Pixma printers or???

[Trev4]

Hi Guys. My Epson printers are coming to the end of their useful lives, they are a CX6400 and an R300. They have been good but time has caught up with them. Looking at the market I am drawn to the Canon PIXMA MG7150 as a general purpose all in one that is reviewed to have decent photo print quality. For special prints I use an on line printing service, so this is purely for home use.
Has anyone had experience of this model, or have you any other recommendations. I realise this model isn't the best of the best by a long way but then neither is it the most expensive. I don't mind increasing the price somewhat, but not by a lot because of the type of use it will be put to. For black and white documents I use a laser printer, so this is for the odd colour photograph, document and for scanning purposes.
Thanks for reading.

 

[andyred]

Not specifically of that model, but do have a Canon iP printer, which I am very happy with it.

I went froman Epson printer, which I had mixed results with to the Canon - striaght out of the box, it was much better. Am getting much better printing from it, esp with the photos I print on occasions.

I'd certainly recommend a Canon printer ...

 

[g7swz]

I have both Canon and Epson printers which I use on a wireless network. So far I have found the Canon PIXMA 7200 more reliable than the Epson and the print quality is if anything a little better. The only problem with the Canon is that it keeps losing contact with the wireless network. Nearly every time I want to use it I find that it is no longer there and have to go and reconnect it which is a bit of a pain. With any ink jet printer the main expense is the cost of ink. At the moment the Canon cartridges are slightly cheaper than the Epson ones.

 

[Trev4]

Thanks for your views guys. Looking at the reviews they generally seem to favour Canon over Epson, but a word from someone who uses them holds more weight for me. Having used Epson for more years than I care to think about, its easy to get into a rut and stick with a manufacturer that you know. I'll do some more research in the Pixma range of models and select from there. Thanks again

 

[cuthbert]

Sorry to bump this, but I got a Canon Pixma MG7150 for Christmas and I'm incredibly impressed by the quality and speed of the output considering the relatively low cost of the device. I'd say the colours and definition are probably a bit punchier than the local shop I've had my prints done at for years.

The borderless a4 prints are particularly nice to behold, the kodak high gloss paper feels and looks very nice.


But are there any other papers you'd recommend that I try for that extra wow factor?

 

[Trev4]

Sorry to bump this, but I got a Canon Pixma MG7150 for Christmas and I'm incredibly impressed by the quality and speed of the output considering the relatively low cost of the device. I'd say the colours and definition are probably a bit punchier than the local shop I've had my prints done at for years.

The borderless a4 prints are particularly nice to behold, the kodak high gloss paper feels and looks very nice.


But are there any other papers you'd recommend that I try for that extra wow factor?

I decided on the 7150 in the end Mark and I have to say that so far I am impressed and agree with your comments. I have only used Epson gloss paper so far due to me having a stock, so at the moment I cant offer any comparisons, but even so, the results are perfectly satisfactory and pleasing. In the past I have used compatible inks from Premier Inks, not the cheapest compatible but they gave as good a print as the originals. This time though I have decided to stick with originals and to just accept the extra cost.

Thanks for replying.

 

[tonyq]

I've had the Canon ip7250 printer for about 6 months and are very happy with it. You can buy standard or XL inks. If Ii have a complaint it is that it does seem a bit noisy than my last printer a Canon ip5200.

 

[DaveS2]

I have the Canon ip7250 also, and am very happy with the photo print quality, albeit as Tony said, it is a bit noisy.

Also have the Epson R300, which I've had quite a few years, and is still going strong. Apart from the Epson ink it came with, it has been run on Jetec ink cartridges. The print quality on Epson photo paper, is no different to those printed with Epson ink, and prints that are several years old, are still as good as their Epson ink counterparts.

