I Just got this printer from Adorama today (via UPS) and this thing is incredible. Im a professional photographer and this printer prints lab qaulity prints super fast. I made sure I used Photoshop to print some test pictures )4x6 on Canon Photo Plus Semi Gloss and it matched exactly what was on my screen. As a matter of fact the prints look better than whats on my screen...I had to do a double take. I no longer will be using the lab to order prints for my clients (only wedding books), Im printing them all myself. The speed is also amazing. The only thing I dont like thus far is the noise of the print head when the printer starts up and before prints start printing. When the picture prints its pretty quiet though. I will update my review after about a week after i dump a few hundred more prints for my clients.
***** Update #1 ***** : Ok Now I've had this printer a few weeks and I've printed a few hundred pictures in a variety of sizes (4x6, 5x7 , 8.5x11 and 13x19) and this is a must have printer for those wanting to print their own professional lab (and better than lab quality) photos. This bad boy is very fast and the print quality is just absolutely superb (I use Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy , Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl, Ilford Galerie Smooth Gloss Paper and Ilfor Printasia 13x19 paper and Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II 13x19). I've shown my photographs to a variety of clients, potential clients, freinds and family and they are blown away by the quality of the prints. When I tell them I printed them myself they are like "What?, No way" and then they asume I must have spent a whole lot of money on the printer...which is wrong ([...] after rebate from amazon/adorama).
Pros :
Fast - This printer spits out a vibrant and full of color 13x19 glossy print in under 3 minutes 30 seconds.
[...]
Quiet - I can print at all hours of the night and not worry about waking anyone up. When Im in the next room with the door open the printer prints so quiet I cant even hear it and have to come check on the print job to make sure it didnt crash since I cant hear any noise in the next room..lol
Quality - Prints professional quality prints on a variety of papers in many different sizes.
Paper - You ARE NOT limited to Canon papers as you can use a bunch of other manufacturers papers. My Favorite thus far is Ilford (cheap from amazon and is basically identical to expensive Canon paper).
Ink Usuage - Good on ink, Not really an ink guzzler. I printed dozens and dozens of 4x6's and even a bunch of 8x11's and 13x19s and the ink kept going and going, until I finaly started running low (after many prints had been printed). Also I now use The Continuous Ink System , so ink is now dirt cheap. Costs something link [...] per cartridge (estimated - all I know is I pay [...] for and 8 pack of about 880 ml's of ink which is over 80 cartridges (no joke, visit fleabay and youll see tons of them)...Save money and Dont buy Canon Ink Carts and you will save at least 50% right off the bat).
Cons :
B&W printing - Prints mediocre black and white prints. This is no secret and I knew this before I bought it. I dont care about black and white prints just color so its all good for me.
Size - This is a big mamma-jamma. You will have to dedicate a space to this thing because of its width.
CD Printing - The US version of this printer does not print to CD's at all and there are no hacks that enable the CD printing feature (Like with the Pixma Pro 9000). If you need CD printing, just print to photo quality CD labels.
Overal: This is a fantastic buy. If you need professional quality color prints done in house you will surely love this printer. Canon outdid itself with this model... The price is steadily falling too. Especially after the [...] rebate.
***** Update #2 ******
DO NOT USE OR BUY THE CONTINUOUS INK SYSTEM FROM SUPERjetUSA With THIS PRINTER:
I bought the continuous ink system from superjetUSA off ebay and it worked fine for a short while and then it leaked ink all inside my printer. All 800+ml's. It was a huge mess and it caused me to use many hours of my valuable time and waste dozens and dozens and dozens of pieces of plain paper/photo paper to clean out the leaking mess. Then SuperjetUSA refused to give me my money back and kept telling me to do this and that and email them pictures of the mess. It took me weeks to clean it up and there is a still an ink mess in my printer. ONLY USE INK CARTRIDGES (stay away from the Continuous ink system) FROM A GOOD SOURCE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
I've had this printer for months and it continues to be an awesome printer. No complaints. I made almost the entire printer purchase price of the printer back within only a few weeks of having the printer..thats how good the prints are.. THE CANON PIXMA 9000 MKII is an awesome investment. Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II Inkjet Photo Printer (3295B002)
This is a truly wonderful printer. The prints are amazingly crisp and accurate and vibrant. If you can imagine it, capture it, see it: This printer will print it for you. What I see on my LCD computer screen is what I get on the print. Extremely easy to install and use. If you just want to crank out a bunch of 4X6s for your family or print large art prints, this printer does it with ease: The "make prints of photos" software function makes this a breeze. It leads you through easy steps to making your prints and shows you images all along of what you are planning to print (instant previews all the way through) until you finally commit the "print" button. I love this SW. It's quiet. It can take a large stack of photo paper so you can select what you want to print and walk away.
