About to buy the i9900...

[ipacmm]

I have been looking to buy a wide-format printer; I have narrowed it down to the Canon i9900 and the Epson R1800.

So my question is: is the i9900 the better printer and does anyone know if an updated model is planned to be released soon.


Thanks,

Michael

[DavidW]

The replacements for the i9900 are already announced - the Pixma Pro 9000 (dye ink) and the Pixma Pro 9500 (pigment ink). I think there's still another two or three months to wait before they're available, though.

Though there's not much in it, my impression is that for photographic work, the R2400 is preferred to the R1800. If I had to buy a wide format printer for photographic work today, I'd go for the R2400, though I'd be trying to wait until the Pixma Pro 9500 was available to compare.



David

[ipacmm]

I guess I missed that announcement...I think I might wait for the 9500 now, I just hope it isn't going to take three months.

[DavidW]

The big unknown seems to be whether the Canon Pro 9000/9500 printers will support roll paper. The R2400 does.

At least in Europe, the new Canon units will apparently support CD-R / DVD-R printing. The R2400 doesn't. I suspect this feature may not be available in the US for patent reasons.


More on the new Canon printers here (http://www.photo-i.co.uk/News/Feb06/Pro9500.htm) and here (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022406canonpro9000.asp).



David

[col4bin]

I have the R1800 and it is a fantastic printer. The R2400 is better if you will be printing a lot of B&W. If color is your main output, you cannot go wrong with the R1800. I got mine pretty cheap from Epson through their loyalty program. I saved $150 off the price in stores and free shipping.

[jbkalla]

I don't think the new Pixma Pro 9500 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=117&modelid=12414) is comparable to the Epson 2400. The comparable new Canon unit is the imagePROGRAF iPF5000 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=170&modelid=13098), I think. I believe the price for the iPF5000 is supposed to be around $2000US.

<edit> I was wrong! The iPF5000 is the answer to Epson's 4800. Sorry! :oops:

[thebrewer]

I do not recall seeing roll paper on the 9500 at the PMA, also the Photoshop printing plugin is really nice.

[jbkalla]

I think they added the PS Printing Plugin to do 16bit printing. Very cool! :-)

Or maybe it was 16bit photo-->12bit printing.