Photo Printer Recommedations

[vkapoormd]

I am looking for a good quality photo printer; i have been considering the Canon i9900 or the epson R800 (both in the range of $400-$450). I don't need wide format printing greater than 8 x 10, so that is not a factor. Has anyone had experience with any of these or do they have any other recommendations. Thanks. :confused:

[BubbaJones]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=79355

You don't need to spend alot to get a good photo printer. Check out my comments at the end.

BubbaJones

[fedora]

I have got a canon i865 and the photo quality seems to be really good

[bousozoku]

I really like my Canon i9900 and, while I like Epson's regular printers, I really dislike their photo printers for all the extra magenta they put out.

However, if you don't want to large prints, why not one more like this: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=117&modelid=10439

[winwintoo]

My experience with photo printers has not been good. For casual printing, any old printer on the market today will do an adequate job; if you want prints that look and handle like *real* photos, take your flash card over to WalMart and get them to print the images for you - it'll be cheaper in the long run and you'll get better prints.

I was heavy into photo restoration a couple of years ago and I couldn't get the Canon printer I was using to match what the screen showed - I would restore an image - fix up skin blemishes etc and then print it and it would come out all messed up or off-color. I decided to invest in an Epson 1280 Photo printer which was the top of the line at that time - about $800 CAD - and the results were good for a while but within a few months, I couldn't get a decent print for anything.

I later found out that heat and humidity were the culprit. The humidity affected the paper and the heat affected the ink, rendering the whole printer useless except in the coldest winter months. Nevermind that when it did decide to work, I couldn't get it calibrated to the computer and colors never matched the screen.

What was your question again?? You want to spend $400 on a printer? What pictures do you intend to print??

The prints you get from a home printer never *feel* right. They are always kind of sticky.

Just my 2¢ worth M

I almost forgot, that Epson printer is all packed up in my storage room, pay the freight and you can have it.

[bousozoku]

My experience with photo printers has not been good. For casual printing, any old printer on the market today will do an adequate job; if you want prints that look and handle like *real* photos, take your flash card over to WalMart and get them to print the images for you - it'll be cheaper in the long run and you'll get better prints.
...


I'm not sure that's true either. I took my CompactFlash card recently to Sam's Club. They had Fuji and Kodak photo machines. The equipment behind the counter only handled film.

The Fuji machine was 0.18 USD per print but couldn't find the directory with the photos. The Kodak machine was 0.28 USD per print and found everything but the paper was very lightweight and the colours were dull and inaccurate compared to either my Epson CX6400 or my Canon i9900.

[Mac2004]

The HP Photosmart 375 is a very good printer. It was just released and I love mine.

[James Craner]

I have the Epson R800 and I am really pleased with it, I have produced prints for a number of friends and family and they can't tell the difference from commercial prints. In addition the R800 has a cd print option that can print directly onto specially coated cd-r disks. This is great for producing professional looking disks ( and iTunes music store cd's).

[theISHkid]

hey winwintoo I just sent you a private message if you're serious about that printer. Hit me back.

[winwintoo]

Hi I got your message, but I had to work this morning. Will get back to you later today once I check shipping details.

m

[theISHkid]

It does still work right? And it is wide format correct?

[Lincoln]

I still use an Epson 875DC and get excellent print quality out of it. However it occasionally has a bad day where the light cyan blocks up and needs cleaning or the black ink leaks. But I think that I have had a good run from the printer and will ceratinly get either the R800 or (I'm toying with the idea of) an EPson 2100/2200 printer particulalyty if I get that 8MP digital camera - A3 yeah! :D

Anyway, whatever printer you decide on, get the manufacturer's inks and papers and you will get the best quality with more consistent colours. I used to try 3rd party stuff and never get good results, it is a false economy.

A review of the R800 can be found here (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/epson-r800.shtml) this is from a professional photographer and he knows his stuff.

[bousozoku]

I still use an Epson 875DC and get excellent print quality out of it.
...


Really? I couldn't return one of those quickly enough. I found the SC series to be better than the old photo series because of the magenta balance. I'm sure the newer models are better but I really like what Canon are doing.

[theISHkid]

Hey winwintoo were you ever gonna get back to me?

[winwintoo]

I hate to tell you this, but the printer is in the landfill :mad: :mad:

It was in the storage room and I asked the cleaning lady to remove some other boxes that were in there and take them down to the dumpster and she took the printer along with them.

Sorry about that.

Margaret

[nels0360]

If you are looking for a photo printer only, I would take a look at the new Canon Pixma photo printers. I don't like to have 8 different ink tanks and most of the time it doesn't improve the photo quality all that much. So for me, the iP5000 & iP4000R look good. It is generally accepted that Canon makes the best consumer photo printers overall.

[theISHkid]

I think the 8 different tanks is really makes a lot more sense for someone like me who is doing a lot of different types of printing. I may run out of cyan a long time before I run out of magenta and don't want to pay 40 bucks to replace the whole cartrige when I can just pay 10 and replace the cyan.