Epson P700? Or Canon Pro-300

viewfromthenorth

viewfromthenorth

Messages
3,134
Name
Andy
Edit My Images
No
After ten years that have been as fruitful as they have been frustrating, I've decided that it's time to give up on my Epson R3000. Its capable of producing a dozen flawless prints and then randomly suffer a blocked head on the print immediately after, or covering it in ink droplets for no apparent reason immediately after. So as the ink is running low, now would seem a good time to get something new.

The obvious choice is an Epson P700 as I'm familiar with the Epson Advanced Black and White Driver (90% of my output is black and white), but Wex have a good offer on the Canon Pro-300 at the moment. I've never had a Canon but reviews seem to be favourable. So what are people's experiences of these things?

Oh and by the way, this is about what printer to buy next, not a 'why not just send it to DSCL' or 'home printing is a waste of money' or whatever, thread. I know the pros and cons of printing at home vs a lab - I've been home printing for about 15 years and also send stuff to labs as well - this just isn't the topic on here! Thanks!
 
P900 owner coming from an Epson SP4800. There were 2 buying decisions that prompted me on the P900 vs Pro-1000 debate in my head.

1. Canon used to have a limit on max sizes for panos which seemed ridiculous. Not an issue until you want to print something wide. Hopefully shouldn't be an issue any more. Surely they must have fixed it with firmware.
2. Epson had a roll paper attachment.

I don't use non OEM inks, and I think Epson came out cheaper (per ml, not per cart) too, although it wasn't really a price decision. The only thing going for the Canon was the replaceable print head. There was an added bonus of not having to relearn print driver software. The Epson drivers were very similar to my 4800 so getting going was far easier.

I think in terms of print quality, it's going to be a magnifying glass and colour chart decision which is the print version of pixel peeping which I tend not to do. They're both probably great printers, but I'd personally stick with Epson. My 4800 was a powerhouse (until it wasn't) and I felt I got excellent value from it. I've had my P900 for nearly 3 years now and it's not let me down once. No sign of problems with jets/heads and no magic bullet required yet (touch wood!)

Good luck with whatever you decide!
 
I'm not up to date on printers, but the down side of my now discontinued Canon Pro 1 is the ink wasted in cleaning cycles - but having said that I've never had a blocked nozzle in at least 5 years of usage. It's been faultless. For my model also, I cannot replace the waste tank, so when that is full, the printer is effectively finished. It is also limited on panoramas as Ian mentioned. The Canon Pro 300 may be a step up in all of these areas, but I would check.

If I were in the market for a new printer I would check out the YouTube channels by Jose Rodriguez and Keith Cooper - you may well have already.
 
Harlequin565 said:
I've had my P900 for nearly 3 years now and it's not let me down once. No sign of problems with jets/heads and no magic bullet required yet (touch wood!)!
Click to expand...
Thank you! Reading this is most reassuring! I’ve had on and off problems with the R3000 since day one. It’s very hit and miss with thicker paper like Fotospeed Baryta to the point that I tend to use a thinner paper due to the wastage I had from random roller marks / ink droplets / whatever, arbitrarily ruining prints.
 
Bebop said:
I'm not up to date on printers, but the down side of my now discontinued Canon Pro 1 is the ink wasted in cleaning cycles - but having said that I've never had a blocked nozzle in at least 5 years of usage. It's been faultless. For my model also, I cannot replace the waste tank, so when that is full, the printer is effectively finished. It is also limited on panoramas as Ian mentioned. The Canon Pro 300 may be a step up in all of these areas, but I would check.

If I were in the market for a new printer I would check out the YouTube channels by Jose Rodriguez and Keith Cooper - you may well have already.
Click to expand...
Thanks yes, I’ve consulted Keith Coopers website many times over the years.

Interesting to hear about the waste tank, it’s something I’ll have to check out if I go the Canon route.
 
I went with Epson ecause the Canon worked out very expensive.

Firstly canon have a timed cleaning cycle which wastes ink. Epson does not, you clean if you need to clean.

Second, I use Marrutt inks which are a quarter the price of OEM and they are not available for the Canon.

I’m very happy with my P900. I got it with a free roll paper attachment too.
 
ecoleman said:
I went with Epson ecause the Canon worked out very expensive.

Firstly canon have a timed cleaning cycle which wastes ink. Epson does not, you clean if you need to clean.

Second, I use Marrutt inks which are a quarter the price of OEM and they are not available for the Canon.

I’m very happy with my P900. I got it with a free roll paper attachment too.
Click to expand...
Thanks, didn’t know that about the cleaning thing in the Canon. I’d not considered non-OEM inks, I’ve not heard good things about them generally but are Marrutt any good?


