Which A3 printer?

I am in a bit of a quandary on this. I want an A3 printer but canot decide between Canon, Epson or HP.
I know they are all pretty good, i believe the canon's dont have the same problem as Epson with the heads blocking if not used for a while (something that is inevitably going to happen)unl;ess I a wrong on this.

So, anyone with an A3 printer have any opinions?
At the moment I am leaning towards the Canon Pixma, but the 9000 or the 9500, the mark 1 or the mark 2?
HP I am led to believe have very good customer service

I was thinking of an A3 printer but then these guys have a good reputation and are probably cheaper than printing your own.

link

I have yet to use them as I want to get 5 or so images to print and then I'll try them.

an 18x12 print at 1.22 is hard to beat IMO.

Mike

I agree entirely and proamimaging have been highly recomended to me before. I just fancy my own A3 printer though.

I know just what you mean. But I am resisting strongly as it is very expensive in paper and ink. Just one dud is a financial disaster.

Actually looking at your avatar of someone either hiding in a deep hole or climbing out of a deep hole I suppose you might be a banker in which case cost is immaterial

Mike

Just as there was no substitute for having one's iwn darkroom, there is now no substitute for having a printer available at home. It enables the prints to be made exactly to your wishes, not almost right but, with practice, exactly right.

Commercial printing services can be excellent, but I like to have that final control. It also helps a lot not to have to wait for the prints to arrrive.

So John

Any recommendations?

We use an Epson 1290s which is perfectly satisfactory. When we need to replace it we will buy whatever Epson is the current top of the range at the time.

Having said that, I'm sure that there are lots of happy users of Canon and HP printers as well.

Hi Steve

In my experience any inkjet printer will suffer from blocked nozzles if left a while. They all have print head cleaning routines in the bundled software - of course that uses even more ink.

HPs designs used to build the printhead and ink cartridge into a single unit - maybe they still do - you should check if you're thinking of buying one. Replacing the print head so often helped print quality but the cartridges were wickedly expensive.

Canon's BJ W2200 is supposed to be a super pice of kit producing contract proof standard prints to A3+ size. But it's not cheap.

I think HP, Epson and Canon are all capable of producing good results providing you set them up right and calibrate correctly. Whichever you choose, check for updated drivers online as they can significantly improve print quality.

You might want to work out which is cheaper per print and (especially if you've got a smallish office/studio) which is quietest and takes the least desk space.

Hi Mike

I received 7 test prints from Proam Imaging last week, 12x8 size. I was really pleased with the quality for colour and b&w. Service was great, I called them to set up an FTP account which was done within a couple of minutes.

A Fuji ICC profile has to be applied to each image - one of my test images showed some posterisation afterwards. The guys at Proam offered to work with me to get the images correct if necessary. Luckily the issue was my monitor profile not fully covering the Fuji profile - the prints were fine.

The prints arrived really well packaged - corrugated cardboard outer envelope with tough card inner envelope and stiffened using a piece of corrugated plastic board.

Thanks for that - you've tipped the balance and I'll some prints done this week. I've just seen how much each print is - 59p that's bonkers!

Mike

Well I have used these guys lots! Can recommend them, I used them to print my RPS panel for my LRPS distinction and cannot fault AT ALL, a small company that is very personable and professional.

Lilly

ps) I have decided when I do purchase a printer dedicated to b&w, it is going to be an A2, I read a very good article in 'Black & White Photography that informed that the 40ml inks were far more cost effective than the A3. I am trying to decide at the moment

hmmmm hadn't considered A2, now theres another quandary LOL ;0

And another financial disaster

One of the members of my camera club uses pro-am and swears by them, and his prints do well in competitions too.

I use an Epson 1400 which is excelent with colour but I cant seem to get a decent B&W, genuine cartridges are extortionate though at least £60+ for a full set, I got some on ebay for £45 All this aside the genuine Claria inks produce tremendous colours.

Hi Steve Canon ix4000 for me.Never had a single paper jam in 2 years and always prints excellent quality images.