Looking for a new A3+ printer

Glyn Carnell

Glyn Carnell

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Glyn
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Always been an Epson man but willing to change.... Now with the new camera and my epson A3+ printer having dried up, I am in the maket for a new product at the correct price. Any suggestions on the best make and model?
 
Epson still the best.... SC-P600 will be the one...
I've just got the 800.... Great results
 
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I have the SC-P800 and it is fantastic and A2+. Get the 600 if you don't want to print above A3+.

Depending on how much you print, you can also get a CIS for it now. Have a look here.
 
I love my Canon Pro 100. Only downside is that it cannot take roll paper for large panos.
 
Stephen L said:
I love my Canon Pro 100. Only downside is that it cannot take roll paper for large panos.
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If you get a mo I'd like to hear more about the Canon. I've heard before that they just work straight out of the box :D

I have an Epson R2880 and I've been very frustrated with it, dark prints and print quality issues abound... and it needs constant attention and fiddling to get the best out of it, it's probably put me off Epson for life although to be fair I've read that newer and more expensive models are better. I'm really looking for something a lot more reliable and plug and play and forget rather than to be married to the Epson. Used to have a HP A3 but can't remember the model number, it was much more predictable than the Epson with none of the dark print or quality issues but sadly used to suffer paper jams. With the issues I've had with my last two printers I'm reluctant to buy another without getting some good reports.
 
is a continuous ink system worth it or go with the original carts?
 
If you do a lot of printing then a CIS is worth it & cheaper to run
 
Can't really say more than that. I had previous bad experiences with Epsons blocking heads (although they may have improved since then), but no trouble with Canon. It takes a while for them to recharge themselves if they've not been used for a few days, but I presume that's why the heads don't block. Beautiful colours, and great mono on the Pro 100.
 
I see that the Canon pro 100 is currently at £275. That's a good price.
 
I have used Epson printers for the last 15 years and this is without doubt the best by far. They did have problems in the early days mainly with blocked/ dried print heads but so far this has been virtually eliminated. The new ultrachrome hd inks with vivid magenta gives really brilliant vivid colours and for me one of the best things are the fantastic deep B&W. Since initial set up I haven't wasted one sheet of paper, I know people go on about the cost of printing but if you get it right time after time then it isn't actually that expensive at all, I have always used the Epson inks on quite a large range of papers. Longevity is another great aspect as well. So I suppose to answer your question then yes it is based on my opinion. What else should I base it on..... Somebody else's opinion maybe?
;)
 
woof woof said:
I see that the Canon pro 100 is currently at £275. That's a good price.
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Calumet are doing the Pro-100S at £237.50 and including £80 of vouchers - or the Pro-10S at £326.10 and including £80 in vouchers.

(Small print on the voucher offer says the online voucher can't be used for ink).
 
I've owned an Epson R3000 for the last 4 years. Loaded the software, put the inks in and have got excellent prints from the very first print. No blocked heads even when not used for several weeks. Use Epson inks and don't find it uneconomical to print what I need, which admittedly isn't a huge amount.

Not even had custom profiles done for it just the generic downloaded ones from paper manufacturer websites.
 
Dryce said:
Calumet are doing the Pro-100S at £237.50 and including £80 of vouchers - or the Pro-10S at £326.10 and including £80 in vouchers.

(Small print on the voucher offer says the online voucher can't be used for ink).
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That's a great deal!

I have the 100s, find it perfect for what I need ( prints of the kids etc)
 
Gaz J said:
Not even had custom profiles done for it just the generic downloaded ones from paper manufacturer websites.
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One problem I've suffered from is the dark print issue which has been widely reported and mentioned in reviews. It had me tearing my hair out.

My R2880 is capable of very good image quality but it's the time investment that puts my off. I never just send a full sized print to it now, I always send a thumbnail and inspect it first. I just can't take it for granted.
 
Dryce said:
Calumet are doing the Pro-100S at £237.50 and including £80 of vouchers - or the Pro-10S at £326.10 and including £80 in vouchers.

(Small print on the voucher offer says the online voucher can't be used for ink).
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Just looked and the pro 100s seems to be £375, am I missing something?
 
woof woof said:
One problem I've suffered from is the dark print issue which has been widely reported and mentioned in reviews. It had me tearing my hair out.

My R2880 is capable of very good image quality but it's the time investment that puts my off. I never just send a full sized print to it now, I always send a thumbnail and inspect it first. I just can't take it for granted.
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When I first started to print seriously I read a set of articles off a website called Earthbound Light. I set Photoshop up exactly as they had it in their articles and have never looked back. Have never changed. Judges in comps that I've entered have often said that my photography was crap but they've never said the prints were :)
 
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woof woof said:
Just looked and the pro 100s seems to be £375, am I missing something?
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Looks like it finished midnight yesterday.

There were aggressive deals on the Pro-1 at the beginning of December - and as part of the Christmas sales there were some good deals on the Pro-10S and Pro100S.

If you miss an offer it's sometimes worth phoning to see if it's still available - even though it's disappeared from the website.
 
