What does a hobbiest level black and white photo printer cost?

[Designer]

I do not have trouble getting really good B&W pictures on my monitor but they just do not print well.

I sent some b&w photos out to a place to do "True Back and White" and they were worse than my Walgreen photos, they had a light brown back ground. I sent them back and they did correct them but the latitude ranged from light gray to dark gray.

I have been able to get an acceptable print from my printer but nothing with the "pop" of the monitor and even with the same settings the next print is often lacking in contrast. I have ordered some bright white photo printing paper to see of that helps.

Hi, Grandpa Ron!

In answer to your original question; Canon Pixma Pro (10 or 100?) is currently on sale at B&H and includes a Canon rebate card. On sale until the end of December. (see my post #7, above)

(also see @TCampbell 's post #13, above)

This printer gets very high marks on the reviews. Additionally, you can purchase paper that is specially formulated to produce excellent B&W prints. If you are after the best results at a reasonable cost, this is what you need to do. Get the printer. Get some paper.

Also note: when you view your image on your computer, remember that the image is lighted from behind, sort of like a transparency, and will usually look lighter than a print on paper. As you get closer to your goal, you may have to compensate by making your computer image lighter than you want in order for it to look good as a print on paper.

Good luck!

 

[mrca]

Great prices on some of those 13 inch printers, less than $200 for a great printer. Want to save yourself lots of frustration, expensive ink and paper? Spend $450 and buy an i1Studio, the updated version of the color munki. The brightness and contrast will be spot on as will all colors in gamut, ie what the paper can hold that the monitor can show. I would not print without one. Your prints will match the monitor, no "my prints are darker" no "all my colors are off." The ICC profiles are for a specific printer they used and printers vary. With i1Studio, you calibrate your monitor then calibrate for each type of paper on your specific printer. Take the money you saved on the printer and just buy one and spare yourself frustration and expense. It used to take me at least an hour with multiple test prints wasting ink and paper to get an acceptable print. Especially stressful when trying to deliver a print asap. Now I might do 2 5x 7 test prints on and 8x10 sheet, one for color the other a crop from the size image I will be printing to check sharpening to be sure then drop in the $10 sheet of paper and it is spot on. No if, ands or buts, it is spot on. The new i1Studio also profiles particular papers for b&w. Did I say I would not print without one?

 

[RowdyRay]

Canon has used Pixma printers as sales incentives for years now. That's why there are so,so many NIB on CL and e-Bay...the printer has been "thrown in" as a sales incentive, and people sell the un-wanted or un-needed printer as a way to get some cash back!

I'm fully aware of how and why they've ended up on CL or E-bay. Wanted to know if it was a decent picture printer. I'm a huge fan of Canon because of their individual ink tanks. Been using them for 20 years? Have a Pixma MG5420 right now. Mainly scan or print a lot of documents. Looking for something dedicated to pictures.

You might want to ask about how much ink is remaining. When these are going for cheap, people buy them, use up the ink, and sell them. Effective purchase price (after rebate) is only $100 which is about what new ink cartridges will cost. Cheaper in the long run to sell the machine and buy another with full ink. (And some paper!)

Already ahead of you. Just because I'm a cheapskate doesn't make me stupid. Yes, there are people trying to sell units as you describe. One is even missing the print head and ink. Good luck with that! But.....many are going for 50-100 dollars still sealed in the box with the UPC missing. If I can nab one in the 50-60 dollar range NIB, and not wait 6-8 weeks for a rebate......Score!! Unless it's a horrible printer.

Is the pro-100 that much better? This is my dilemma.

 

[Designer]

..many are going for 50-100 dollars still sealed in the box with the UPC missing.

Is the pro-100 that much better? This is my dilemma.

IMO, the Pro-10 would be (and was) my choice because it uses pigment inks, not dye inks.

So the deals offered are said to be "new in the box", but frankly, it makes no sense. They pay $350, send in the UPC, and get a $250 rebate. What am I missing here?

They're very good printers, IMO.

BTW: genuine Canon ink cartridges run $15 each, FYI

 

[RowdyRay]

..many are going for 50-100 dollars still sealed in the box with the UPC missing.

Is the pro-100 that much better? This is my dilemma.

IMO, the Pro-10 would be (and was) my choice because it uses pigment inks, not dye inks.

So the deals offered are said to be "new in the box", but frankly, it makes no sense. They pay $350, send in the UPC, and get a $250 rebate. What am I missing here?

They're very good printers, IMO.

BTW: genuine Canon ink cartridges run $15 each, FYI

I know what the cartridges go for. Some have been listed for quite some time. I've been watching. They've lowered the price because they haven't sold. I was hoping it wasn't because they sucked. Now you know why I'm asking.

 

[Derrel]

Canon has used Pixma printers as sales incentives for years now. That's why there are so,so many NIB on CL and e-Bay...the printer has been "thrown in" as a sales incentive, and people sell the un-wanted or un-needed printer as a way to get some cash back!

