Printers
August 16th, 2010 by D-Photo
Can Epson top its acclaimed 3800 semi-pro printer? Gary Pearce finds out.
Following up a commercial and critical success is a hard task, but that’s exactly what Epson has done with the Stylus Pro 3880 A2 photographic printer following the retirement of the acclaimed 3800.
Outwardly there isn’t much to differentiate between old and new, but under the bonnet this semi-pro printer has undergone some 
significant changes.
Firstly, the excellent Ultrachrome K3 pigment inkset used in the earlier model has evolved further – Epson has equipped the 3880 with a Vivid Magenta ink tank for an even wider colour gamut and an improvement in terms of D-max. This is good news indeed, especially for those wishing to output gallery-standard black and white prints.
Epson has championed its piezo print head technology for some time, and the 3880 uses the latest MicroPiezo AMC that employs variable dot technology to avoid moirés and banding, and to increase detail throughout each print.
The new print head also incorporates an ink-repellant coating for more precise placement of ink droplets, while the improved software includes an overhauled look-up table for more accurate colour information.
As befits a quasi-production inkjet printer, the 3880 uses 80ml ink cartridges – not only better in terms of dollars per ml compared with the cartridges supplied with lesser devices, it also means more prints before the ink runs out. Media handling is simple, heavyweight fine art media (up to 1.5mm thick) must be loaded through the front of the machine, while photographic papers can use the rear tray. There is no provision for roll media with the 3880.
Read the rest of this entry »
April 1st, 2010 by D-Photo
Canon’s new Pixma is a prince of prints, says Gary Pearce
If you’re an avid photographer, chances are you’ll have a decent photo printer, and there are some excellent A4 devices available.
That’s fine if you want to limit yourself to that size, but if you’re like me you’ll soon be yearning for a much larger print size to show off your creative handiwork.
Of course, there are plenty of photo labs to choose from, but can you really trust their colour management, printer maintenance and general nous when it comes to printing those special pictures?
It’s perhaps best, then, to invest in your own large-format printer, and the A3+ bracket is where it all begins.
Canon has made a stir in recent times with its imagePROGRAF range of production/photo large-format printers, but luckily for me (or unluckily – take your pick) I took home the latest prosumer Pixma Pro9000 Mark II for an extended trial period.
Because of its size the Pro9000 Mark II commands a decent amount of bench-top real estate, though its bulky form is attractively styled. The FINE print head-equipped machine has a resolution of 4800 x 2400 and will eject two-picolitre droplets of ink, while the Chromalife eight-colour dye-based ink set has the promise of a 100-year life span. Dye inks aren’t as stable in terms of archivability as pigment-based inks, so this is a fairly bold claim on Canon’s behalf. I’d want to hang new photographs on my walls well before the 100 years was up.
Read the rest of this entry »
February 4th, 2010 by D-Photo
Epson’s slender TX550W all-in-one inkjet manages to pack considerable functionality into its sleek black chassis. Along with USB and Ethernet connectivity, the TX550W is also able to be used wirelessly — ideal for remote locations in the home/office that do not have access to cabled USB or Ethernet connections.
Epson’s entry-level CMYK Durabrite inks are used; these pigment-based inks have a fairly wide colour gamut, but for photo printing I’d have liked a dedicated photo black on board as well. The only printer in this roundup to use a piezoelectric print head (the other two are bubble jets), Epson’s variable dot technology offers droplet sizes as miniscule as two picolitres. That suggested no visible dot structure, and so it was — I was unable to detect any form of dot using my keen eyesight, while viewing under a glass produced almost the same result. A decent scanner and good paper handling make up the feature set.
During my time with the TX550W I was unable to get the printer up and running wirelessly; luckily, my trusty old USB cable came to the rescue and I was soon cluttering up my office with print after print. Once I’d installed the bundled software onto my Mac (Easy Photo Print/Event Manager/Photo Enhance and so on) it was time to get stuck in.
Draft black text and colour printing was rapid at my timed 28ppm (limited by my poor old G4 Mac, I think — Epson quotes 36ppm), fed by the 120-sheet feeder (120 sheets of plain 60gsm).
Photo printing times were pretty good all round. A bordered A4 print (using Epson Premium Photo Paper Glossy) on the highest quality setting took around three minutes from the moment the TX550W whirred into action. Print quality was good here, although I felt the lack of a dedicated photo black made dark scenes a touch lacking in depth. However, it isn’t a dedicated photographic printer, but a home office device with photo printing ability. Otherwise the Epson produced a good blend of highly resolved and natural colours with excellent detail.
