DSLRUsers.com

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a printer now, no point having a collection of photographs on your PC that only I can see, Amy's constantly hassling me about this

My requirements:

Print A3
Print Direct to CD/DVD (no stickers)
Support Paper Rolls
Do automatic cutting
Support Firewire or USB2
Good on Ink
Superior Quality

Ideas?

If you hadn't asked about the A3 printing, I would have suggested the Epson R800...

Kris wrote:Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a printer now, no point having a collection of photographs on your PC that only I can see, Amy's constantly hassling me about this

My requirements:

Print A3
Print Direct to CD/DVD (no stickers)
Support Paper Rolls
Do automatic cutting
Support Firewire or USB2
Good on Ink
Superior Quality

Ideas?

Kris,
You've seen it yesterday, the Epson 2100 with parallel port/ Firewire and USB 2.0 and it prints direct on to printable CD and does all your above listing. remember two size of A3s not one A3. Cost $1430.00 GST Inc.
The R800 does not do A3, maximum A4 and has no parallel and Firewire port.

I personally suggest the Canon i9950, which can be grabbed for at least $830.
I'm more of a Canon person than an Epson (I've got some pretty biased opinions based on Epson's products and my experience with them in the past) but what I will say is that there's only one real thing that I can find that Epson's have over the Canon and that is ink-fade life... the Canon's are guaranteed for 15 years, the Epson's for 80... that's about the only good thing I can find about them.

From personal experience, and this has been confirmed by others as well - Canons tend to be fussy over paper. Good results with fade resistance will only be achieved by sticking to Canon's own brand of paper.
Epson's mid to high end printers uses pigment versus dye based ink - longer lasting. Not sure about the paper issue however.

I have a Canon i950 printer and i cannot tell the difference between it and a lab produced digital image. My customers certainly can't.

I have used/owned Epson printers as well and i was quite happy with the performance of them too.

But when i was going to purchase a new photo quality printer the Canon was on special at $200 off retail price so i got that one ahead of the Epson of similar standard.

My two cents is, get the printer with the features you want. Epson=Canon=same.

Birddog, I did indeed look at yours, quite nice.

$1400 is a bit exy.. sub $1000 would be nice. I'll look at Canon's site right now.

A question, can the ink charges be refilled?


EDIT: Looked at the Canon i9950, its resolution seems to be far superior to the Epson 2100. Does this make a considerable difference?

Kris wrote:Birddog, I did indeed look at yours, quite nice.

$1400 is a bit exy.. sub $1000 would be nice. I'll look at Canon's site right now.

A question, can the ink charges be refilled?


EDIT: Looked at the Canon i9950, its resolution seems to be far superior to the Epson 2100. Does this make a considerable difference?

Yes the ink can be refilled but each genuine ink cartridge is about $17.00 and it last with many prints, I haven't changed any yet, and I'm not intent to use the refill cos I don't know what the quality is, especially on the A4 and A3 print.

I don't have and use Canon so I can't comment, perhaps Raydar can help you with it.

kris - those resolution numbers are all interpolated maximums under ideal conditions, etc. - pretty much bovine excrement.

I have the Canon S820
IMO you are better going for the replacement tanks & not the refill.
It works out very expensive to print with my printer so I only print the images I no I will be happy with.
As for archival properties, I’ve done a test on the Canon photo paper pro & it faded in 4 months so that blows the 25 years out the window!!!!!!!

I have always said, an image is only as good as there printer it comes out of, so spend the extra for a good one!!!!!

Cheers
Ray

A print faded in 4months? I want something that will last just as long as something you get from the Printers..

Are these printers not capable of this?

Mate I was pissed off to!!!!!
I hung it on the wall were it looked the best & for months later it started to change color.

Not good

Cheers
Ray

ink is ink light is light doesn't matter what you print with even photographic it will fade in sunlight. don't let anyone fool you i print both and the end result is the same. UV spray will prolong the fading the only true non fade is from solvent based inks which come from large format outdoor printers.

