What Is The Best Printer?

[Mills]

I would like to get a nice printer in order to begin making some prints myself. Just have no idea which one. I am really interested in high quality. Your input would be greatly appreciated. I know there are a ton of answers, but I need a good place to begin my research. Thanks in advance.

[mbze430]

What's your budget?

[steven]

Questions to be answered:

1) How much do you want to spend.
2) How big do you want to print.
3) What kind of ink do you want to use (dye base, pigment base, wax based, laser printer . . . )

[Mills]

Questions to be answered:

1) How much do you want to spend.
2) How big do you want to print.
3) What kind of ink do you want to use (dye base, pigment base, wax based, laser printer . . . )

Lets say up to $2,500.

Now here is where I become an idiot. 2 & 3 I can't answer because I do not really know what is possible. Total novice when it comes to printers. I would love to do big prints. I think. Sorry for the lack of direction.

[tntolls]

Epson Stylus Pro 4000 with ultrachome inks. By the time you put a stand under it and get the RIP software, you will be at about $2,500. Supposedly puts out 16" x 20" sheets (and, of course roll stock) but the printer has been out 7 or 8 months now and Epson is just now getting their line of 16" x 20" sheet paper in the stores. That is why I used the "supposedly" wording since most of mine has been on the next size sheet smaller (13" x 19"). I notice you have a 1D Mark II. With that same camera and at the 16" x 20" size, from what I have seen, you will be hard pressed to tell your home prints from lab prints. I have not done enough of the 1Ds Mark II prints yet to say more more than I am told it makes a difference, but from what I have seen so far, it is difficult to see a difference between the two cameras with that printer until you go to larger prints (20" x 30", etc. with one of Epson's other wide format printers). Most of our large prints are of aerial photos related to work.

[mbze430]

unless you plan on doing CMYK work I don't see anyone investing RIP. Once you invest in RIP, you will need to invest another $1500 for software that can profile CMYK. Since you are asking about printers, I will assume you are not in the off-set print industry.

Epson 4000 is a great printer. It's definately within your budget. Great part about it is the option to use multitude of paper. Unlike Canon ImagePrograh and HP Designjet, Epson has a stronge following of manufacture making every possible paper.

[steven]

To answer the detail, paper size is paper size,

ink type dictates how long the picture lasts.
From when I was reading up on it there are two types of ink jet inks, dye base, and pigment base.
There are pluses to both types.
Dye base blend better giving you a better looking image.
Pigment base last longer, less fade over time.

I think only Epson uses pigment base (it is the kind I purchased) so my view is slanted. The others Canon/HP use dye base.

[mphoto]

A couple of other things to consider:
1. If longevity is an issue for you, then most people agree that the Ultrachrome inks are superior to the dye based inks used in other printer lines.
2. The Stylus Pro 4000 is somewhat on the large size compared to most other consumer-level printers. I read somewhere that it is delivered on a pallet.
3. If you plan on doing a lot a printing there are after-market bulk ink systems available for both the Epson 2200 and the 4000 (check out Lyson's ink systems).

Good luck.

[CyberDyneSystems]

If longevity claims are the highest prioroity,. Epson seems to bte the way to go,..

If reliability,. ease of use and amazing color prints with little effort are a plus,. then a $500.00 printer like the Canon i9100 is a great option :)

Mind you,. I've never had a $2,500.00 Epson,. but the Epsons I have worked with have all dies before a year was up...

[robertwgross]

When some people start thinking about buying a printer, often they will start or end their thinking about the lowest price. That will generally be a bad decision. For most photographers, there will be a lot of printing going on, and the initial price of a printer will end up being insignificant as compared to the cost of the consumables (ink + paper). So, a better way to approach the decision is to estimate the amount of printing that you expect to do each year for several years, and then estimate the overall cost of the whole thing.

I use an inkjet printer that I purchased about five years ago, and replacement inkjet cartridges empty so fast (at least on the big prints) that cartridge cost in each 8-9 month period equals the initial printer cost.

I showed one of my 13"x19" prints to a film photographer who had always had his film prints done by a lab. He took off his eyeglasses to study my print up close, and then he asked me which lab had done the print. When I told him it was my old Epson printer, his response was "No Way!"

---Bob Gross---

[gramps]

I'm not sure how true this is..............I have heard that the Canon printers are great BUT only with Canon paper. There has been a lot of talk that the Epson printers do great on just about any brand/type of paper.

[tntolls]

The 4000 is definitely too large for one's typical desktop (must be used sideways to allow access to front and back during printing so desktop would need to be about 34" deep). Thus, the need for the stand (or actually, a "rolling cabinet"). The printer comes in a box and the stand is shipped on a pallet. Both are quite heavy. One complaint I have is that it can still be difficult to line the single sheet paper up but since this can occasionally be a problem on the stand, I would think it would be much more of a problem if used sideways on a desktop. I am told the 2200 was more difficult in this regard but I have no experience with the 2200 so can not make that comparison. Roll stock is simple though and the ability to use the 220 ml ink cartridges instead of the 110 ml size definitely keeps costs down.

[chtgrubbs]

The new HP large format printer has been getting very good reviews. See this link:

http://www.photofocus.com/showarchive.php?aid=213&cid=1

Also, I am wondering if Epson is going to replace the 2200. It has been around awhile and the models above and below it are new technology.

[kb244]

They already have the 2200 replacement in japan, its basically the RX800 in a wide format. The UltraChrome "High Gloss" ink to allow more vibrant print onto glossy paper.

[Mills]

Thanks. Now I have something to start with.

[Avalonthas]

Canon i9900 all the way. Its got great ink and is large format.

[Barb42]

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1108098105.html (http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1108098105.html) Check out the new Epson R1800.

[Danny Boy]

I also recently purchased the i9900 and am extremely satisfied with it. I've printed small to large prints (not 13x19 though) and am impressed with what I've seen so far.