The scanner is also worth mentioning, providing good resolution at the maximum claimed 2400 x 2400dpi. I used it to scan some old silver-halide photos (remember those?), and the printed result was certainly close to the original, with only a subtle generational loss and slightly muted colour reproduction to separate the original and copy in terms of quality. So while the TX550W may not be the printer of choice for diehard photographic enthusiasts, it is certainly capable of some pretty good results for the majority of us snap-happy chappies.
EPSON STYLUS TX550W – Specs
Print Speed: Up to 36ppm (black and colour text, draft)
Print Resolution: Up to 5760 x 1440dpi
Cartridges: Black, cyan, magenta, yellow
Scanner: 48-bit, 2400 x 2400dpi
Copier: Approx 36cpm (draft)
Memory Card Compatibility: CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD/MMC, xD
Dimensions: 450 x 342 x 182mm (W/D/H)
Weight: 6.1kg
CONTACT
www.epson.co.nz
PROS
- Great bang for the buck
- Nice detailed prints
CONS
- Difficult wireless setup
- Slightly one-dimensional blacks
Design 18
Performance 17
Features 17
Image Quality 17
Value for money 18
TOTAL 87/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
January 22nd, 2010 by D-Photo
Canons stylish new MP550 doesn’t have the same level of features as other printers we’ve tested. For starters, there’s no wireless connectivity (for that you’ll need the dearer MP560), and it also lacks the fax function of the HP. Not that many people have use for a fax these days, but I guess some of us still cling on to the technology.
What the MP550 does have is excellent photographic print quality — in fact remarkable quality, considering it is basically just a CMYK machine.
Part of the secret behind the print quality can be found in Canon’s Chromalife100+ ink set, which uses a dye-based extended gamut CMYK set and dedicated black pigment ink for laser-quality text printing. The other part of the equation is the FINE bubble-jet print head, which is capable of droplets as small as two picolitres for grain-free, continuous-tone photographic prints.
I also have a lot of time for Canon’s print drivers and bundled ICC profiles, as the MP550 happily printed exceptional prints using other manufacturers’ premium media, with results unmatched by the other two machines on test.
A decent scanner is included, while the hidden main paper tray has a generous 300-sheet capacity (probably 60gsm plain bond).
Once I’d inserted the print head and loaded inks, I was good to go with loading the Canon software, which includes Easy-PhotoPrint EX and a nifty little Solution menu taskbar allowing easy access to all the MP550’s functions. The software setup took around 15 minutes in total, and using the supplied USB cable I was printing in no time at all.
Armed with a pack of A4 300gsm Canon Photo Paper Platinum, the MP550 offered excellent print quality; skin tones on my family photographs were realistic (keep out of the sun, Jeff!), while micro-details were easily discernable. As with the other two printers here, there was no visible dot structure, and even close checking with a magnifying glass failed to reveal much in the way of dot patterns. Black reproduction was just shaded by the HP, but not by much.
The MP550 also didn’t hang around in terms of print speed; my borderless A4 prints took a whisker over three minutes at the highest quality setting. Great stuff indeed. In fact the only nitpick I could aim at the MP550 is its build quality, which is lightweight in terms of construction compared to the other two.
Even considering this, it was a super result, and bearing in mind the all-rounder abilities of the MP550 — it is a home office device, after all — the printer certainly made an impression (no pun intended).
Canon Pixma MP550 – Specs
Print Speed: Up to 36ppm (text, draft)
Print Resolution: 9600 x 2400dpi
Cartridges: Black, cyan, magenta, yellow
Scanner: 48-bit, 2400 x 4800dpi
Copier: Up to 8cpm (black text), 3.8cpm (colour text and graphics)
Memory Card Compatibility: CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD/MMC, xD
Dimensions: 450 x 368 x 160mm
Weight: 8.1kg
CONTACT
www.epson.co.nz
PROS
- Inexpensive,
- Excellent print quality and detail
CONS
- No inbuilt wireless
- Flimsy build
Design 18
Performance 19
Features 16
Image Quality 19
Value for money 18
TOTAL 90/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
January 22nd, 2010 by D-Photo
Printing professional GARY PEARCE runs the ruler over three printers
Designed primarily for the home office, HP’s new A4 format Photosmart Premium Fax C309 is a feature-packed device with excellent performance as a photo printer.
Its wireless connectivity meant one less cable cluttering the spaghetti nightmare located behind my computer desk, and the decent scanner made a good fist of the documents and photographs I trialled during the test. The C309 is also able print automatically on both sides of a sheet of paper (or duplex print, in tech parlance), and those wishing to save on paper costs would be wise to take note of this feature.
Setup was easy, and after about 10 minutes of loading the excellent bundled software, I was up and running and had the C309 connected wirelessly. Printing, scanning and copying then began in earnest.
