03-07-2003, 07:00 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Canon i950: Oh How I Adore Thee
Since Digital Media Thoughts still isn't live, you'll have to excuse this little off-topic journey.
About two weeks ago, I purchased a new printer: the Canon i950. I've been an Epson fan for a long time, and have been using a C80 for the past two years. I always swore by the vibrancy of Epson inks, but recently I had a chance to take a closer look at Canon printers, and was very, very impressed. Even their cheap $89 CND i320 produces surprisingly crisp borderless 4 x 6 images. I was looking at the i850, and had the geek desire to posses it, but as tempting as the 2/4 picolitre technology was, I wanted a "real" photo printer with a six ink system (the i850 was a general purpose printer with a four ink system). In a rare fit of self control, I opted to wait - and was rewarded with the release of the i950 a month later.
Oh what a printer!
The printer's 3072 nozzles spit out ink in 2-picolitre sizes at a resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi, which means finer overall quality. It's capable of border-free 4x6, 5x7, and 8.5x11 prints, which makes it ideal for printing digital photos. I've had images printed by Ofoto, Shutterfly, Kodak, and dotPhoto, but the quality of the i950 prints surpasses them all. The clarity of the images is stunning - I haven't done any huge comparative reviews by printing the same image on every printer, but I can't imagine getting anything better than the quality I'm seeing.
The printer is also amazingly fast - it prints a little slower than the specs would indicate (isn't that always the way), but it will spit out 4x6 images in about 40 seconds, which is fantastic when you need a photo just as someone is heading out the door. 8.5x11 prints take longer, about 3 minutes, but compared to the C80 I owned, this thing is a rocket. Style-wise, it looks slick on my desk - very clean lines, with a wonderful black high-gloss finish in the centre.
General text and line art graphics and crisp and far surpass my Epson C80. It's fast, very quiet, and quite good on ink so far. About the only think I don't like about this printer is the fact that Canon doesn't make 8x10 photo paper. Does anyone at Canon know how hard it is to find frames for 8.5x11 photos? It's breaks in logic like this that make me wonder if the people who market these products actually use them, but other than that, this printer has blown me away in every way - it's the best printer I've ever owned, bar none.
If you're looking for a photo printer, I can't give any other printer a higher recommendation. I'm sure some of the high-end Epson printers would be as good or better, but without getting into expensive large-format printers, this is as good as it gets. The printer can be purchased from Amazon.com. You can also search for the lowest price using Pricegrabber or check out the full specs.
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03-07-2003, 07:29 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 124
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I, too, was a long time Epson user. However, I recently bought a Canon S900, and man, it's sweet. Fast, good color, great Mac OS X drivers.
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03-07-2003, 07:44 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 102
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I got the 850i Version and well this canon Printers Rock ! just try to print a full A4 picture form a 3 to 5 Mo Numeric camera and you will be amazed !
I am fully agree that the 950i sis better but Honestly I didn't saw such big difference while testing both of them with the same picture in my retailer shop
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03-07-2003, 09:27 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 174
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It's just too bad that the wide carriage version they just announced doesn't have the same guts as the i950. It's better than the S9000 but it's a shame they didn't get the good stuff in there.
I'm waiting until I can get a 24" wide paper path...but that's $3000 so I'll be waiting (and saving) a while...
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03-07-2003, 11:43 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 14
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Agreed! The Canon 900/9000 series are ace printers, especially for anyone into digital photography, product shooting or even photoshop/graphic work.
In the UK, Canon hardware and consumables are often charged at rip-off prices, so shopping around is essential.
If you are on a bit more of a budget, check out the Epson 925 which I believe is being discounted in a lot of places now. Very different quality from the old Epson Stylus Photo series, takes roll photo paper and is much quieter too.
Bob
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03-07-2003, 11:45 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 354
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Revolution.cx
It's just too bad that the wide carriage version they just announced doesn't have the same guts as the i950. It's better than the S9000 but it's a shame they didn't get the good stuff in there.
I'm waiting until I can get a 24" wide paper path...but that's $3000 so I'll be waiting (and saving) a while...
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True, the S9000 didn't have the same guts as the S900, the A3 printers always seem to be a generation behind. :?
I'm still happy with my S820 though, even though its obsolete :cry:
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03-07-2003, 02:11 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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I had one as well for a few days. I agree with everything that Jason, and the rest of you are saying about it. BUT, I found that as soon as a I threw any volume at it, it would jam, and just plain not work well. I use my printer to run of colour brochures a couple hundred at a time every few weeks. I ended up going back to old faithful Epson and bought a C82.
Dave
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03-07-2003, 02:25 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 513
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I think the mags have also been extolling the Canons for quite awhile (matches Epson quality, much much faster, separate ink tanks, etc).
But I'm darn tired of finicky inkjets and cartridge hassles. What's the recommendation for a color laser with the longest-lasting toners (least frequent consumables)? Some everyday workhorse that prints decent photos (not as good as the best 6-color microdroplet inkjets necessarily, but good enough). For example our dept. has been using a Lexmark C750N which prints more than decent photos.
And actually I want a full copier combo (to replace old Brother MFC-9600 monochrome laser MFC and also replace the photo inkjets for most things at home). Basically a color laser equivalent of the HP OfficeJet d155 ($799), preferrably with large format (tabloid/B-size) support. I've yet to have found one even *remotely* affordable.
Something w/ at least a legal-size scanbed, ADF, duplex printing & scanning/copying, 2nd input tray, network print server, decent speeds and resolutions (i.e. single-pass color printing)...
Right now I'm shooting for the Minolta-QMS magicolor 3100 with the SC-215 scanner/copier attachment, but it's not perfect.
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03-07-2003, 02:52 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 121
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I got the I-850 a few months ago and even though it is only 4 color the prints are excellent. Better yet, I can use third party ink tanks that cost me $2 each and they work great......
heyday
www.phonecow.com
"Funny name, Great long distance rates"
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03-07-2003, 02:56 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 718
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I've never been an inkjet fan and had used an ALPS MD-5000P dye-sublimation printer. It produced excellent photos but I was concerned about service since Alps isn't into printers anymore and the availability of their tape-based dry ink cartridges couldn't be guaranteed in the future.
Already an HP 2200D Laser Printer user (I like their built in duplexor and IR port for convenient PocketPC use), I decided to get an HP Photosmart 7550 with duplexer unit. I can't believe the quality of inkjet photos now. A seven ink printer, it produces photos equal to or better than my dye-sub!
As for color lasers, they are getting cheaper now, but consumables are still hugely expensive. Case in point, CompUSA has a QMS color laser with 10/100 net port for $799. Awesome price and the quality of the prints are great but to refill one set of their cartridges (black, yellow, cyan, magenta) costs $525. If you use it a lot, be prepared to spend a lot over time. Plus, while color lasers are great for business docs, they really aren't meant to be photo printers as most only have 600x600 or 1200x1200 resolutions (the QMS was 600x600).
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