Canon i960 --> Schaweeet!!

[Sketcher]

I'm impressed w/the Canon i960.

I haven't even messed w/profiles, color space, sharpening or photoshop. Just plugged everything in, loaded drivers and cranked off a dozen random images from my "unprocessed" archive. And I must say, I'm impressed! Granted; I'm inexperienced enough to not notice the good/bad/ugly that you print aficianado's would pick up on right away, but considering that I'm very pleased with my out of camera images says something. (that is, it can only get better!).

One thing I noticed right off that I thought would bother me was that I was going to print images that hadn't been sharpened at all (out of camera images from 10D). But I must be too used to viewing enlarged images on my 21" monitor because the 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10's I've printed thus far don't need any sharpening at all. Of course given more time, some attention to detail and a better knowledge of what I'm doing and I'll surely see a difference in my work. I'm just tickled that out of the box, I have a first run which only inspires.

In a few weeks I'll post the argumentative aspects of my now wonderful purchase putting it all into a proper perspective :). For now.... hooah! Everyone's asleep and I'm walking around my house with a big silly grin on my face; the only disappointment being that I have to be up in four hours to go to work!

Cheers to the night owls! :D

[John_T]

He-he-he... I'm grinning my ass off with a BJC i9100, erery day for a few months now.

[iwatkins]

Also have the i9100 which is similar to the i960.

Love it and many prints made are up on my wall. Big grins here.

Actually, bit of a print factory in here at the moment. Everyone in the family has chosen an image from my online gallery and they are all getting a framed A3 print of their favorite shot for Xmas presents.

So I've got picture frames and glass all over the place....

Cheers

Ian

[Sketcher]

I mixed a few photos up with identical one's printed from Proex and left them on the counter for my wife to find this morning (she and the kids were sleeping when I got home last night). She just called (sounding a little intrigued) asking me if I'd finally bought a photo printer. I told her it depended on what she thought of the pictures. Well, she said three of the five I printed were better than the ones she'd gotten back from Proex, the other two just as good. So, I said "Why yes dear, I did get a photo printer!". Mind you, this was out of the box printing out of camera images.

Now, my only hesitation on the i960 is max print size of 8.5" x 11.00". It'd be nice to get up to 13" x 19", but I don't know if that kind of "nice" is worth another $250.00 for the i9100 (the s9000 is the same price as the i960 and does do 13"x19" but its max resolution is lower than the i960 so I'm not sold on that option). Considering ROI on how many prints I'll produce vs lab costs doesn't quite answer my curiousity either. I'm thinking that if I CAN print that large I WILL. So, I guess the real question is convenience... being able to print up to 13"x19" at will. Then there's the 2 picoliter spec of the i960 and the 4 picoliter spec of the i9100. Is there an appreciatively noticeable difference in ink dispersion!? Argghhhhhhhhh!!! Oh the tragedy of it all

So, you i9100 owners; iwatkins, John_T and the until now silent others... Chime in and give me your pros/cons to that beautiful piece of ink technology you have there. The i960 drops 2 picoliter. Worth waiting for a i9100 that'll do the same or does the i9100 do 4 picoliters with aplomb? I might be selling photos of Vintage Cars and Hot Rods this summer and I've already had a few inquiries as to whether I can go larger than 8.5"x11". Until now I just figured I'd have them done by a lab.

("Size Matters" jokes are written all over this one... :D).


*BTW, shooting w/a 10D

[John_T]

As for size matters, I don't think 2pl vs. 4pl has much real-life relevance. I've even heard it slows the i960 down.

As for A4 on the i950/i960 vs. A3+ on the i9100, size DOES matter! You will find, however, that on the long haul A4 and smaller will be the bulk of your printing. A3 is really big to mail or carry around, and hey, how much wall space do you have?

A3 is great for perfect photos, but if you have noise and various imperfections they stand out like a sore thumb.

It is also advisable to have a 5MP camera or higher for A3 or larger. 4MP will be somewhat obviously stretched.

[iwatkins]

Agree wth John's points above.

I would say 95% or my prints are actually at A4 or smaller. But I do produce A3 prints for framing (for my own use around the house and office) and for presents.

I've printed my own images (i.e. I know what they look like) on the i9100, the i950 and the i960 all at A4 size on maximum quality (I have a friend who works for a big retail store).

I really couldn't tell the difference between a print made with 4 picolitre and the 2 picolitre. Simply couldn't see anything at all. My test images had lots of detail (trees, brick work) on one half and a continous tone blue sky that was dark one side and almost white the other (circular polariser). I find this is a great test image.

I would say you have a great printer. If you do consider going up to A3, don't worry about the i9100 *only* being 4 picolitre.

I'm actually considering the i960 to run Lyson neutral tone B&W inks for producing black and white prints.

Cheers

Ian

[robertcjones]

Just go tthe 960 for Christmas. Awesome printer and one of the best engineered printers I have ever owned. Just like 10D freed me from the 'tyranny' of film, the 960 will free me from the developing lab (most of the time, anyway). My only issue is there is a slight pink to the skin tones. I know its not the monitor side since it "agrees" with the same photo I got from ofoto.com. It is not terrible, but definitely noticeable and something that needs to be fixed. Any ideas where to start?

[CyberDyneSystems]

I agree these printers rock,. I've been using the 950 for a while and it is the best color printer I have ever used.

[new girl on the bloc]

robertcjones wrote:
Just go tthe 960 for Christmas. Awesome printer and one of the best engineered printers I have ever owned. Just like 10D freed me from the 'tyranny' of film, the 960 will free me from the developing lab (most of the time, anyway). My only issue is there is a slight pink to the skin tones. I know its not the monitor side since it "agrees" with the same photo I got from ofoto.com. It is not terrible, but definitely noticeable and something that needs to be fixed. Any ideas where to start?

perhaps it's the paper. i get different skin tones with different papers.

[where1]

I received an i960 for Christmas from my lovely wife. I sure do like it so far. She liked it too, when she caught me printing out a picture of her on Christmas day for my desk at work. :)

[robertcjones]

I used the paper that came with the printer. There is a small pack of Canon Photo Pro paper in the box. I have heard others complain about color balance problems. Any ideas?

[hickory]

I just got back from Staples and they have a i960 for $199 is that a good price? I haven't been pricing them but after reading thru this thread I am getting very interested. They also have an i860 for $149 but I noticed it has less ink cartridges and from what I read the more the better, such as the i960 which I believe has 6 cartridges.

tom

[new girl on the bloc]

hickory wrote:
I just got back from Staples and they have a i960 for $199 is that a good price? I haven't been pricing them but after reading thru this thread I am getting very interested. They also have an i860 for $149 but I noticed it has less ink cartridges and from what I read the more the better, such as the i960 which I believe has 6 cartridges.

tom

it's the going rate. a few cheaper options online but local is better. i love mine!

[gracimj]

I purchased a i9100 last month. I used it to print out some 4x6 and 8x10. I noticed visible banding.

I took it back to the store and demanded a refund. I brought them an example of the banding. They said they couldn't see it and gave me a hard time. I didn't relent. They gave me store credit and I got the i960.

I love it. It is fast...with no noticeable banding and great quality.

I figured with the better output I could just send images out to the lab if I need larger prints.

-Matt

[hickory]

"it's the going rate. a few cheaper options online but local is better. i love mine!"

thanks new girl ot bloc!

Now i need to sell off some of my other pc stuff so i can afford a new photo/pc toy :-)

tom