I'm fully aware of how and why they've ended up on CL or E-bay. Wanted to know if it was a decent picture printer. I'm a huge fan of Canon because of their individual ink tanks. Been using them for 20 years? Have a Pixma MG5420 right now. Mainly scan or print a lot of documents. Looking for something dedicated to pictures.

You might want to ask about how much ink is remaining. When these are going for cheap, people buy them, use up the ink, and sell them. Effective purchase price (after rebate) is only $100 which is about what new ink cartridges will cost. Cheaper in the long run to sell the machine and buy another with full ink. (And some paper!)

Already ahead of you. Just because I'm a cheapskate doesn't make me stupid. Yes, there are people trying to sell units as you describe. One is even missing the print head and ink. Good luck with that! But.....many are going for 50-100 dollars still sealed in the box with the UPC missing. If I can nab one in the 50-60 dollar range NIB, and not wait 6-8 weeks for a rebate......Score!! Unless it's a horrible printer.

Is the pro-100 that much better? This is my dilemma.

Wow...so much attitude coming from you. Pretty disappointing comments from you, to both me, and to designer. We just simply tried to make some comments, and perhaps help you out, and we both get verbally slapped in the face. Gotta love it! Not. Nobody said you were stupid. You took that way out of context. Good luck in all things.

 

[Designer]

FYI @Grandpa Ron , I just ordered some B&W paper. I don't currently have many B&W photos, but since we've been talking about it, I am anxious to try my hand. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[TCampbell]

Want to save yourself lots of frustration, expensive ink and paper? Spend $450 and buy an i1Studio, the updated version of the color munki.

I have a ColorMunki, but most paper suppliers have downloadable ICC profiles that correspond to their various papers used with popular photo printers (typically that means just Canon & Epson).

There are also profiling services. You download and print test sheets following their instructions, send them in, and they produce a profile for you to download. There's a fee... but if you have a favorite paper/printer/ink combination you use over and over and don't often vary... then maybe you only need a couple of profiles and could save money using a service instead of buying the calibration tool.

Also (very important) ... there's something called "rendering intent". You'll find if you print in Photoshop (or quite a few popular photo applications) they let you pick the "rendering intent" (or sometimes they just say "intent"). This concept decides how the computer is going to map the color gamut required by the photo... to the color gamut available on the printer. You'll often print photos where there are colors that the printer simply cannot reproduce bang-on-accurate (even an accurately profiled printer). The "intent" decides how the computer handles that.

Some intents preserve colors that can be printed (if the color can be printed accurately, then print it accurately) and ONLY change colors that are out-of-gamut (can't be printed accurately). The caution here is that it may move an out-of-gamut color to an in-gamut color... that just happens to match an in-gamut color that is already in your photo. In other words... two similar hues that should look different will now appear identical.

Some intents compensate for this problem... when they shift an out-of-gamut color to the nearest possible in-gamut color AND there was already an in-gamut matching color in your photo... that in-gamut color will get shifted to a different color in order to retain the difference you expected to perceive when viewing the photo (even though it means the in-gamut color is no longer 100% accurate).

In other words... if you're not getting the color accuracy you expect... and you think you have the correct printer/paper profile in use... then check the "rendering intent" because that's another setting that will impact color accuracy.

 

[TCampbell]

FYI @Grandpa Ron , I just ordered some B&W paper. I don't currently have many B&W photos, but since we've been talking about it, I am anxious to try my hand. Thanks for the inspiration!

When you say “B&W Paper” ... is there something specific/special? Typically I just think of various photo-quality papers (which could be used for either color or B&W). Just wondering if there are options out there specific to the B&W use.

 

[Designer]

FYI @Grandpa Ron , I just ordered some B&W paper. I don't currently have many B&W photos, but since we've been talking about it, I am anxious to try my hand. Thanks for the inspiration!

When you say “B&W Paper” ... is there something specific/special? Typically I just think of various photo-quality papers (which could be used for either color or B&W). Just wondering if there are options out there specific to the B&W use.

@TCampbell ; I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to conduct a comparison with this and some other paper that I already have.

PictoricoGEKKO Red Inkjet Paper (11 x 17

same thing available on eBay; Gekko Fine Art Collection Paper For Use With Inkjet Printers | eBay

Here is the website:

Mitsubishi Imaging (MPM), Inc.

The different "colors" are differences in gloss, texture, stiffness and tone. They sell a sample pack which I may decide to get.

 

[Designer]

(continued) The one I ordered is the Gekko Red, here is a blurb on it:

 

[johngpt]

(continued) The one I ordered is the Gekko Red, here is a blurb on it:

Interesting. Will look into whether they have something compatible with the Pro-100, as the blurb you attached suggests Red is only pigment based.
Thank you for that information.