What printer should I buy for printing good digital prints? (1 Viewer)

[Gwynne]

Hi
I have just signed up for the Bird Forum today so bare with me as I fumble around trying to understand how the site works! I have recently rediscovered my passion for birdwatching and want to link it to my other hobby of photography. I am interested in the prospect of digiscoping and would be grateful of any advice. I have a Kowa 820 with a 20-60X lens, it would appear from everything that I have read that the Nikon Coolpix 4500 is the camera to go for, would you agree? Also is the Digimount with the Nikon attachment from EagleEye the one to go for? Once I have the answers for the previous questions then I need to decide which printer to get that is top quality for results but also keeping an eye on price? Digiscoping sounds just up my street but the choices are bewildering! Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thankyou
regards Gwynne

 

[digi-birder]

Gwynne, on behalf of the Moderators and Admin may I extend a big welcome to Bird Forum. You're certainly in the right place to have these questions answered.

I can't speak for the 4500 as I have its predecessor, the 995, but one or two others on the forum do have the 4500 and will tell you that it is a good choice for digiscoping. I may yet upgrade mine to the 4500.

I couldn't get on with the EagleEye adapter and now use the London Camera Exchange version. It's lighter and easier to attach, in my opinion.

As for printers, I use an Epson (Stylus Color 880 - although this is now discontinued and new models have come out) and have found that it prints photos very well, much better than my previous Lexmark and Canon printers. Having said that, Hewlett Packard printers also produce some good results.

I'm sure you'll get much more advice from other members to help you make your choice.

We look forward to seeing your results.

 

[Gwynne]

Thanks for the tips Diane, that was really quick! I only posted my question five minutes ago, now thats what I call helpful!
Thanks again Gwynne

 

[digi-birder]

You're welcome, Gwynne. That's what this forum is all about.

By this evening you'll probably have loads more replies - and then you'll be as confused as when you started!!

:t:

 

[KC Foggin]

Welcome Gwynne. I love my Epson stylus 820. Not only does it give me 8x10 borderless prints, the nature setting that it has really highllights the greens. Ink is fairly reasonable as well. Photo paper can make a big difference in your results as well and I now only use premium, high gloss.

 

[IanF]

Hi Gwynne,

I have the Kowa 823 with 32x eyepiece. I took up digiscoping just over a month ago using the Nikon 4500. I thoroughly enjoy it and have had some decent results from day one. Check out the digiscoping section in the Gallery as I have one or two photos posted there. So have others using the Kowa 820 series.

Once you have the camera options set up for digiscoping (see Andy Bright's advice on recommended settings) it is pretty simple to use. They are now starting to drop in price so you may pick up a bargain too, particularly from the online retailers.

Can't help with the printer I'm afraid. I use a Lexmark Z53 which gives reasonable results but is expensive to run and can't compete with the high end Epson printers.

 

[peter hayes]

Gwynne

Hi and welcome to the forum. I know you're receiving all sorts of advice and I'm sure it will be useful. Do me a favour, once you make a decision let us all know what you decided and why - it'll help other people!

I really hope you enjoy the forums and we look forward to hearing from you.

 

[Andrew]

Welcome to the world leading cosmic webbie!

I have the HP950C and have done decent print outs with it but you might be better looking at the latest ones which have slots for CF cards allowing direct print outs. Not ideal for me really as I would prefer to look at them first and do what I want with them before printing them out but the option is there if you were keen on it.

 

[Ragna]

Gwynne
I have a Canon S820 which i am very pleased with it does A4 prints and is very quick , i also use an eagle eye adapter on a Kowa tsn3 with 30x eye piece ,the eye piece is the old style which has a lip around the top so i have to leave the inside collar of the eagle eye attachedto the eye piece of the scope all the time,also find that having four screws to tighten makes it difficult to get it perfectly in the centre it was not a good buy it apears the LCE adapter is much easier to use and half the price.

 

[Chuck A Wulla]

Just a thought about printers. Have you looked at commercial processing? Here in the states, large retail stores like COSTCO and some small specialty shops will let you download your media and print then using very expensive commercial printers. If you don't make that many prints, it might be worthwhile to use them for special jobs.

 

[stevo]

Welcome to the forum Gwynne,the printer I use is the Canon s520 & I am extremely pleased with the results it doesn`t use much ink either so is economicable to run.As for adapters I use a LCE adapter purely because it`s quicker to mount/dismount than the Eagleeye & is a lot cheaper.Hope this info helps.

 

[Surreybirder]

The Canon photo 830 is excellent. The refill cartridges are expensive (as all refills seem to be) but we use compatibles that are considerably cheaper and seem to give good results.

 

[Gwynne]

Thanks everybody I think I've been directed onto the right track with all the good, and more importantly, impartial advice. I'm on a high at the moment as I've just returned from Leighton Moss and seen the avocets!(pity I hadn't already got my digiscoping gear, but when I do I'll post my pictures on the site). Once again thanks everyone for your time.
Regards Gwynne

 

[MNLovell]

Printer

I use the Epson Photo Stylus 785 and Epson inks and paper with great results. The 820 has the same internals and can be purchased for less than 100 USD. Don't let the cost fool you. This is a great 8x10 printer.

 

[Walther Loff]

Printer

I am using the Epson Photo Stylus 960, it is a great printer and uses 7 individual cartridges.
I has a build in paper cutter when one uses the roll paper mode, it also has rear and front feed options depending your paper size.
It does borderless printing and has emaculate qualities.
The model 2200 has a wide carriage and uses pigmented ink, the prize was my major objection... the print cartridges of both units cost the same for replacement, however the 960 uses a dye based ink.
Cheers
Walther Loff
www.walther-loff.com

 

[John N]

Hi Gwynne. Like you I am still trying to get my head round digiscoping so I cannot comment on the equipment except that I have a coolpix 995 and a swarovski ATS 80 HD scope with a 20-60 eyepiece. But I have done quite a bit of work in photoshop and I find that my Epson 830 photo quality printer produces excellent prints. It costs about £99 and you can use compatable Ink cartridges and they are a lot cheaper. Hope this may be some help to you . .John

 

[dylan]

Hi Gwynne, I'm also looking for a printer at the moment.
I currently use a HP Deskjet 990 which gives good results but does not do borderless printing.
The Canon i850 (£150) looks good, the main factors for me are
1> seperate inks , so you only replace the colour that has run out
2> the prints should last (25years with the right paper)
3> A4 & 4"x6" borderless printing

You could also have a look at www.photobox.co.uk Andy Bright recommended them & I've been very pleased with the results from them (quick too).

Good luck with your digiscoping!

 

[stevo]

Be careful with compatable ink cartridges,as I have found to my cost.Third party refills/compatables can in my experience clog the printer head up.The money you have saved is wasted because you have to go through head cleaning cycles(which use ink)to clear the heads.Plus colour reproduction is not always as good as the printer makers cartridges.

 

[Ragna]

If you go to www.7dayshop.com youll find there prices for inks are very good i use Canon seperate ink for the s820 about £6.45 each,they do Canon compatable inks but there only about a£1 cheaper so i use the Canon.

 

[Widowmaker]

Looking at the date, its kind of late for a reply but thought I would put my two cents in. I am using the HP 1220C. 8x10 on matte finish paper is outstanding. I also print 11x17, which look great, but I cannot find premium matte finish paper in that size. This leaves me printing glossy, which I do not like as much. Does not print borderless.