Canon ink: original vs. generic?

[eric_chiu2]

I found lots of discussion regarding this issue on Epson but not Canon. I noticed

Canon is another manufacture which is very popular for Generic inks. I personally

using ink bought from ebay for less than $3 each for my i550. Lately, i found that my

prints from the printer were really bad. Very bad contrast, very low resolution even

prints with finest setting, still see very granly pixels on prints. i am already tried

different papers includes canon plus glossy and pro. Never think about the ink but

now i start wondering. Because i compare the recents prints with some older prints

which i printed when i just bought the printer (which come with orginial ink of

course). the prints i made before were very sharp and can't even see any pixels.

 

Of course, everyone knows we could buy Gennine ink instead. But we are talking

about $10-12/cartiage. I am wondering if there are any good quarity third-party

inks out there which is still good compare with the Gennies ones? I did little research,

did anybody with experience with Carrot ink? or Amazon imaging? or Printpal ink? or

actually we have no choice but Canon's ink?

[jordan2240]

Eric,

 

I'll guess that someone has found a good 3rd-party ink, but the one time I used generic in my Canon printer, one of the cartridges clogged after about a week or two, so I've stuck with Canon (without problems) since.

 

Bill

[mark_herring]

Check out MIS (www.inksupply.com)

also Mediastreet, Lyson, and Pantone (they are recently moving into the inkjet market---thru a company called amazon ink in CA. Last I checked, they were not up and running.

 

My research led me to MIS, but I have only limited experience with their products.

 

BTW, there is no fundamental reason that 3rd party ink cannot be as good as the OEM. Do you always put genuine Ford parts in your Ford? Inkjet printing is very rapidly becoming generic.

[miguel_azar]

I purchased third party refill inks for my Canon S820 and S900 from Inkjet Goodies. They stink. No matter what I did the color was awful - swapped the "Goodies" out for OEM, ran some clean cycles and life was back to normal. Tried it a few times, hoping I did something wrong, each time with the same poor results. I have 6 large bottles 95% full sitting. The tech support was also poor. The owner answered once and never again.

[Marvin]

I've been buying generic ink for my Epson for along while now from www.Megatoners.com and I've been very satisfied. I can't tell the colors from the genuine Epson product and the price is only about 15% of the Epson stuff.

[dave_cheng1]

I could not understand why Megatoner's prices are so low. While every

other place sells at 3 times or higer there is no logic I could

understand why they sell at the price of dirt. I don't believe there

is such a thing as free lunch.

 

Anyway, I believe 3rd party ink is a trend of inkjet printing and going

stronger. It will become a commodity like C-41 or E-6 soups that there

are many brands to choose from. The priters that accept such 3rd party

alternatives will be the ones that are popular. Printer manufacturers

will make their printers accepting 3rd party inks or be tossed by

consumers. Manufacturers that disable their printers from inks other

than OEM will disappear from the market. For now I see the front

runners being Canon and Epson.

 

Are you willing to accept a Kodak camera that can only use Kodak

films? Polaroid successfully prevented every 3rd party from competing

with them and it also effectively drove themselve to charpter 11.

 

I believe eventually all 3rd party and OEM inks will comptete with

quality, longevity and compatiblity with each other. OEM inks should

always have advantages over 3rd parties as they should have the

technical know how to make better inks. But not every customer need

high quality inks for every print job. There are always jobs that

Megatoner's inks are adeguate. OEM inks will continue to be the

dominant choices but cheap alternatives are always available and

acceptable. I use Kodak's C-41 and E-6 fluids but occassionally

I do want to use Agfa, Arista, and whatever is cheap.

 

Well, I think I speek a little too fast. Will this become a trend?

I hope so.

[phil_v.]

Fwiw...

 

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111767,pg,1,00.asp

[aaron_w.]

For some other points of view on this subject, see my recent thread: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0077yb

[blueviews]

If you look at Inkjet mall for example their Epson cartridge for the 1280 is $20.00. Atlex sells genuine Epson for $22.30 or so. Not a big enough difference to waste time re-profiling. I think one of the biggest problems with 3rd party ink carts (aside from clogging) is that the color will change radically from cartridge to cartridge.

Bill

[aaron_w.]

From what I've read, most Epson/Canon users (who have tried various 3rd party inks) say that the colors aren't that much different from OEM colors. Their biggest concern about 3rd party inks is thier archival qualities compared to OEM inks.

[phil_v.]

Bill - Inkjet mall is not a very good example for low-priced Epson-compatible cartridges for the 1280 (or for that matter, any other printer). Stylus 1280 compatible cartidges can be had for less than $10 (including shipping) from several 3rd party outfits!

[eric_chiu2]

Its a lot of good suggestion and discussion here. Many of you mention that

experienced clogging problem with 3rd party ink which i have never see that happen

to me. However, i first bring up the question is that I notice a serious color and

quality off with the cheap ink (i am talking about $2/cartage) I am using now.

I can't agree that people's major concert is the archival issue about the ink. Honestly,

if i can find a affortable 3rd party ink that can prints looks as good as the OEM ink, I

don't care if it will last for the next 25 years or not. not talking about 25 years, who

know what kind of new super photo printer will come out next couple years that can

make prints looks good and last forever. What i mean is, why should i care about the

lightfast so bad now, I can always have new prints or even new printer later.

However, what I want is good looking nice photo prints NOW and affortable (if its

possible).

[phil_v.]

Eric:

 

Of the hundreds of inkjet-sources some just come too cheap to deliver a quality product, while others (imho) do deliver a product that produces colors as well as OEM (and at great savings)!

 

As long as you are not concerned about 'possible' differences in longevity, try http://www.alotofthings.com/catalog/index.html for high-quality compatible inks (and a good source for related informatation). Another good ink source is http://www.weink.com/. Both offer bulk refill kits as well as prefilled cartridges.

 

Phil