Hi guys,

I'm new to digital photography but I've been selling computers and printers for a long time and have always been asked by customers which one is better for printing photographs.
Can you share with me your thoughts on these printers? Thanks.

Philip :)

Hi guys,

I'm new to digital photography but I've been selling computers and printers for a long time and have always been asked by customers which one is better for printing photographs.
Can you share with me your thoughts on these printers? Thanks.

Philip :)

I've tried all these brands they are great!!! But really prefer EPSON printers now the colors are brilliant and comes out natural for all images I do.

Wait a couple of month's, there are new HP and Canon printers coming that will blow Epson off of it's top spot.

Mike

Wait a couple of month's, there are new HP and Canon printers coming that will blow Epson off of it's top spot.

Mike
so in short, Mike is admitting that epson is at the top spot right buddy? :Grin:
besides, how sure that we don't have some printers up our sleeves within the next months? hehe

but seriously....Philip, from a neutral point of view, i suggest aside from asking around and doing internet reviews, take a photo and bring the file to the various vendor showrooms and compare printouts, for canon try glorietta digital exchange (silicon valley run), for epson try our showroom in megamall...for HP, well....try contacting Nilo Cruz or bernadette nacario instead.. :D (well see if the TCA-run HP store will let you print over at digital exchange in glorietta..)

ask yourself also, what exactly will you use the unit for?

an R1800 for 4R snapshots of your pet chihuuahua or your son's hot yaya might be a bit of an overkill...

you can go full blast, but k3 inks for example and luster paper may come at a premium...

determine what applications will you use it for..

Hi Philip,

Each company makes great printers. Your answer really depends on the needs of the photographer. I'll list a few things to consider:

1) Price
2) Longevity
3) Flexibility
4) Availability of supplies
5) Software Support

I'll try to address each now:

1) Price- photo printers can be cheap or very expensive. If the photographer does not have much budget the Big Three brands are all about equal here. If the photographer does not have a budget, then Epson and HP have the best selections here for the upper tier in pricing and offerings.

2) Longevity- If your customer is not concerned about longevity or waterfastness of prints, then the Big Three are all equal here because they all sell Dye Ink models. But if longevity is a concern, then Epson has the edge here since they have made the commitment to Pigment Inks for several years already. HP and Canon have mainly been with Dye Inks. Now Mike Dougan has made a statement above that both HP and Canon will have their new printers out soon. These will be pigment models. Both companies are offering state of the art features that are supposed to revolutionize inkjet printing.

3) Flexibility- Epson dominates here if you go with their pigment models. Their printers such as the 4800 can print on almost anything while with Canon and HP you are basically limited to using their media if you want good results. But this won't last long since Canon and HP models will be out before the end of the year.

4) Supplies- I believe Epson has the deepest range of supplies available in the country with HP coming second. But in general, I still think all of them need to improve their offerings here.

5) Software Support- Since Epson chose to embrace pigment ink technology the fine art market has gravitated towards their products. This has also lead software companies to create printing applications, RIPS, for Epson printers. You won't find much support for Canon and HP in the RIP market. But I doubt this would be a major concern for your customers since it would be crazy to purchase a RIP to drive say a desktop model.

There's plenty of variables. The next twelve months will be the most exciting time in inkjet printing as Canon and HP step up their offerings to go after the Fine Art Photography market that Epson has owned for such a long time.

And another thing, no matter how good these printers are, you won't be able to print properly if you don't see the colors properly on your screen. Monitor calibration is step one for good printing.

besides, how sure that we don't have some printers up our sleeves within the next months? hehe


Is the cat out of the bag Randy? :) So why don't you give us a little teaser of what we can expect from the 800lb Epson gorilla when Canon and HP launch their babies in the next month or so. I can keep a secret. :)

Thanks guys....

Just wandering if you've been using the same brand of media for you printer? Other than the big 3 are there other brands of media worth using?

They also keep coming up with 6 color 8color printers, I won't be surprized if they come up with a 12color printer in the coming months.... does this really enhance the print?