And it’s interesting to hear from another P900 owner. I’d considered a P900 as I do like A2 prints and tend to get them done at DS Colour as I can’t go bigger than A3. But for the number I’d do, it’s cheaper to keep sending them to the lab, given the additional cost of the printer, plus the cost of A2 paper and ink. Well, that’s what I keep telling myself anyway…….
 
For detailed and IMO unbiased reviews I suggest you check out Keith Cooper's North light Images website.

PS Epson Print Layout and it's VFA b&w settings is very good.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
Thanks, didn’t know that about the cleaning thing in the Canon. I’d not considered non-OEM inks, I’ve not heard good things about them generally but are Marrutt any good?


And it’s interesting to hear from another P900 owner. I’d considered a P900 as I do like A2 prints and tend to get them done at DS Colour as I can’t go bigger than A3. But for the number I’d do, it’s cheaper to keep sending them to the lab, given the additional cost of the printer, plus the cost of A2 paper and ink. Well, that’s what I keep telling myself anyway…….
Click to expand...
I’ve been using Marrutt inks for years in both my P600 and P900 and they are just as good as the OEM ink. Marrutt inks work with the P700 too.

I moved up from the A3 to A2 because there were always the odd occasion where I wanted a bigger print but most of my prints are A4 or A3.
 
ecoleman said:
I’ve been using Marrutt inks for years in both my P600 and P900 and they are just as good as the OEM ink. Marrutt inks work with the P700 too.

I moved up from the A3 to A2 because there were always the odd occasion where I wanted a bigger print but most of my prints are A4 or A3.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I’ll have to look into Marrutt. OEM cartridges at £25-30 each are a major cost, especially when a few need replacing at the same time.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
After ten years that have been as fruitful as they have been frustrating, I've decided that it's time to give up on my Epson R3000. Its capable of producing a dozen flawless prints and then randomly suffer a blocked head on the print immediately after, or covering it in ink droplets for no apparent reason immediately after. So as the ink is running low, now would seem a good time to get something new.

The obvious choice is an Epson P700 as I'm familiar with the Epson Advanced Black and White Driver (90% of my output is black and white), but Wex have a good offer on the Canon Pro-300 at the moment. I've never had a Canon but reviews seem to be favourable. So what are people's experiences of these things?

Oh and by the way, this is about what printer to buy next, not a 'why not just send it to DSCL' or 'home printing is a waste of money' or whatever, thread. I know the pros and cons of printing at home vs a lab - I've been home printing for about 15 years and also send stuff to labs as well - this just isn't the topic on here! Thanks!
Click to expand...
I use Canon printer's because I've had the best luck with them. But if you get along fine with Epson, I would not change. You probably already know about how to use the new one! Thing I would would do is get a min 13" printer. if I could afford one right now I'd get a 17" one, just don't have the extra $1000! I don't sell much in the way of photo's, never tried much and not real confident. But the photo's I like best I have hanging all over the house in 13x19 on up to 12x24. Well hanging or stacked in corner's! They are laying all over the place and anyone coming into my house either looks or they can leave! But Point of my post is, get what you like and go with it. I think Canon makes really good cameras but don't own one. Simply been using Nikon to long with no problems, well almost none. Can't figure out how to work all the newer stuff but content to simply get photo's I like!
 
Last edited:
I’ve been using the P800 for
several years now. Use Epson inks and never had a problem. Unlike the 3800 which produced great prints but threw up the blocked head every now and again which got more and more difficult to shift. Cheaper ink costs with larger cartridges and great B&W.
 
Don Fischer said:
I use Canon printer's because I've had the best luck with them. But if you get along fine with Epson, I would not change. You probably already know about how to use the new one! Thing I would would do is get a min 13" printer. if I could afford one right now I'd get a 17" one, just don't have the extra $1000! I don't sell much in the way of photo's, never tried much and not real confident. But the photo's I like best I have hanging all over the house in 13x19 on up to 12x24. Well hanging or stacked in corner's! They are laying all over the place and anyone coming into my house either looks or they can leave! But Point of my post is, get what you like and go with it. I think Canon makes really good cameras but don't own one. Simply been using Nikon to long with no problems, well almost none. Can't figure out how to work all the newer stuff but content to simply get photo's I like!
Click to expand...
Right, thanks
gerry s said:
I’ve been using the P800 for
several years now. Use Epson inks and never had a problem. Unlike the 3800 which produced great prints but threw up the blocked head every now and again which got more and more difficult to shift. Cheaper ink costs with larger cartridges and great B&W.
Click to expand...
The blocked heads are an occasional annoyance on the R3000, especially when it’s in the middle of a batch which is most annoying. It’s the random ink drops and smudges that are the most annoying as they’re equally random but also more prevalent. Think I’ll stick with Epson for my new printer - thanks everyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top