to 13 ppm color
• Up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi (on premium photo papers) and 1200 x 1200 input dpi when printing from a computer
• up to 1 input trays
• holds up to 100 sheets

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Hi,

I would for one NEVER print straight from the memory card, the pictures need to be worked on before they can be printed, at least that is my experience.

Greetings,
Frank

[Marignan_1515]

J.A.F. Doorhof wrote:
Hi,

I would for one NEVER print straight from the memory card, the pictures need to be worked on before they can be printed, at least that is my experience.

Greetings,
Frank

Of Course!!! I meant dowloading the pictures from cards to the PC VIA the printer slots.... instead of plugging the camera into the PC.
I've never have tried printing directly from the card.... I need some postproduction....

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

:D,

Ok.

Greetings,
Frank