I was able to print labels directly to CDs and DVDs with a minimum of fuss using the nifty caddy system incorporated underneath the easy-to-read LCD screen/control panel.
The C309 has six dye-based Vivera ink cartridges on board (photo black/black/cyan/magenta/yellow) so there is no need to change black cartridges when swapping from text to photo printing.
Paper handling capacity is reasonable, but since the C309 can hurtle through black and white printing at 33 pages per minute, the 50-sheet output tray is going to need a lot of attention from the user.
It’s quite a bulky unit but the fashionable cream and grey aesthetics blended well with my Mac-based office.
Armed with a fresh pack of HP Premium Plus 280gsm photo paper, I set about reproducing some of my favourite photos — a variety of high-resolution and not so hi-res TIFF and JPEG files.
Printing a bordered A4 took around five minutes — a touch on the slow side but the printed result was very good. The C309 acquitted itself very well; my naked eye couldn’t perceive any sort of dot structure, while colours were well rendered and natural. Because it is basically a CMYK device (no RGB or orange/green — what did you expect?) vivid fluoro-like colours from flowers and insects were slightly muted. But ultimately the Photosmart Premium Fax C309 is a potent, feature-packed home office printer with a good level of photo printing performance.
HP Photosmart Premium Fax C309 – Specs
Print Speed: Up to 33ppm (black, draft); 32ppm (colour, draft); 12ppm (black, normal); 9.5ppm (colour, normal)
Print Resolution: Up to 600 x 600dpi (black, best); 9600 x 2400dpi (colour, best)
Cartridges: 5 – black, photo black, cyan, magenta, yellow, plus option XL
Scanner: 48-bit; up to 4800dpi
Copier: Up to 33cpm; up to 1200dpi (black text); up to 4800 x 1200dpi (colour text and graphics)
Fax: 3 sec/page; up to 300 x 300dpi
Memory Card Compatibility: CompactFlash, Memory Stick/Duo, SD/MMC, SDHC, xD
Dimensions: 468 x 473 x 283mm (W/D/H)
Weight: 10.4kg
CONTACT
www.hp.co.nz
PROS
- Amazing all in-one-solution with excellent wireless connectivity
CONS
- The price, but it’s hard to complain considering the amount of firepower on board
Design 18
Performance 18
Features 20
Image Quality 17
Value for money 17
TOTAL 90/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
October 8th, 2009 by D-Photo
Phil Hanson says all-in-one printers have come a long way but wonders if cramming so much technology into one box delivers the quality of prints photographers expect.
Quality photo printers that take up to A4 paper have become an endangered species.
These days, people wanting a printer to work with the smaller paper sizes find they have to buy a workbench space-wasting A3 or go for a multi-purpose machine that prints, scans, copies, faxes and makes the coffee. Manufacturers obviously see advantages in offering desktop Swiss Army knives, instead of single-function dedicated printers.
The Epson TX700W is an upmarket member of the TX family whose $120-ish TX200 D-Photo reviewed last year, and which effectively dealt to scepticism about whether all-in-ones could be any good.
Costing roughly three times as much, the TX700W ups the ante in all areas and adds a really useful bonus: wireless (and Ethernet) connectivity for both PC and Mac. It’ll also print on suitable CDs.
First appearances
Styled in Italy and finished in gloss and matte blacks, the TX700 is of generally sturdy construction, although the double paper trays feel flimsy. Controls are nicely arranged on a tilting panel around an LCD screen that guides the user through various modes and maintenance functions when not working the device from a computer.
At 44.5cm wide and 38.5cm deep, the TX700W doesn’t occupy too much space.
A wide range of media devices can be accommodated, including SD, xD, Compact Flash cards and USB memory sticks.
Up and running
Those who follow the simple setup instructions will be printing within minutes. I found the separate wireless connection instructions somewhat confusing, but managed to get there.
The printed manual isn’t up to much, but the on-screen version is excellent. Full marks too for Epson’s on-screen utility that allows such an easy interface for such things as maintenance and ink management.
Six of the best
The TX700W uses six cartridges of Epson’s Claria photographic inks, which D-Photo matched with the gorgeous 300gsm Epson Ultra Glossy photo paper. Letting Photoshop handle the colour management, the machine produced excellent prints from JPEGs and TIFFs — and did so at blazing speed. The results easily exceeded the TX200.
Moving right along
No nasties spoiled the scan and copy functions. It’ll scan up to a decent 4800dpi, and Abbyy OCR software is included for getting documents into a word processing program. As with printing, it scans at impressive speed. Copying is also quick and easy.
Conclusion
This is a very good machine. Who’d have thought three or four years ago that you could get a multifunction unit that produced this kind of quality work for four hundred bucks?