With Epson I think it really is a case of spending a lot of time and ink calibrating it so you know what it will do. Many people swear by them in clubs and business. However, I have to agree, my old R2400 had me tearing my hair out, but my current R2880 has been a lot better. Still got quite a bit of ink for it, but after that, may move on.... The quality is however superb, been complimented a few times particularly on my mono prints from it. Most of it a bit of luck despite a Spyder and Colormunki Print calibrator thingy :-)
 
BlackCloud said:
With Epson I think it really is a case of spending a lot of time and ink calibrating it so you know what it will do. Many people swear by them in clubs and business. However, I have to agree, my old R2400 had me tearing my hair out, but my current R2880 has been a lot better. Still got quite a bit of ink for it, but after that, may move on.... The quality is however superb, been complimented a few times particularly on my mono prints from it. Most of it a bit of luck despite a Spyder and Colormunki Print calibrator thingy :)
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I can't agree with that. I've had an R800, R1500 and now the R3000 and have never had a problem with getting what I see on the screen into print. I've also set up friends Epson printers and they don't have any problems either.
 
Not sure which bit you don't agree with. I'm saying I get good prints from my R2880 but I didn't with the R2400. I had to spend time setting it up though, so presumably you must mean you didn't? My screen is calibrated and I apply paper profiles to print for club competition and exhibitions. So presumably you plugged it in and away you went? I'd be interested to hear what process you did to set yours up as if there is a much easier way I'm all ears... :-)
 
I don't agree that you need to spend lots of time and ink setting up Epson printers. But yeah, since the R800 I've essentially loaded the software and printed. Maybe I'm just lucky.
 
Have you checked your colour accuracy against a colour checker chart? I was finding greens, browns and reds were off hence the need for calibration. The prints were also initially far too dark despite the screen being calibrated down (most people have it too bright anyway for prints).
 
Never got on with Epson printers. Always failed on me. The Canon ones have always worked and worked. Get a Pro-10 or 1 if you can. My Pro-10 has never let me down and provides exceptional prints.
 
Take a look at the Epson XP-950. An A3 printer not much bigger than an A4 one in desk space, I have one.
 
Epson SC-P600 for me. Depends on your budget though. I picked up one just before Christmas and can't fault it
 
Regards the Canon Pro 100s, I have one (4 weeks now) & yes excellent prints straight out of the box.
Keep an eye out for Wex Photographic, they are official Canon dealers to start with and twice in the last month have offered an extra £100 off the usual £375 you see from most sellers.
I purchased mine when they also offered an extra 10% off plus a free 1TB portable HD.
The offer at the moment isn't extra money off but the freebie has changed to a Wacom Intuos Creative Pen and Touch Photo Graphic Tablet and Canon PT101 Pro Platinum A4 Paper - 20.
The £100 plus the 10% extra brought mine down to £247.50 plus I got the portable HD but be warned if this offer with money off plus extra % is available don't click the paper freebie as it stops the extra 10% off for some reason but do get the hardware freebie whatever that is on offer at the time.
Just keep an eye out.
Oh and Amazon are best at the moment for a full value pack of genuine 8 cartridges at just over £58 Inc p&p
 
I literally just bought a Canon IP8750 (Arrived yesterday). But all this talk about the 100 is making me feel like I've done the wrong thing! Maybe I'll have to do some proper print testing on it to see.
 
I'm sure the IP8750 will be great, however, you said it arrived yesterday which sounds as though it was purchased online. If so the rules state you can send it back remember. I was going to get that one but having a pigment black along side the dye black put me off s I felt it wasted an opportunity for a different colour and also another dye ink to match the others. The reason it's pigment is for documents etc and I have an all in one for that.
But I was very tempted as the reviews I read for it were all good.
 
I had a Canon Pro 100 for 12 months and loved it the only reason I changed it was I got a Pro1 at Calumet's open day for £299!!! Just entered my first 2 prints in the club print completion and although I haven't had them judged yet I have to say I am pleased with the results straight out of the box. When I get chance I will get the paper profiles etc sorted out
 
Not sure the brand matters that much tbh (Canon or Epson). I made my decision on what features they had, I wanted pigment ink and a roll feed - at the time Canon couldn't meet my requirements so went with Epson. So far it has survived house moves and being left unused for long periods (several months at a time). Can't fault it really. I got the R2000 as it has separate ink channels for the blacks so wastes less when swapping between them (for matt or gloss finishes) - not sure if the make that model anymore but would expect it's successor to be just as good.
 
Epson R2880 is superb. I have had one for the last 2-3 years and it amazes me how good it is on A3 and lower using Epson papers. Perhaps I'm lucky, as someone mentioned they have problems, but in all the time I have had this machine, it has never been switched off, unless there has been the odd powercut. I was told about this by someone and it really helps to maintain quality. I also only ever use genuine inks, not copies. It costs more but does make a difference.

Malcolm
 
Just for those that were interested, I have done some extensive testing on the Canon IP8750, and I can tell you that it has performed outstandingly. I am more than happy with all the 16x12 prints that are now covering my walls!
 
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