Canon Pixma Pro9000

I just picked one up, given the $300 rebate, which makes the printer a great value.

 

<p>I don't do much printing (maybe 50-100 8x10's a year), but when I do, there

is a heavy dose of B&W. I'm also used to Epson printers (3800 specifically)

and papers.

 

<p>At $150, I know it's well worth keeping around, if I ever want to learn

printing. The alternative would be to sell it and use the proceeds to save up

for a better printer.

 

<p>Several questions:

<p>1. Are there enough drawbacks to dye-based inks to stick with pigment?

<br>2. How well can the Pro9000 produce B&W prints?

<br>3. Is there any truth to the claims the printer doesn't handle non-Canon

papers well?

Bryan, I bought the Pro9500 a year ago and was unhappy with it, it did not give the clarity of detail or vibrant colors for many of my photographs, that I was used to with the canon i960. I ended up returning the printer. Pigments are not necessarilly the best for all types of images. I have been thinking about getting the 9000, but decided to stick with my i960 for now as it still works well. But now I'm considering going for the 9000 having seen your post. When I went to the canon website I saw a $50 rebate, not the three hundred that you said, where did you find that? Why do you think they're doing that, are they discontinuing the printer? If so, will they be changing the inks in their next printer? Just wondering, does anyone know? Anyway, please let me know where are you getting your printer from? Thanks, Virginia

It's $100 rebate for the printer itself, and $300 with a 40D or 5D (at Adorama and a couple of other places).

 

Thanks for your reply. I don't know the difference between pigment and dye, as I've never used dye, except from what I've read (bigger gamut vs long durability), but since I'm used to pigment inks and haven't had a program, I'm not sure a switch would be the right thing to do.

so are you interested in selling the 9000, and for how much?

<p>

<b>1. Are there enough drawbacks to dye-based inks to stick with pigment?

</b><br />

That depends on what your expectations are. With dye inks, you're limited to dye-

compatible substrates, and the only way to get any lasting longevity is with papers

specifically formulated to protect your dye-based prints (and even then, they

longevity ratings are usually for prints behind plastic, in an album, in the dark, with

perfect temperature and humidity -- a damn sight more optimistic than the ratings

used for pigment prints).

</p>

<p>

If you want to print on uncoated stock or otherwise do anything weird, pigment would

probably be a better choice. If you just need nice prints on typical RC-style photo

papers, dye does fine there.

</p>

<p>

<b>2. How well can the Pro9000 produce B&W prints? </b><br/>

From experience, you'll usually get one color cast or another printing B&Ws from a

dye-based inkjet. You can work around it to some degree (or entirely if you don't

mind printing nothing but toned prints), but IMO any modern pigment inkjet is going

to be a better choice if you want neutral B&Ws on a regular basis.

</p>

<p>

<b>3. Is there any truth to the claims the printer doesn't handle non-Canon papers

well?</b><br/>

See above. They'll feed through fine, and print fine if they're dye-compatible, but

that's the big rub: <i>if</i> the papers you want to print on are dye-compatible. And

longevity with third-party papers is a crapshoot.

</p>

Thanks Colin. Sounds like I'll be disappointed with it, relative to the tonality of B&W from an Epson 3800.

>> 3. Is there any truth to the claims the printer doesn't handle non-Canon papers well?

 

I have the Pro9000 and love the results. But you must download and use the color management profiles from the vendors to get really good results. I don't use Canon papers myself. Way too expensive, and I get better results from Ilford Gallerie papers. I have great results from their Classic (dye only) and Smooth (dye and pigment) lines.

 

I don't do a lot of B&W, but for color the dye based inks are very acceptable. The B&W I have done, isn't as good as pigment based printers and tends to have a slight color cast. However I haven't tried real hard to get rid of it because I don't do much B&W.

 

Troy

So far, I am happy with my 9000. It handles good quality non Canon papers well. I find that I get truer colours using the Windows ICM setting than Auto which tends to oversaturate, also correct use of media type and paper profiles is helpful. With some papers, such as Kodak, I find that a little adjustment to colour will help. The same applies to BW prints; but this is easy to do.

 

Whether this machine is any better than the Epson alternatives is debateable, but in my opinion, it works OK for me.

Question for Canon Pixma Pro 9000 users: I need to determine if any one has used HP Premium Plus Glossy 13 x19 paper with consistently good results. As a HP user I am satisfied with the results using dye ink and recently bulk purchased 250 sheets from HP with a buy one get one free offer (since expired). I just purchased a deeply discounted Canon Pixma Pro 9000 and don't want a paper issue since I am loaded with HP stock. Any responses will be appreciated.

I have had a Pixma Pro9000 for several weeks and am pleased with the performance and the color intensity.

However, it does not print true black and white and should not be purchased if that is your primary interest. Using all

colors to print BW will generally produce a magenta tone. Reducing the magenta helps but then the cyan emerges. I

have not printed many "grayscale only" so I cannot comment on that other than it is excruciatingly slow. You can get

an aftermarket BW set but it is expensive to clean the heads and once done, the printer should probably be

dedicated to BW because of that cost. My BW experience with the 9000 raises a question. If the machine is

incapabile of producing true black tones, the tint prolem must also extend into color photos within the shades of gray

through black and therefor degrade the "precision" of some color printing. Perhaps someone can comment about this.