Can an Epson with 4ink better the output of let's say a canon 8ink?

Thanks guys....

Just wandering if you've been using the same brand of media for you printer? Other than the big 3 are there other brands of media worth using?

They also keep coming up with 6 color 8color printers, I won't be surprized if they come up with a 12color printer in the coming months.... does this really enhance the print?

Can an Epson with 4ink better the output of let's say a canon 8ink?

depends on how meticulous you are. usually --- but not necessarily....there are more inks because vendors try to reproduce more shades or color levels.

you will even see printers with different black levels,..for example epson has its k3 inks or 3 levels of black although there are others using more levels of black for the discerning b&w enthusiast.

the 4 colors models are usually for consumer or photo enthusiast. those into more than that are the serious and professional ones or more meticulous ones wanting to get a wider gamut..

HOWEVER, as Nick mentioned, doesn't matter how many inks you use if you cannot do proper color management.

oh, and of course, more inks mean more expense hehehe

sometimes its also really in the eye of the beholder..

Thanks guys....

Just wandering if you've been using the same brand of media for you printer? Other than the big 3 are there other brands of media worth using?

They also keep coming up with 6 color 8color printers, I won't be surprized if they come up with a 12color printer in the coming months.... does this really enhance the print?

Can an Epson with 4ink better the output of let's say a canon 8ink?


In the Philippines, there aren't much for media selections. Epson has the widest range. We import our own fine art papers for gallery and portfolio printing at Bella Luce Studios.

Canon will be releasing their 12-ink model very soon. Is there a difference between a 4-ink printer versus an 8-ink or 12-ink printer? Plenty. If you only have a 4-ink printer you probably cannot get smooth highlights, good grey balance, or detailed shadows. You need inks like Light Cyan and Light Magenta to have dotless highlights. You also need more than one black ink for better grey balance. The addition of the Red and Blue primaries on the Epson R1800 and the Green ink in the Canon's give a wider print gamut. Getting really great blues or deep reds will always be a problem if you stick with 4 color CMYK inks.

The issue for most will be cost as Randy pointed out previously. Its not cheap to refill these printers. Just assume you work with an 8-ink A3 or desktop printer. It would probably cost you around P 5,000 just to refill all inks. Imagine if you were using a promodel Canon with 12-inks. Try maybe P45,000 for a full reload.

Hi philip,

on September 7 to 9, there will be a very big event at PTTC, roxas blvd. all the major brands of printers will be there, I suggest you bring along a file. have the file sampled by the brands, seeing is believing :Grin:

Hi philip,

on September 7 to 9, there will be a very big event at PTTC, roxas blvd. all the major brands of printers will be there, I suggest you bring along a file. have the file sampled by the brands, seeing is believing :Grin:


and believe they will....

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This thread is more than 3 years old and hasn't been updated since August 2006, for sure there have been a lot of development since then. So, those in the know, what now is the most recommended type of printer, pigment or dye?

For printing of consumer pictures (IDs, snapshots, etc.) what is the best printer available in the market now?

Thanks in advance.

Rey

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This thread is more than 3 years old and hasn't been updated since August 2006, for sure there have been a lot of development since then. So, those in the know, what now is the most recommended type of printer, pigment or dye?

For printing of consumer pictures (IDs, snapshots, etc.) what is the best printer available in the market now?

Thanks in advance.

Rey

Hi,

1. When printing, Dye based Inks are absorbed into the media while pigment inks sit on top of the paper. Due to this, pigment inks are more water and smear resistant.

2. Pigment inks are also light resistant and more susceptible to environmental/air contaminants than dye based inks.

3. Color Stability Times after printing are a lot lesser than dye based inks. Espon claims that their Ultra Chrome High Gloss 2 inks only require 5mins in orderfor the colour/print to stabilize, as oppose to 48hours with Canon's dye based ink.

