A3 printer advice

pragmatist

pragmatist

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Matty
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Can anyone recommend a good A3 printer. I want to print high quality Macro photos mostly and have around £600 to spend. I have looked at the Canon pixma pro 9000 and 9500 but open to suggestion from other brands.
Thanks,
Matt
 
My vote would be for the Epson Stylus Photo R2880

Uses the Epson Ultra Chrome K3 pigment inks.

I would be very surprised if you were disappointed with this printer.
It's in your price range.
 
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The 9500 Mk II is a great printer. I doubt you would be disappointed with it. Keep an eye out for offers and cashback. I ended up forking out only £250 after cashback etc. for this printer.
The inks are quite expensive though, and there is no CIS available for it. However, the prints are stunning.
 
Had a quick look at the epson inks, looks like there is not such thebenefit I thought.
Assuming you are sticking with oem, the carts are smaller, and a similar cost each. ~£15 from play, £11 if you search around. £99 for a full set on Amazon.
Reason I didn't go with epson is that my last one rusted after two years (in my bedroom).
 
There was a review on printers in one of the mags recently and they recommend the new Epson 3000 as an all rounder - replaces the 2880.

Seems you can save money if you only want colour e.g. the Canon 9000, maybe around £250 or so, but as soon as you want ex. quality mono there doesn't seem to be anything less than about £500 (maybe the Canon 9500 if it's on promotion). I guess you could get a lot of prints done at a lab for that price, let alone all the inks, paper, rejected prints, blocked nozzles etc.

I've never yet owned a printer that hasn't caused me grief after a while with some sort of mechanical error, feeds, blocked nozzles, dust on a drum or prints coming out less than ideal in colour balance and that has put me off investing so much.
 
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The reason I recommended the Epson R2880 is because it uses the same ink set as the other Professional Epson printers.

The 2400/2880/3800/3880/4800 etc etc all use the excellent K3 pigment inks.

CISS or refillable cartridges are readily available. Top quality ink manufactured in the USA is also available at a fraction of the cost with no loss in quality.
Kits can also be had from Lyson or Permajet to name just a couple.
 
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I read somewhere that the Epson is not so good at handling thicker papers...

Just thought I'd mention it in case you plan for similar use, you might want to investigate.
 
kartracer said:
I read somewhere that the Epson is not so good at handling thicker papers...

Just thought I'd mention it in case you plan for similar use, you might want to investigate.
Click to expand...

With Matty having a budget of £600, we are looking toward the professional end of the Epson printer range. I don't think paper feed would be an issue.
 
kartracer said:
I read somewhere that the Epson is not so good at handling thicker papers...

Just thought I'd mention it in case you plan for similar use, you might want to investigate.
Click to expand...

higher end epsons do have a problem with thick paper
 
I use the Pixma Pro 9000 II and it is excellent. I thought about the 9500 but couldn't justify the extra cost for what I was doing.

I don't have any experience with the high end Epsons but I decided on Canon this time because I have been disappointed in Epsons in the past.

Can't fault the Pixma Pro 9000 II

Neil
 
I have had two epson printers both had problems, i now have a canon not had a problem and i have had it 5 years. i am now ready to upgrade, so its canon all the way.
 
da_nige said:
I use the Pixma Pro 9000 II and it is excellent. I thought about the 9500 but couldn't justify the extra cost for what I was doing.

I don't have any experience with the high end Epsons but I decided on Canon this time because I have been disappointed in Epsons in the past.

Can't fault the Pixma Pro 9000 II

Neil
Click to expand...

Presumably you are printing colour and not mono? This printer doesn't seem to fair very well in mono which is a real shame as the 9500 is more expensive and dearer to run.
 
kartracer said:
Is that due to paper path, thickness adjustment (or lack of) or other?

What is the heaviest weight it will take?
Click to expand...

tis not the weight but the thickness.

my R2400 can take 1.3 mm board
 
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