A great buy!
Written: Jun 10 '02
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Pros: Fast, High Quality, and Very Modular
Cons: Few aftermarket inks
The Bottom Line: Compared to the other options (Epson, etc..) in this price range, the S9000 offers the best features and quality for the money.
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| cim303's Full Review: Canon S9000 InkJet Photo Printer |
I'll keep this simple, here are the facts that you may not find elsewhere...
I've used this printer for about one month and have been nothing short of amazed at the possibilities and quality of the output. There isn't much more to say about the output other than it is very fast compared to others in it's price range that I have used and tested.
The ink tanks are separate for each color and black which is nice. They cost around $9-$12 depending on where you shop. www.weink.com makes a continuos inking system that will allow you to bypass ever having to buy ink tanks. I haven't used it, but do plan on buying it and it appears to be a good deal. Unfortunately, this is about the only option for a continous inking system for the S9000, matter of fact most aftermarket inks and like supplies are geared towards Epson printers.
I suspect that will change in short time due to the fact that this printer (including the s900) will blow away any Epson, HP, etc... in it's price range--no exceptions. It's about time Canon came fighting back in this area and the s9000 is a powerful weapon!
For those that do photography and are interested in setting up a digital darkroom, this printer will no doubt please those who's budgets are in this price range. I get beautiful color and BW prints from this machine although it is tough to color match what is on your screen just like with any CMYK printer although a good color management package like Monaco EZ Color might be of great help.
The Canon papers are great, I can't praise them enough. Especially Photo Paper Pro, output really can't be beat on this paper compared with other manufacturer's papers although it could be considered somewhat subjective. Canon papers can be tough to find but any decent online operation will sell them. The Canon papers are higher priced than most, but I keep comming back to them for glossy prints.
I've tried many different papers, I specifically don't recommend Kodak paper, the results are less than stellar and it takes some tweaking. Epson paper looks pretty good along with Mirage canvas paper. Pictorico paper is wonderful too. Ilford makes a great line of papers that work well with the S9000 as well. There are so many inkjet paper manufacturers out there that it's almost overwhelming. My advice is to buy small amounts of different types to see if you like before getting large quantities.
Other details about the printer: Quiet operation, this thing totally whispers. Intuitive driver makes it easy to use and understand with many great features. I find that the Image Optimizer PRO option works well with all prints. It's USB, but does not come with a cable (how cheap) so be sure and have one available. No noticable color fade after one month in the sun on prints using Canon inks. Be careful of cheap aftermarket inks, they probably won't hold up as well as the Canon inks. Setup was a breeze on Win2K and WinXP.
I bought mine from EMS Computing www.emscomputing.com because they had the lowest price on Pricewatch (a great resource, but use wisely) www.pricewatch.com
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 429 Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID: cim303
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Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 3 members
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