The Printer Recommendation Thread

[arild]

Just thought a thread including printer recommendations should be a part of the great maggot database. Please share your experiences with photo printers.

Finally dragged my ass to the local electronics store and bought myself a photo printer, an Epson PX720WD (review will follow). I thought, for quite some time, about buying an R2880, since it gets good reviews and can print A3+ sized photos. What decided against it was:

-Way too big, would have had nowhere to place it in the apartment

-Cost, both running and initial such. Printing high contrast (color and mono) prints, especially at A3, is expensive, both paperwise and inkwise. The addition of a little girl(presumedly) my girlfriend and I am expecting in April (STOKED!) made the cost of a huge A3 printer and the running of such hard to rationalize.

-When am I going to print A3s? I shoot for friends, family and myself. I love looking at my own pictures and others', but don´t need them bigger than A4 to enjoy them.

I opted for the rational thing, a semi-cheap (about $200 US converted), high quality printer, that actually looks kind of good when not in use. That last bit could´ve been ignored, but I get brownie points.

Stock photo here:


Quick review:

Cons:
-Big, even compared to a few A3 printers.
-Drivers that came on the cd in the box were ignored by Snow leopard, since I did not have rosetta installed. Seeing as macs have been using intel processors for almost five years, that was a bit of a surprise. Direct communication between computer and printer is therefore non-existant.
-Ink is fucking expensive (no surprise there).

Pros:
-Print quality - shit looks great, even high contrast and "vivid" color prints. The magenta and green colors are breathtaking. High PQ++.
-Ease of use - it reads CF cards, which is actually a huge plus in my book. The LCD on the printer is easy to interpret, and directions thereon is easy-peasy.
-Print time - each photo on a full A4 takes about 4 minutes, which gives me just enough time to fine tune other photos.
-It can scan, too, but I don´t quite see when I´m going to use that feature. Let´s say it´s a useful option to have at hand.

Conclusion:
I never looked at the alternatives, just read a few good reviews and bought it. Full disclosure there, heh. I was surprised by how easy it was to make some art from some of the thousands of my photos on my hard drive, and how true to color the prints turned out to be. It´s stupid to be without a printer, I now realize, and will never be without one again.

[advres]

This won't be of much help but not too long ago I bought a Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II. Got it for a steal on fred miranda due to they were practically giving them away with body purchases so people were getting them as packages and dumping them to recoup some money.

As this being my first photo printer I obviously have no other printer to compare it to.

Pros:
cheap how I bought it.
able to print up to 13" x 19".
4800x2400 dpi
8 ink cartridges for good quality color reproduction

Cons:
8 ink cartridges that are expensive
it's heavy as fuck.
it's huge as fuck.

Again, there are probably so many more pros and cons but with nothing to compare it to I really can't say. What I have found so far is using the correct color profiles and certain paper have drastic effects on the overall outcome quality of the final prints. Red River has an awesome pigment ink sampler kit of a ton of their papers so you can get a feel of how each looks and is a good introductory into papers and the nomenclature of photo quality print papers for newbs like myself.

[Tippster]

We have a PIXMA ip4000 that still prints amazingly well. Only maintenance I've done is I flushed the heads a couple of times with rubbing alcohol... maybe once every 2 years.

I have no need to print anything larger than 8.5x11 so no need to upgrade. When this printer dies I will likely get this one or its equivalent at the time:



http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consum...s/pixma_ip4820

[deciblast]

I have a Canon Pro9500II for sale in SF if you are interested. I bought it for the Canon rebate and I'd love to sell it locally. Let me know if you are interested.

[grskier]

Bump, as I may ask for one for my birfamaday in a few months.

[SB]

He buggered off.

[smmokan]

I got the Canon Pixma Pro-100 a few months ago and I've been very impressed so far. It prints up to 13x19 and you can get them relatively cheap since they're included in a lot of package deals being offered by Adorama, B&H, etc.

[Ksyrium]

I just got one of the Canon Pixma PRO 100 from Adorama, brand new in box, if anyone wants it.

[Todds]

I'm still using an old Epson 1280 printer. Slow with expensive ink. It does a great job. Not as good as some of the newer printers, but it can print big panoramas (13" x 129" I think).

I'd like to get a new printer with better B&W printing.

Do any of the new sub $400 printers do 8.5" x 44" or larger panoramas?

[Benny Profane]

The most reliable serious printers from Epson are the 3800/3880. The folks at Luminous Landscape seem to agree. The newer "900" series (4900, 7900, etc) tend to clog if used in dry conditions and infrequently. Printers love you back if you use them a lot and keep a humidifier in the room, so, try to run a test print, at least, once or twice a week, at least.

[Harry]

^^^ Benny posting about printers at 7:30am on a day with fresh snow. Lulz........

[Benny Profane]

When do the lifts roll in your neighborhood?

Oh, wait.

You aren't five minutes to a gondola, right?

[mn_teleswede]

Printers love you back if you use them a lot and keep a humidifier in the room, so, try to run a test print, at least, once or twice a week, at least.

Truth be told- I run an Epson 4880 large format and would highly recommend it if doing large format on your own dime. If you want to save $ to have someone print for you, sign up for an account at White House Custom Color and get free two day ship on all orders. It does require you to download their proprietary software, but worth it to get good quality prints. Www.whcc.com. Pm me for more details if interested

[Meathelmet]

I'm still using an old Epson 1280 printer. Slow with expensive ink. It does a great job. Not as good as some of the newer printers, but it can print big panoramas (13" x 129" I think).

I'd like to get a new printer with better B&W printing.

Do any of the new sub $400 printers do 8.5" x 44" or larger panoramas?

Had the 1280 and r2880(?) and after those experiences decided never to get another printer. Ever.
Absolutely sub par quality, utter unreliability and they sucked sooo many hours of my life when trying to calibrate & clean them.
And the worst part? I prolly would have gotten 4 times amount of prints with 1/4th of their price.

Take the time to look for even a half decent print lab or use some well rated from the web. Around here I can get museum graded prints for
2-10€ per A4 and cheaper if one would go with non archive quality papers/inks. If you are printing only few special pieces now and then, the
400-1000€ printer (and inks+paper) it starts to be cost prohibitive. It just doesnt make sense. If you have even remotely calibrated monitor you will get good
results bang on with the normal web services, let alone ones that you can pop into and check out your pics on a proof grade monitor.

But, I do understand that there are enthusiasts that like (and have time & money) to tinker with printers and do tests & experiments. If you are up to that go
for it! Turnaround is much quicker that sending stuff to a printlab across the state and you get a bit of the same vibe as one got in the darkroom in the stone ages.
Nothing bad with that!

[Todds]

Meathelmet: I think you are right about the $ and the quality for the typical person. I'm one of those people that like to print- it takes me back to the darkroom days. I also like to print panoramas from time to time and there aren't a lot of places that will print a 12" x 60" print.

[Benny Profane]

Epson finally announces new printer.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300065190.html

New inks. Available in June.