View Full Version : A4 Inkjet printer for photo use
Hiya,
(Intentionally posted in the photography forum as its for photography use)
My 3 and a half year old Canon IP4200 has clogged up its heads, and after a considerable amount of ink I can't clear them. I've been relatively happy with it, its a disposable item these days i guess and 3 years is a lot better than i've had out of the epson c84/86 i had before this one.
My main annoyance with the IP4200 has been lack of a black black.
So, I'm after an A4 printer with good colours and a black black. Its mainly for photo printing (I have a large laserjet for everything else, which i suspect may have been part of the reason the IP4200's heads clogged). Preferably not costing the earth for the printer or the inks. (£100 budget). I will most likely use manufacturer inks.
Not keen on epson due to the number of C84/86's i went through under warrenty. Anything else is fine.
Any suggestions before I go and buy an IP4600? (Photobox (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=136) won't give me the range of papers I want to use, I generally use much heavier weight stuff for my black and whites, and often pearl)
Steve
Epson all the way!
I just had to replace my Epson Stylus Photo RX640 which had stopped taking paper in. Admittedly it was only 2.5 years old, but it had had a lot of use; document stuff as well as a whole heap of photos. Inks were starting to get very expensive as well. What is shocking is I was told by Epson and an independent repair shop, that although it was only 2.5 years old it was beyond economical repair!
I went for one of these Epson Stylus Photo PX700W (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=8&url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EHF92C/thedvdforums-21). It is now £172, but was £134 when I bought it. The inks are relatively cheap especially when bought from here (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=8&url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001O1HITU/thedvdforums-21) and the photo prints are stunning. It is a bit noisy and you have to make sure you uninstall all your other printer drivers, but well worth the money in my opinion. It is good enough for me to have printer off all the prints for my college final photo submission.
Epson for a combination of quality prints and affordable compatable inks - I use rubberfrog or look for Jet tec
if you are not worried about running costs then Canon are good we have the predessor to the MP630 and it is good
Sprout Crumble
03-05-2009, 15:46
Stick with Canon. The ip4xxx range has always been best in class and remains so. Epson is strong competition in the A3 ranges but not here.
aerosoulz
03-05-2009, 15:56
Epson all the way!
I just had to replace my Epson Stylus Photo RX640 which had stopped taking paper in. Admittedly it was only 2.5 years old, but it had had a lot of use; document stuff as well as a whole heap of photos. Inks were starting to get very expensive as well. What is shocking is I was told by Epson and an independent repair shop, that although it was only 2.5 years old it was beyond economical repair!
On the smaller format / desktop front, most Epsons actually are uneconomical to repair. If you needed a head replaced on the an R1800 for example, the head unit itself would cost about £250.00 - the printer purchased new was not much more than this! :brickwall
On actual print quality however, I must concur with Sprout Crumble - A3 and up, Epson does deliver.
Just spotted the cheap shot canon have pulled on the new cartridges for the IP4600. 9ml carts for more or less the same price as 13ml cartidges under my IP4200. (£9.50 (73p / ml) vs 7.50 (83p / ml) as far as i can see). No compatibles around yet.
That said the epson JimLin suggested only has 7.5ml tanks (£6.99 ~ 93p /ml). The jet tecs are about 4 quid for approximately 11ml based on their 30% extra claim. (36p / ml).
I could get a CISS for an R285, which makes the ink roughly free, but i'm concerned about fading / colours not matching up correctly. I also rent and have carpet, so a leak is going to be pricey.
I print to quality papers, so a sheet with clogged heads costs me a fair amount. Thats why i've stuck to canon so far.
Stick with Canon. The ip4xxx range has always been best in class and remains so. Epson is strong competition in the A3 ranges but not here.
I can't justify the extra cost and spare required for A3. If i wanted bigger colour, I suspect i'd either send it to Photobox (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=136) or if it was really something special work with my local snappysnaps, who would no doubt let me use any paper I want and work hard on the colour matching.
For black and white, I can print pretty much any size i fancy on Multigrade
aerosoulz
03-05-2009, 20:26
Speaking from lots of intense experience, steer clear of CISS / ink feed systems (at least on Epson printers)... they're the bane of my life...
the ghost
04-05-2009, 09:31
Speaking from lots of intense experience, steer clear of CISS / ink feed systems (at least on Epson printers)... they're the bane of my life...
had 3 of the ink sytems they all messed up i have had 3-4 epsons gave them away but kept a r300 for documents and canon ip580 for prints
inks go here they pretty cheap for older inks http://www.ink.co.uk/..they do new stuff aswell
did you not get a price for a new head canon supposed to be resonabley priced there again if ou only willing to spend £100 on a new one dont think you will replace the head
eBay (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=44) had a new head for 40 quid - which is quite reasonable. Trouble a new printer is 85 quid, it comes with 40 quids worth of ink (At the best price i can find - 7DayShop.com (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=18) - generally cheaper than the competiion by a quid because of the vat), so for an extra fiver I'm getting a year warrenty and a newer printer.
Cheers Guys,
Without any overwhelming suggestions to the opposite, i've just done a collect @ store for PC World PC World (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=7). They also sold me a 3 year warrenty (Including print heads, aparrently even if i use compats...) for 20 quid. Don't see how they stand a hope in hell of making a profit out of that one. Printers are very disposable these days, i suspect the quantity of lexmark inkjets in landfill is larger than the number of AOL disks.
Disappointingly on the first print, the quality is fine, but the colours are way out. The IP4200 was a reasonable match for my CRT screen. The IP4600 is way out, both printed on the same settings. Disappointing. I have a stock of 6x4, so may as well use that for test prints, but I can't see why its gone backwards?
stevlena
18-06-2009, 09:58
What is wrong with using the blank side of a piece of already-printed-on paper in an inkjet printer? I handed the "tech" guy at my work a piece of scrap paper to test my printer with and he said you shouldn't use the blank side of a piece of paper that has already been printed on. Why not?
Sprout Crumble
18-06-2009, 11:00
Absolute rubbish. What the hell does he think duplex printing is???
the ghost
18-06-2009, 16:20
wishy
are you letting the printer handle the colours or are you letting photroshop if you have a clabrated monitor let photoshop do it
I Do
yeah colour matching is a pain, if using photoshop/lightroom or any other app that will manage colour let that do it and disable colour managment in the printer driver. get the right profile for your printer and paper from the paper manufacturer as well and specify that in the app. this all assumes the display is calibrated.
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