The print quality is astonishing. It's just as good as anything you'll get from a photo lab. And at the price of this printer?! Amazing. I haven't made 13X19s yet (that paper is on the way) but everything I've printed has knocked my socks off. This printer opens up whole new avenues for my photography. I alsways looked forward to someday having a color darkroom. Well, now I have it, without all the space used, the chemicals stinking and going bad in their bottles, and BETTER print no-fade life.
[Update 11-Aug-2009: I've made several 13X19 prints now and they are luscious. Just eye-popping. It makes you want to just print off all your favorite shots at 13X19 RIGHT NOW! But what would I do with them all ... Bottom line: Print quality knocks your socks off. Everyone to whom I've shown the 13X19s has been suitably impressed. They clearly show the limitations of the film/sensor and lenses, not the printer. Wow.]
The only negative on this printer would be size: It's big. But, I don't really see how they could have made it much smaller, since it accommodates 13X19 inch paper(!) It has all sorts of clever panels that fold open when you need them to print larger papers, etc., and they fold away to keep the overall size smaller, unless you need them. For all the paper sizes I am using: 4X6, 5X7, 8.5X11, and 13X19, the paper hopper is the vertical one, which means the footprint required by the printer is much smaller than would be required by a horizontal paper feed. It's also much easier to access and load than horizontal feed would be. Nicely engineered and thought-out.
I have been mostly using the premium Canon glossy paper (well worth it) but also some Kodak glossy paper. All results are excellent. Here are the papers I've been mainly using:
Canon Glossy II 4 x 6 Inch Photo Paper Plus Glossy 400 Sheets (2311B031)
Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II 8.5in x 11in 20 Sheets (2311B001)
Canon Glossy II 13 x 19 Inch Photo Paper Plus Glossy 20 Sheets (2311B026)
I love this printer! Best thing I've bought for photography since my first digital SLR.
My computer: Dell Dimension 2400, 2GB RAM, Windows XP Professional
[Update 11-Sep-09:] I wondered a little whether this printer would do as well with documents put together in MSWord, Publisher, etc. Good news: The results are just as good. Wonderful printer.
[Update 1-Oct-2010:] I have been using this printer for a long time now. I've gone through at least 2000 prints (no kidding) and I continue to love this printer. It is honestly amazing (much better than photo processes. One of the beauties of digital is that you only have ONE LENS to worry about. After capture, exactly what the CCD records can be displayed or printed.)
This update is to report my experience with some non-Canon materials in this printer. The Canon inks (and papers to a lesser degree) are expensive; and we all know this is how the OEMs actually make their money: By selling us supplies. Tempted by the prices, I've tried some other materials. I am now using nothing but Canon inks and paper.
I have used some of the after-market inks sold on Amazon. They worked OK; but the prints just didn't have the snap and zing I was used to. But the show-stopper was this: These after-market ink cartidges constantly (constantly!) clogged, or, if they didn't clog, they produced fine streaks in any areas of the photo with large, constant tone (sky, still water, bokeh areas). These were particularly obnoxious in bokeh areas and sky. I tried all the trouble-shooting and nothing worked consistently. I've (literally) thrown all these away and use nothing but Canon ink now -- with perfect and completely consistent results. I also used some Ilford paper that was OK; but the price difference just didn't justify going away from the Canon Glossy II papers (see links above).
My bottom line: Use nothing but the Canon inks (especially) and paper. They really are worth the money. I had to learn this the hard way.
[update on 4-Apr-2011:] I have now used the profiles on the Red River paper site and, along with some adjustment in Lightroom and help from Scott Kelby's books, I have gotten very nice results with the Red River papers. Well worth a try! Sitck with the Canon inks though.
I'm using the brother HL-2170W wireless laser printer for most print jobs and the Canon PIXMA for photos only. A great combination of printers.
Brother HL-2170W 23ppm Laser Printer with Wireless and Wired Network Interfaces - Canon - Large Format - Photo Printer - Pro 9000'
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