Hmmmmmmm. Ok, so I will just archive every shot on DVD for 'future' use

Killakoala wrote:I have a Canon i950 printer and i cannot tell the difference between it and a lab produced digital image. My customers certainly can't.

Yes Killa, I have the very similar i965, and the results have been stunning.
(Mind you, the first one I got was a dud, and I pressed fairly hard to get a brand new replacement - there was minor reluctance from the computer shop but I think it was probably just that thing where they see whether you are serious. I am.)

All results from the printer - excellent. It has direct to cd printing, but I haven't done one yet.

The i965 misses out on several of your requirements Kris, but I am a very happy canon printer user.

Having looked at Canon's i9550 & the Epson 2100, is there any other brands I should look into ?

Both the Epson & Canon appear to be very similiar, and given I can get the Canon for $950 that may swing me over the Epson's $1450

Give 'em a test drive at your local Hardly Normal shop.

Hang on, would they even have these large ouput printers there? Harris Tech might.

Kris,
My brief thoughts on printing. 6x4 prints are probably best done at a shop due to cost. Fletchers (about 400m from your home) will do 6x4 for less than 50c if you get 20 or more. They use the Fuji Frontier machine so just take down your card or a cd and print them off. Most prints off a printer will cost you the same or more.

Now A4 prints cost $9-10, but can be done on a machine for $2-3 so I do A4 on a printer. I use the Epson R310 which costs $340, but is available without screen and card sockets for $220 as an R210. Harris Technology or maybe Birddog have them. Great quality, I can show you some examples, especially for the money. Does A4 and CD's. Disadvantage doesn't do A3, I think long term I will solve that by getting the same as Birddog, short term I will outsource A3. I like the Epsons, especially higher end at this stage due to longer lasting inks. The R800 inks are better than the R210, but so is the price.

Good luck

I have the Canon i865 and I love it. No A3 though. I tried generic inks and I tried refilling and they were both awful! The generic ink wouldn't print and I used half of the cartridge on cleaning it to try to make it work. Ended up throwing the 3 I didn't use out.

Marvin

Haven't used them so I don't know if any good, but they have genuine Canon cartridges and I think the prices are OK

http://www.inkman.com.au/

Gentlemen...when it comes to printers there are a number of traps and a number of known quantities. The Epson 2100 is the finest A3 printer on the market using pigmented inks that are lightfast for better then 50 years and up to 120 depending on paper used. No printer will give satisfactory results with cheap inks and papers. Buy an A4 printer if your budget is tight...the Epson R800 is outstanding. A cheap printer will never satisfy. Better have no printer at all and save the angst.

(Or is it the R8000?) Not sure of the model number.

... Obsolete ...

Does anyone use a Canon ip5000?

I used to use a Canon ip8500 st work... and I know that Stubbsy here does.

I have a Canon ip5000....was just wondering what sort of results others get with it...and my biggest question.....is the rear door (that I just noticed last night) for roll paper????

Hi Embi, I have a ip 5000 and like it very much, it has been my introduction to home printing,i think the rear door is for by pass feeding,but will need to research it, i always use the top feeder, never the front tray as it tends to bend the paper with aweful results ,
I found out the hard way that it does not like third party cartridges,as they print a little on the light side,
I now have a D2X and the ip 5000 prints it's pics really well,however i am looking at the ip9550 as it can print A3, people rave about Epsons 1800 and 2400 and will look at these also,but am in no hurry,
Also i only ever use IILford Gallerie, smooth pearl paper and for gloss i use Tetanal,
Hope this is of some help.

Nikon boy wrote:.....Also i only ever use IILford Gallerie, smooth pearl paper and for gloss i use Tetanal,
Hope this is of some help.

Where do you get these papers from?

Embi,i get mine from Vanbar in cardigan st Carlton,they have the full range , but supposedly Teds ,Camera House ,and Michaels stock it , i really like the Smooth Pearl paper,