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Help selecting a printer required (1 Viewer)

The gaffer

The gaffer

Enthusiastic amateur
I am looking to buy a photo printer which produces excellent results but which one would you suggest? I have looked at Canon and Epson and the A3 seem to get excellent results but are very expensive. Plus they are big although I do have a place I could squeeze one in.

I dont not need an all in one and I not too bothered about text printing as I have an HP to do that.

Do I need A3 size? How many actually print this size? Is it better to get a good quality A4 printer and pay to have the odd A3 size print printed at a photo lab?

I have looked at printing costs, speed and all other other suggested criteria that you should check but I would like to get some reviews from users.

Thanks

Brian
 
Brian

I bought a Canon Pixma iP4500 just over a week ago, and am very pleased with the results. best quality of pictures on any printer I have owned before. And not too expensive either.

Malc
 
I agree with Feathered one, Canon make excellent printers. I currently have the Canon Mp360 all in one printer and can`t fault it. I`ve had it for over 3 years and have never had a single issue with it and I`ve done loads and loads of photo printing.

Whether you go for a standard A4 or get an A3 pinter really depends on how much you think you`re going to need an A3 printer. It`s quite obvious that any A3 printer is going to be a lot bigger than an average A4 printer lol.

Personally speaking, I have often wished, I`d have gone for an A3 printer myself.

Regards Howard.
 
Feathered one said:
Brian

I bought a Canon Pixma iP4500 just over a week ago, and am very pleased with the results. best quality of pictures on any printer I have owned before. And not too expensive either.

Malc
Click to expand...

Thanks Malc,

The IP4500 was one of the ones that I had shortlisted but it is nice to hear from someone who has one. I know you have only had it for a short time but does it appear to be heavy on ink?

Brian
 
Another vote for the Pixma ip4500. I've had mine a couple of weeks and I'm delighted with the results. It's fairly basic (but I like that) but it's fast and the colour rendition is excellent. At about £90, I think it is very good value. Easy to set up, too. Too early for me to say how thirsty it is, but from the reviews I read before I bought it, this was not highlighted as an issue.

Malcolm
 
The gaffer said:
Thanks Malc,

The IP4500 was one of the ones that I had shortlisted but it is nice to hear from someone who has one. I know you have only had it for a short time but does it appear to be heavy on ink?

Brian
Click to expand...

I've had one since November, I've printed quite a few Birthday & Christmas cards & several photos at best quality & the ink levels are still showing full. Print speed is excellent & the quality stunning.

My answer to a similar request is here

I thought about an A3 printer but it's an awful lot of ink and expensive paper if prints don't come out as you'd like. I found print costs from Jessops are surprisingly cheap.
 
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Brian

I have printed about 40 A5 photos at highest quality, and the yellow,magenta and cyan tanks are showing half full, the two black are full still.

Currently from PC World (I am sure you can get cheaper) the colours are £12.99 each.

I have taken a like to the glossy paper, I know others don't like it. That is £15.99 for 20 A4 sheets, again at PC world.

Yes the colours are really good, and prints photos quite fast, an A5 photo takes 65 seconds from clicking "Print" to the photo exiting the printer.

A3, well it will be expensive to run I would have thought, ok for the odd one or two.

Don't forget to let us know which one you get, and what you think of it.

Malc
 
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Ive had the ip4300 for over a year now and can report that unless you print every picture you keep it's very ink-efficient and the quality is excellent, not to mention its output FAST!
 
I've had the Canon iP5000 for a couple of years now. I find it a very high quality color printer. Prints quick and is efficient on ink use. Brilliant prints. I use Canon ink cartridges for best output and they do seem to last longer. I think the iP4000 and iP4500 work just as well as the iP5000 (which may not be available any longer but I haven't checked).
 
You'd have to print an awful lot of A3 prints to justify the cost of an A3 printer - A3 prints can be done pretty cheaply at a photolab, probably cheaper than doing it yourself even if you have the printer so I'd stick to A4. I have a Canon iP6700D, it ain't cheap to run but the quality of the photos it produces are excellent.
 
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I have my new printer

Thank you for your recommendations I am now the owner of a Canon IP4500. It does take some time to set it up and initial results are poor. This could be due to the lack of time I have had over the weekend to play about with the settings coupled with the HP semi-glossy paper I am using. The paper is all that I have at present and the printer settings do not mention this type of paper so it could be the problem.

I have some Canon paper being delivered over the next few days and hopefully this should improbve the picture quality. If anyone has any other tips for improving grainy photos they would be gratefully received. The original of the photo I printed is definitely not grainy.

Brian
 
The gaffer said:
Thank you for your recommendations I am now the owner of a Canon IP4500. It does take some time to set it up and initial results are poor. This could be due to the lack of time I have had over the weekend to play about with the settings coupled with the HP semi-glossy paper I am using. The paper is all that I have at present and the printer settings do not mention this type of paper so it could be the problem.

I have some Canon paper being delivered over the next few days and hopefully this should improbve the picture quality. If anyone has any other tips for improving grainy photos they would be gratefully received. The original of the photo I printed is definitely not grainy.

Brian
Click to expand...
hi brian
just noticed this thread.. i also use the same printer, ive only had it for 2 months and it gives excellent results..will save money in the long run by not using boots, tesco,s etc. for development...you can see the shots and crop them properly before printing, the main reason i bought it, after being disappointed with certain pic,s development..i use hp and canon paper
enjoy!..
 
That's better

I tried printing again using Kodak 6x4 and the results were excellent. Showed a picture of our two kids to "her who must be obeyed" and she couldn't tell the difference between one from a lab and the one I printed.

Things are looking up and it looks like it was worth the investment. Next I am going to try another A4 print using my Canon paper which has now arrived.
 
I have the iP4300. I tried Fuji and Kodak paper but Canon Glossy Photo Paper Plus gives results as good as getting prints done at Jessops or wherever !

7dayshop do cartridges for £6.79
 
TonyC said:
I have the iP4300. I tried Fuji and Kodak paper but Canon Glossy Photo Paper Plus gives results as good as getting prints done at Jessops or wherever !

7dayshop do cartridges for £6.79
Click to expand...

Tony,

Thanks for that I have just printed a drake mallard on A4 Canon matte paper and it is excellent. Thanks also for the tip about the cartridges but the postage is a bit expensive. You can get the colours (cy&m) from the value shop for £22.39 including postage which is nearly £2 cheaper than the 7dayshop. Individually the cartridges cost £7.51 but the postage is only £1.49. Free ink shop are also reasonable but for a full set including both blacks Amazon is cheapest.

link to the value shop: http://www.valueshop.co.uk/

The paper prices are also good.

Brian
 
printer recomondations

Hello: I would suggest the Epson Stylus Photo R2400. Unfortunately it isn't cheap, but you get what you pay for. It has a wide color gamut by using 8 cartridges of K3 ultra-chrome archival ink. The ink is pigment based. The colors are incredible, especially on Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight. It prints up to 19x13" and has to the capability to print on thick media, like poster board.
The price: about $900 US. Cartridges $14. It doesn't use as much ink as you would think. Compared to the price of ink, quality paper is very reasonably priced. I've had mine for 2 years, had no problems at all. Software is excellent.
I've owned Canon printers before, and kind of looked down on epson for some reason, but no longer.

As usual, I just jumped right in and didn't read that you already bought a printer. I hate reading instruction manuals too.
 
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