Printer advice

[wicksey]

hi

I am branching out as a freelance photographer in December. although in intend to get most of my prints done professionally, i want to invest in a good home printer.
i have looked at the reviews of the following:

[*]Canon ix 6550
[*]Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II
[*]Canon PIXMA Pro9500

Some advice will be welcomed around my dilemma.

waiting in anticipation

Wicksey

 

[stu.artd]

I can't comment on the two you've mentioned but I'm very happy with my Epson Stylus Photo 3000.

 

[Bristolian]

NPhoto magazine just did a comparison test of several A4 and A3+ printers. they tested these:
Canon Pixma MG6250 - best value A4 printer
Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mk2
Canon Pixma Pro-1 - best in test
Epson Stylus Photo PX830FWD
Epson Stylus Photo R2000
Epson Stylus Photo R3000 - 2nd place
HP Photosmart 7510e - best all-in-one
Kodak esp32 - don't even go there!

Comparing the Pixma Pro-1 and R3000 (which used to be the de-facto champion) they found the colour and mono performance to be marginally better with the Canon.

Hope that helps

 

[POAH]

you'll not get any 3rd party carts or CIS with the pro-1

fotospeed do refillable carts for the R3000

 

[PsiFox]

If you intend to print for sale, you should consider a calibration system that calibrates both your monitor and your printer. To go the whole hog you can calibrate the images taken on import into Lightroom with a Colorchecker passport.

 

[DizMatt]

canon for me
I find epson unreliable, always have. i'd only ever consider the top end epsons
and by design, the use ink everytime you turn them on which I detest.
canon all the way for me

 

[rjbell]

the ix6550 is great but its dye. If you plan on going selling prints you really need to use a pigment printer. I would personally look at the Pixma Pro-1 and R3000 too. I bought a r3000 from fotospeed with there own inks. They will will make custom profiles for you with your chosen ink and media.

 

[Phil V]

Unless you're already an expert (which judging by the question you're not) I'd forget home printing as a professional. Maintaining a pro quality workflow on a home printer requires the full suite of calibration tools and custom printer profiles if you stray away from standard inks and media.

Professional quality printing is now cheaper than ever - and better than all but the most dedicated home printing operator - there are people who do home printing that produce stunning results. Although you might find a printer that prints DVD's a useful tool - if you plan to deliver any digital files to customers.

 

[Nod]

All my photo printers are Canons - an s820 (A4) (now retired in favour of), an iX4000 (A3) and a Selphy 710 (postcard, dyesub). My wife has an Epson R220 (IIRC), but gets me to do anything important. Doesn't mean my choices were right but I looked at test prints from both Canons and Epsons and prefered the Canon results for accuracy and overall quality. If you can, get a shop to run you off a couple of test prints using the same source files and see which you prefer.

I have once used a compatible cartridge rather than genuine - NEVER AGAIN! poor colour rendition, terrible longevity of colour and the risk of nozzle blockage made me pull it out and replace it with a genuine Canon one ASAP. Yes, Canon carts are more expensive than 3rd party ones BUT, if you have to throw away a compatible cart after just a few prints, that's money wasted anyway, ignoring the genuine ink then used to flush the **** ink out of the system! I know some people swear by compatible carts - I just swore at the one I used.