EPSON STYLUS TX700W – SPECS
- Printing method: Piezoelectric inkjet
- Minimum ink droplet volume: 1.5 Picolitres
- Resolution: 5760dpi (using resolution performance management)
- Paper sizes: A4, Letter, Legal, 8×10, 5×7, 4×6, 3.5×5, 5×8, A6, A5, B5, Half Letter Envelopes: No10, DL, C6
Scanner
- Scanner type: A4 flatbed colour image scanner, CIS sensor
- Pixel depth: Input 48 bits
- (16 bits/colour); output 24 bits (8 bits/colour)
- Scanning resolution: 2400 x 4800dpi
- Mono scan speed: A4 1200dpi 2.2msec/line
- Colour scan speed: A4 1200dpi 12msec/line
Copy function
- Copy speed colour/mono text (A4): Approx 39cpm
General
- Operating systems/Printer drivers: Windows 2000/XP/XP x64/Vista, Mac OS 10.3.9 or later with USB
- Dimensions: 446 x 385 x 150mm (W/D/H)
CONTACT
www.epson.co.nz
PROS
- Stellar performance for its price
- Takes relatively little space
CONS
- Below average printed manuals
Design 16
Performance 16
Features 18
Image Quality 16
Value for money 19
TOTAL 85/100
This article if from D-Photo issue 29.
August 18th, 2009 by D-Photo
Over at the input side of photography, engineers push ever onward to offer higher megapixel counts; while on the output side, printer boffins seem to be equally eager to increase the number of ink cartridges.
Three ink cartridges used to be enough. Then we went to four. Soon we had six, then eight colours became common on consumer-level printers. Now Canon’s PIXMA Pro 9500 offers no fewer than 10 14ml pigment-ink cartridges. The idea is to help produce better prints, just as the megapixel arms race helps enhance the quality of image capture.
The 9500’s manifest comprises cyan, magenta, yellow, photo cyan, photo magenta, red, green, matte black, photo black and grey, the last three suggesting that this might also be a competent monochrome printer. It’s capable of a maximum resolution of 4800x2400dpi using a three-picolitre droplet size.
Canon engineered the $1365 Pro 9500 robustly and its build quality is high. It sits lower than some competitors, but requires a reasonably large bench area when set up for work — about 70cm wide and 80cm deep. This is because the paper goes in at the back and comes out the front and larger sizes need pull-out supports. In addition to sheets of up to A3+ and 2mm thick, it prints on suitable CDs and DVDs in a special tray.
Setup was straight, clean and simple, although I found myself cursing Canon for not including a USB cable in the box. Also missing is a comprehensive printed manual; it’s all on screen.
The Pro 9500 will print directly from a digital camera via PictBridge and a USB cable that plugs into the printer’s front panel.
When evaluating a printer, I like to start with A4 glossy paper and move on from there. The first prints on Canon paper using Canon ink and the appropriate Canon profiles — with colour management by Photoshop CS3 — oozed
‘wow’ factor.
It was the richness of the colours rather than just being contrasty that made these prints stand out. This was evident in a Hong Kong street scene, a small part of which showed a sheet of plastic wrap in a rubbish bin. The gradation from light grey to white in the plastic was outstanding.
Moving to monochrome, the Pro 9500 gave the stellar performance hinted at by the contents of its ink cradle. It was particularly good on glossy paper; I needed to make small tweaks to get a little more punch from matte and flat specialty media.
Canon generously supplied a range of its Fine Art papers to try. These were Premium Matte, Photo Rag and Museum Etching. I wasn’t able to warm to the Rag — others probably will. However, I have nothing but praise for Premium Matte and Museum Etching. The latter is a thick, luxurious paper that’s a pleasure to handle and print on. It will enhance almost any type of image.
The Pro 9500 is a particularly quiet printer, though not the fastest on the block. It’s feature-rich, easy to use as produces gorgeous prints in colour or black and white.
Specs
- Size: (Stored) 660 x 353 x 193mm
- Printing technology: Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering (FINE) 7680 nozzle print head
- Ink: Canon pigment matte black, photo black, cyan, magenta, yellow, photo cyan, photo magenta, red, green, grey
- Paper: Single sheet to 2mm thick, CD
- Resolution: 4800 x 2400 dpi
- Print size: 9 x 13 to 329 x 483mm (A3+)
- Print speed: approx 2 minutes 7 seconds A4 to four minutes A3
Contact
www.canon.co.nz
Pros
- Top build quality
- Excellent monochrome printing
- Quiet
Cons
- Slightly flat monochrome on
Fine Art papers
- No USB cable supplied
Design 17
Performance 18
Features 18
Image Quality 18
Value for money 18
Total 89/100
This review is from D-Photo issue #023.
