Dye Sub

[thierry nguyen cuu - nomad]

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Although there is a category for equipement but I didn't find any relating to

prints/printers. Just hope that my questions would not be out of topic.

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I am looking for a high volume and fast printer (dye sublimation) either for on

location printing and also for package prints.

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Is there any particular brand that you would recommend? I've been looking at the

mitsubishi ones (CP9550 or CP9800).<br>

What would be the best website for online ordering?

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Any help much appreciated

[greg jansen]

One thing to consider is weight. I have a Sony Snap lab, which is about half the weight of the other dye-sub printers that do 5x7's. Another thing to consider is if you want a computer hooked up or not. For large volume events I have an assistant at a laptop connected to the printer, camera via usb connected to the computer. Lots of stuff. For smaller volume jobs it's nice to just bring the camera and printer. Just take the card out of the camera and put it in the printer every 5 shots or so. The Snaplab has a built in screen to do editing (zoom, crop, adjust color, etc). Printing is fast and looks good.

 

I also have SHinko 8x10 printer, but the thing is a real beast. Heavy. I never bring that out to events, just too heavy. Most events want 5x7's.

[thierry nguyen cuu - nomad]

Thanks Greg for the post.

 

I was thinking of the Mitsubishi because of the versatility of diferent formats.

 

The plan is to connect a laptop to the printer and shots would be sent to the computer on the fly via Wifi.

 

Within the preference setup of EOS Utility, you can print as files arrive in the computer as well. All these processes assume of course that no PP is needed.

 

However, the Sony Snap Lab is a nice consideration. I'll give it a dig in the specs.

[greg jansen]

One more thing... I have done the computer, Wi-Fi thing, and although in theory it works, there is just so much that can go wrong. You end up using three or four different programs (image editor, wi-fi program, printer program, etc.) and one mess up and you are rebooting everything, taking time, etc. Also, more equipment needed, more power cords, more stuff. The dye-subs print so fast, usually much faster than you are taking shots, it is easier to just take the card out and insert it directly into the printer. No cords on the ground, less headaches. Just depends on the work load. If I plan on printing more than 100 prints(which is a lot for an event), then I usually bring the laptop. An assistant is aways needed. 9 times out of ten we just swap two cards. One in the camera, than when there is a break in the shooting (after 5 or 10 shots), hand it over to the assistant, assistant hands you a second card and prints the shots off the one you handed them. Assistant has a pad of paper and just keeps track of the ones printed via filename, reprints any if needed, etc. I find the simpler you can keep things the smoother they go. Another thing to think about is when you do an event with a large amount of data, if you keep the images in one folder, your performance can go down as the job gets filled up. If your software has to load all the files before you select one to print, or one to send to the computer, for instance. Best to break a long job into small increments.

[thierry nguyen cuu - nomad]

Good ones Greg.

 

I'll try to keep things simple. Having two bodies, one option is to swap camera as well :)

 

Thank you for the posts

[peter paul petretta]

Does anybody have a problem with the screen size with the snaplab? Even though it is comparitivly large, my customers (dance students)have a hard time seeing enough information to determine whether to buy the photo or not. I am considering the use of a pc or other screen to help the situation. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!