Regards,

Andrew

@ related topic:
guys, im planning to buy a printer that can print big formats clearly (max 11x14) without burning my wallet. My budget is around 5K, what do you recommend? inkjet or laser printers? thanks :Grin:

@ related topic:
guys, im planning to buy a printer that can print big formats clearly (max 11x14) without burning my wallet. My budget is around 5K, what do you recommend? inkjet or laser printers? thanks :Grin:

Hi PJ,

Honestly, I don't think 5k will be enough for a wide format printer, atleast not a brand new unit. The least expensive 13" printer from Epson I think is aroung 10k+. Laser printers are not really geared toward photographic printing so you might want to look for Inkjet printers. :)

Andrew

Thank you Andrew for the input. If you are going to buy a printer now, what would it be? Thanks again.

Rey

Thank you Andrew for the input. If you are going to buy a printer now, what would it be? Thanks again.

Rey

Hi Rey,

I really appreciate you asking.:) I think more than 2 months ago when I started wanting to buy a printer and ever since I have been reading and evaluating which Epson Printer to buy.

I initially wanted to buy and R2880 which prints superb Color AND B&W photos. But for now, I can only save up for a R1900 which works best on Color Glossy print. :)

The R2880 is not available yet in the Philippines but the R1900 does and it retails about Php 40,000. Here in the UAE, it's cheaper by about Php 15K.

Here is a link for reviews of the printers I've mentioned.

http://www.printerville.net/2008/04/13/epson-stylus-photo-r1900-review/

Regards,

Andrew :)

Hi Andrew,

Thank you again, I am also gravitating towards EPSON, but I am trying to probe what others have in mind. Regards,

Rey

I've been testing my newly acquired Canon 9500 Mark II for B&W printing. So far at it's native profile, I've been getting very good results. I'll try using it in color later.

i'm for epson r2880...tried to print on that monster and the color is super...

since it's been a month since the last post, are there other recommended photo printers? or can you point me to a site where there is a comparison chart for these?
i'm kind of looking for a printer for personal use. :)
thanks in advance!

since it's been a month since the last post, are there other recommended photo printers? or can you point me to a site where there is a comparison chart for these?
i'm kind of looking for a printer for personal use. :)
thanks in advance!

Check out the Canon Pixma iP4760 (P6995.00) SRP.

Cheers!

Jo Avila

Thanks sir jo! :)

since it's been a month since the last post, are there other recommended photo printers? or can you point me to a site where there is a comparison chart for these?
i'm kind of looking for a printer for personal use. :)
thanks in advance!

Try Epson R290. this is the same printer being used by a studio (portrature) found in every SM malls.

ok, will also look into it. thank you :)

Check out the Canon Pixma iP4760 (P6995.00) SRP.

Cheers!

Jo Avila


Sr.jo, you emailed us once regarding the canon printers on sale. do they still have them? I like to get the iP4760. Its really within my budget. What photo paper would you recommend for color and black and white printing? what brand?

Sr.jo, you emailed us once regarding the canon printers on sale. do they still have them? I like to get the iP4760. Its really within my budget. What photo paper would you recommend for color and black and white printing? what brand?

Canon will sometimes have printers at blowout sale prices.

The iP4760 is still available but isn't part of the current list of printers with discounted prices :D

Use Canon paper and inks for your Canon printer.

Check out Canon GP-501 and Canon MP-101 for glossy or matte everyday printing.

Cheers!

Jo Avila

Try Epson R290. this is the same printer being used by a studio (portrature) found in every SM malls.

I believe R290 has been replaced by T60 (same built)...nice printer!

Can anybody please suggest a specific All-in-One (print, scan & copy) device model in the range of 5K-10K (pesos) that outputs very good (if not great) photo prints? Thanks!

Can anybody please suggest a specific All-in-One (print, scan & copy) device model in the range of 5K-10K (pesos) that outputs very good (if not great) photo prints? Thanks!

Try the Canon Pixma MP6xx series. It uses the same inkjet engine as the Canon Pixma iP4760.

However, I think it has an SRP of P11k++.

But, it has one nice feature. You can use it as a network wifi printer :D

Cheers!

Jo Avila

Thanks Jo! I'll explore that option. I don't mind spending a tiny bit more if the upgrade is well worth it. I appreciate the suggestion!