What photo printer should I get?

dferigmu · September 15, 2003 12:28PM

I have heard that the Canon i950 is the best, but you have to buy Canon paper. If you want to experiment with paper, I heard that Epson's are good. Any suggestions? Is the i950 the way to go? Is Canon paper good?

Also, how well does the i950 print documents? I can never find a print speed for b+w documents, or color documents.

coolmac · September 15, 2003 8:11PM

Yes the i950 is the way to go.

I have the following printers;

Canon S800,Epson 890,Epson 1280,Canon i850,Canon i950

and you know what, the i950 is my favorite by a longshot.

Prints gorgeous photos fast and is also great for printing documents.

I also use non Canon papers with beautiful results!

liquidr · September 16, 2003 12:17AM

Epson 1280. Every pro-photographer I talk to these days are Epson. The only other option for a print from digital is the RA-4 paper digital process, that's something neither you or I can afford in a printer.

digitaldave · September 16, 2003 2:38AM

I have a Canon i850, and it produces beautiful prints. I've read in a few places that Canon paper can be prone to fading. However, Epson and Ilford papers are very highly regarded.

I don't think you'll be disapinted with the i950

.

Cheers,

Dave.

dferigmu · September 16, 2003 6:50AM

Quote:

Originally posted by coolmac

Yes the i950 is the way to go.

I have the following printers;

Canon S800,Epson 890,Epson 1280,Canon i850,Canon i950

and you know what, the i950 is my favorite by a longshot.

Prints gorgeous photos fast and is also great for printing documents.

I also use non Canon papers with beautiful results!

Thanks for the advice, but I did here from everyone that Canon's only print well with Canon paper.

What paper do you use?

cboth · September 16, 2003 12:33PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dferigmu

Thanks for the advice, but I did here from everyone that Canon's only print well with Canon paper.

What paper do you use?

I have a Canon i850 which I am very happy with. For 4X6 I use Canon paper, though when I go larger to 8.5X11 I use Ilford Galerie Classic Pearl paper, which is a really great paper.

jeff79m · September 16, 2003 2:14PM

I second the Epsons. Check out http://www.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1003 great forum on photo printers. It will tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

whisper · September 16, 2003 2:38PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LiquidR

Epson 1280. Every pro-photographer I talk to these days are Epson. The only other option for a print from digital is the RA-4 paper digital process, that's something neither you or I can afford in a printer.

Really?!? Every Epson I've ever used was crap. When I was a salesman at OfficeMax, all the Epsons were constantly breaking. Lexmarks were better, but not by a whole lot. HP was the only brand that didn't glitch out at least twice a day.

son of gib · September 16, 2003 9:49PM

I went from an epson to a canon i850, and it rulz. individual colors have already saved me lots of $ - It's so quiet sometimes I have to go make sure it's printing and I can even print when my lady's sleeping. The epson sounded like a train. Haven't had any trouble with other brands of paper, although I like the canon matte best for my purposes anyway (only $9 for 50 sheets at compUSA).

Also it prints photos fast as shit.

liquidr · September 17, 2003 12:29AM

Quote:

originally posted by Whisper

Really?!? Every Epson I've ever used was crap. When I was a salesman at OfficeMax, all the Epsons were constantly breaking. Lexmarks were better, but not by a whole lot. HP was the only brand that didn't glitch out at least twice a day.

I don't know about the reliability of the mechanisms, but I do know that the print quality is supposed to superior. At school we recently had an event with the local ASMP chapter, the majority of their portfolios consisted of Epson prints. The rest were either traditional C-prints or were in process of changing their portfolios to Epson prints from C-prints.

thai moof · September 17, 2003 2:32AM

Another vote for the i950. I compared to others, but the i950 produced the best results. I use various paper (non Canon), and the results are just fantastic. However, check out Canon's website, they have introduced a successor to the i950 (not sure if it is actually available right now, though).

g in the s · September 17, 2003 2:40AM

I have used, owned and tested virtually every sub $1000 printer on the market.

For the quality that I demand out of my prints I think Epson and Canon are about neck and neck.

But if you want the printer that prints colors on paper as close to photo emulsion as possible I would go with Epson.

In several different independent reviews that utilized high powered microscopes to analyze printed images the Epson print technology came out the closes to emulating a traditional photo processing technique. The best review was in a MacDesign magazine about a year ago if I remember right.

If you want a killer printer that has the best print quality under $1000 then I would suggest the Epson 2200. This printer uses seven individual ink tanks consisting of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Light Black and either Photo Black or Matte Black depending on your paper type.

I have made prints with this printer on basic copier paper that look better than most prints on photo paper with other printers. The big advantage to this printer is the Light Black and the choice of Matte Black or Photo Black depending on the type of print you want to make. I often print cheap proofs of black only photos on cheap paper with the matte black and the images are just amazing. This lets me use the expensive paper when I want to do final prints or higher quality proofs.

But this printer runs from $620 to $699. So it is more than most people want to spend.

If you are on more of a budget then it is hard to beat the Canon i950. It is a great printer, but you definitely have to have the right paper for it in my opinion.

In general I like Epson's paper the best. I even had a Canon rep once tell me that he liked and recommended Epson's paper over the Canon stuff all the time.

The best solution I found is to take your own paper to a store and try printing an image you bring if you can. The biggest problem usually is that they either don't have a computer hooked up to the printers or that they are out of ink.

I hope this info helps for what its worth.

- G in the S

liquidr · September 17, 2003 3:19AM

Quote:

originally posted by G in the S

I have used, owned and tested virtually every sub $1000 printer on the market.

Do you know if the 2200 produces an archival quality print?

g in the s · September 17, 2003 1:12PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LiquidR

Do you know if the 2200 produces an archival quality print?

Yes, the Epson 2200 does produce archival quality prints. Unlike the lower end Epson printers that use DuraBrite inks the 2200 uses the UltraChrome inks. These inks state that they have a 90 year lightfastness . This is another reason why I selected this printer.

- G in the S

neurokid · September 21, 2003 10:49PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dferigmu

I have heard that the Canon i950 is the best, but you have to buy Canon paper. If you want to experiment with paper, I heard that Epson's are good. Any suggestions? Is the i950 the way to go? Is Canon paper good?

Also, how well does the i950 print documents? I can never find a print speed for b+w documents, or color documents.

I have the i950 -- it's fantastic! I use the Canon Photo Paper Pro.

Printed documents are also very good. But this printer is really best for photos.

dferigmu · September 28, 2003 3:07PM

Quote:

Originally posted by neurokid

I have the i950 -- it's fantastic! I use the Canon Photo Paper Pro.

Printed documents are also very good. But this printer is really best for photos.

How fast does it print documents?

What photo printer should I get?

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