Canon IPF 5000 Printer

Can anyone provide some information on this printer. I want to invest in a printer soon and would like to know how the Epson Stylus 3800 compares to the Canon IPF 5000. The Canon costs more, but many reviewers think the Epson is better. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I can't help you with the Epson 3800, but I do own the iPF5000. It's a great printer, but with all 17" printers there is a pretty steep learning curve. If you have persistent you can get great prints with it.

Canon's announced the iPF5100 and it should be available soon.

I have no regrets about my purchase.

I too cannot help with the Epson 3800 since I own the ipf5000. I used to have my prints done at a local graphics printer who has an Epson 9800. I never was totally pleased with the results. First print from the ipf5000 I was in awe. Then I did a re-print of one I had done up by the local graphics printer and put them side by side. The ipf5000 print blew it away. I must say in his defense however that I cannot control the color profiles nor contrast and saturation at the local printer. The ipf5000 is huge but it does conserve ink. Been printing everything from 5x7's to panos to A2 and my ink level is only down to 60% and thats the starter tanks. There are some reported problems with it so you may want to check out here. http://canonipf5000.wi​kispaces.com/ Oh, shop around and don't be afraid to haggle a little. I ended up with a free printer stand and free shipping for both printer and stand for the same cost that others were charging for just the printer alone.

Here's a review that sort of compares the Canon 5000 and Epson 3800.

http://www.popphoto.co​m …per-printer-shootout.html

I'll take a look at these reviews and share my thoughts with everyone. I've heard stories about the Canon IPF5000 being difficult to calibrate to print the correct colors. Not sure if this is true.

Photoman65 wrote in post #3418887
I'll take a look at these reviews and share my thoughts with everyone. I've heard stories about the Canon IPF5000 being difficult to calibrate to print the correct colors. Not sure if this is true.

First print was spot on.

What size was your first print? The IPF5000 is super expensive in the long run with replacing the ink cartridges. This is one of my concerns with the IPF 5000. I personally want to buy the IPF 5000, but I'd like to see the picture quality from both the Epson 3800 and the Canon IPF 5000.

Photoman65 wrote in post #3420797
What size was your first print? The IPF5000 is super expensive in the long run with replacing the ink cartridges. This is one of my concerns with the IPF 5000. I personally want to buy the IPF 5000, but I'd like to see the picture quality from both the Epson 3800 and the Canon IPF 5000.

First print was 8x10 after going through the calibration routine. Next was three A2 size on Hahnemühle’s Photo Rag® 308 which in a few days were in an Art Gallery. A printer is a huge invenstment so take your time. Ink does cost and off the bat the ipf5000 has 12 ink cartridges whereas the 3800 has 9. There are many other sites that offer side by side comparisons. Check them all out before making any choices. The 3800 is a fine printer but the lack of roll feed killed it off the bat for me.

Can you print on canvas paper with the 5000?

This is a good site too, and good forums

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Menus/reviews.​htm

PhotoMan,
I have the IPF5000, I love it, BUT

DON'T BUY IT!

In a nutshell, us IPF5000 owners ended up Canon's Beta testers again on a new class of Printers for them, and the updated model is announced less than a year after the first IPF5000's were available..
There are not and most likely now with it's being replaced already, never will be any 64bit drivers for it.
As mentioned by JBillings, the new IPF5100 has already been announced and should be on shelves mid/late summer.

Several interface improvements have bee made but the most significant upgrades are;

1. The roll feeder is included! (total cost will be lower)
2. Canon have already improved the black inks, and God Damn them they won't even FIT in the IPF5000!! This means the blacks that we need for the IPF 5000 will become very hard to come by very shortly as all future units will use the new inks.

Cost per print is actual very affordable even though the cartridge price seems high. You get a lot of printing out of those cartridges.

Oh, and I've printed out a 17" buy 34" poster sized print from a MkII RAW file,. and it's incredible!!!!!!

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #3444607
2. Canon have already improved the black inks, and God Damn them they won't even FIT in the IPF5000!! This means the blacks that we need for the IPF 5000 will become very hard to come by very shortly as all future units will use the new inks.

Just got off the phone with Canon and made my way up into both marketing and support division leadership. Both assured me that they will manufacture the black inks for the ipf5000 as well as continued support for other hardware and software. Their current support view is that it is another seperate model in the imagePROGRAF Series and not as a discontinued model. Time will tell. Got to admit I was a little miffed that two months after I bought it the press release came out. Just like buying a computer, as soon as you hook it up it's outdated!

Photoman65 wrote in post #3418887
I'll take a look at these reviews and share my thoughts with everyone. I've heard stories about the Canon IPF5000 being difficult to calibrate to print the correct colors. Not sure if this is true.

I have absolutely no problems with my printer. And it's easy to custom profile if you desire.