S800 is best companion for D30

[soumya63]

First time I saw the print quality of Canon S800, I was stunned. Who can say it is not a photograph? With 6 ink tanks and 2400X1200 resolution it is a killer product. Epson simply can not stand from the quality point of view to this printer. I just could not resist but buy it from Frys. Paid extra for 3 year extended warranty.

Canon provides an accurate ICC profile for the printer for Canon Photo Glossy papers, so no calibration or fiddling with printer profile. I can not tell how good the prints are and how much fine details you can see. Go and see it and buy it if you want to create some hard copies of D30.

Be sure to use only Canon or Kodak papers. I bought some cheap bargain Photo Glossy papers from Fry's but it does not absorb Canon ink, and they form tiny droplet pools. Moreover the printer ICC profile is tuned for Canon Paper only.

[Duality]

The s600 and s630 are a little bit cheaper, if you are wanting a cheaper, or back-up printer, and still do an outstanding job.

[bushey]

While reading the reviews on CNet.com about this printer one person brought up a good point. Why spend the ~$300 for a photo printer when you can get prints for about .50 from OFoto and other sites like that. Anyone have any opinions (including that this topic should be moved to a different forum)

[Duality]

Well, photography is currently just a hobby to me, working with Photoshop is my profession. That said, I find that I like to have direct control over my prints, and if one doesn't come out just as I want it, I can make the adjustments that I need, on the spot, and print again.

[pete s]

The S800 is dead, its a discontinued product line.


Due for release in the US & Europe on 1st Feb Canon stopped shipping the S800 shortly before anouncing the release of the BJS900 (A4) & BJS9000 (A3) to coincide with the new BJS820D (has card readers & powershot dedicated connection).

Lets hope the new printers are as good as Canon claims. The only review read so far would indicate that it is.

All continue to use the BCI6 ink tanks, but the 900 & 9000 have double the nozzles & therefore reputedly half the print time.

My order has been in since the press release.

There may also be a replacement paper in the pipeline, as stock levels of the Pro papers have dropped at almost all outlets & Canon have been running special 2 for 1 offers in the UK.


As to why you would want to print out your own work, for most people its a matter of satisfaction to produce their own work from end to end, irespective of the quality.

As most ordinary labs do not care about the quality of their work it generally fails to impress, with a bit of willing & the cash you can produce the same or better. I certainly would not send the volume of work I produce to a public processor.

Lexmark have a new printer coming on stream soon, its a slimline unit ideal for small spaces, high resolution, could be an i3 or some such name, it could be a usefull accessory.

Pete

[bushey]

Do those people who use photo printers consider the output good enough for professional use?

[pete s]

I certainly do & the newer Canons will I believe improve the quality.

BUT....

You have to know who your aiming your output at, I sell my prints to a target group, parents - portraits of their children, in small batches & in general the response is good - because I manage their expectations.

But my local camera club always rubbished anyone who didnt use the time honored methods & having grown up with a father that use to spend hours hogging the bathroom to develop & print photos & then taken it up myself, I have learnt to accept the variations imposed/offered by either technique.

With the quality available from the D30 etc, photoshop & the latest printers (+drivers) I do not see a reason for most people not to switch for their general low volume output, but their is a physical limit to current (printers) paper sizes, that is not true for traditional imaging & cost wise it can be cheaper to run off large numbers of traditional prints.


I say go for it.


Pete

[soumya63]

I am very satisfied with S800 output, and it is fast, but faster is 'GOOOOD'. Those who have not seen S800 output should see its output on photo glossy paper, indistinguishable from traditional photograph. Plane paper printout should not be considered as a measure of quality.

With my 3 year extended warranty I am safe for 3 years, by that time I should be able to make good use of my 300$ investment. If it fails electronically or mechanically, I will get an equivalent replacement, with another S800 or its big brother BJS900 or even bigger brother ??? what ever will be available at that time. By the way, Canon will also replace the nozzle free of cost within 1 year warranty period.

So do not get trapped into the dilemma where to buy D30/S800 or wait for couple of months or an year for bigger bro ??? I got caught into it earlier, and subsequently rescued by this forum ;)

[Dick]

>>Do those people who use photo printers consider the output good enough for professional use?

Yes, you can read a lot about this on:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

In particular a book he sells on there called "The Monograph" contains 26 inkjet printed photos for $495. I would say that is pretty professional.

The concept of the inkjet is very powerful in that the printer very precisely places small spots of ink of various colors. This actually is a much more powerful way of producing color than trying to get photosensitive dyes to express color.

Many top pros now believe that ink jet printers surpass photochemical printing in quality.

[sasc]

One not so good difference in the latest and the S800 is that it had a straight paper feed path and the new ones dont. Long discussion on dpreview about this.

[pete s]

Yes it was a long discussion, but most of the posts were repeatedly asking the originator if he could check, recheck & check again that he wasnt wrong.

It seems to be a fact that unlike the 800 the newer S series machine do not have a straight path.

If your printing photo's on Canon media that wont be a problem, if you need to print on thickish card or other media (magneticly backed substrate was mentioned) then this wont be printer of choice.

- perhaps the 820D will support this older feature.

[pete s]

The S900 arrived this morning, I havent as yet set it up, but I have looked at the online manual & software.

It ships with updated versions of Zoombrowser & photostich & a couple of other apps.

The power unit appears to be a factory only switchable unit, 240v AC for the UK rather than a multi standard unit.

1 pack of 5 sheets of 4x6 paper (pro) & full ink rather than a 10% full shipping version favored by some manufacturers.

There is no direct path for card etc & the manual advises against almost anything other than Canon's own supplies.

- time to suck it & see