I also have an HP Deskjet 1000, which I bought for general purpose printing, and it will not accept Jetec ink cartridges. It just 'flags up' "This is not an HP cartridge", or words to that effect, and refuses to use it. The black has run out, and when the colour has too, I will bin the printer, as I am not prepared to pay the price for HP cartridges for every day printing tasks, especially when the printer cost a little over £20.

The ip7250 is still on Canon ink, and I will probably replace these with genuine Canon cartridges when the time comes. I only use this for photo printing, and don't print that many.

The Epson has now taken over the job of everyday printing, and as this is happy running with Jetec ink cartridges, costing a fraction of Epson originals, its perfect for job. Especially as its general and text printing is far superior to that of the HP Deskjet.

Dave

 

[Nod]

I use one of the bigger Pixmas - the venerable iX4000 A3+ one and love the prints it gives me. I only use genuine inks (had a bad experience with a cheapo 3rd party - never again!) but am happy with a selection of papers. For super cheap, almost disposable prints at 6x4, I've used Lidl and Aldi papers which are sometimes Agfa branded, sometimes not and may sometimes be Ilford (although there may be other Swiss manufacturers?) For prints that are likely to be around for a long time, I use either Canon papers (got a job lot some time ago and still using it up!) or Ilford Galerie. Same goes for bigger (A4 and larger) prints.

 

[Trev4]

Thanks Dave and John Nod. I also used JetTec, bought from Premier inks, on my Epson R300 and had very good results on Epson paper. However I did have problems with the ink drying up, but then that was probably my fault for not running the printer often enough (I have an old HP laserjet printer for document printing which is cheap as chips to run, and so the other printer wasn't used other than for photograph prints). This was my main reason for having the buy a new printer. incidentally, I looked at Premier inks site and they look reasonable for original Canon inks, but I'll stand corrected on that, I haven't yet done too much research on prices.
Interesting thoughts about the paper you use, I'll be looking into that as and when I run out of my present stock.
Noise wise I find the Pixma a lot quieter than the R300, so maybe I had a fault on that too.

Cheers again guys.
Trev

 

[DaveS2]

Trev, I have in the past, had two other Epson printers. These were run only on Epson ink, and both of them suffered from the print heads blocking with dried ink, so its not an exclusive feature of Jetec ink. In fact its more a feature of Epson printers, if the aren't used regularly.

I went off to Australia for over 6 weeks, and when I returned this had happened to the R300. However, I bought a print-head flushing kit from 'Printhead Hospital', and managed to save the printer. Its a messy job, but it worked.

Since then, I make sure, that if nothing else, I print a test page, at least once month.

Paper wise, I use Epson Premium Glossy on the R300, but Ilford paper also works well.

On the Pixma, I use Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy ll. If I use Epson paper on the Canon, the colours are very muted. However, if I change the colour balance settings from Canon's default, to a custom setting, then I can achieve the same results as with Canon paper.

Dave

 

[Trev4]

Cheers Dave. We seem to have followed very closely the same path in regard to the Epson printers. I have now set up a pop up on my computer that appears on the first day of every month to remind me to run a test page through, its so easy to forget and not realise how long it is since running the printer. I may have done some printing but at least I have the reminder to give me the option to do some maintenance.
Because I have some Epson paper to use up, I'm interested to know what settings you applied in the Pixma, so far I have never entered any profile's into a printer so its something I need to start to learn.
Thanks again.

 

[andyred]

I've used some Epson paper in my Canon iP printer previously - I printed via the Canon printer software and seem to remember choosing the Canon equivalent paper setting for the Epson paper I was using - if using Epson everyday photo paper, choosing this in the Canon options, if using heavy grade, good quality Epson paper, then choosing photo paper plus from the options - this gave me good results out the box, you can then tweak from there...

Hope it's of some help

 

[connersz]

I have a 7250, it's a good printer but I just can't get the colours right. I have tried everything including the Canon papers but if you select the Canon profiles it just seems to wack the magenta up to some craxy level.

It does an amazing job of printing to CD's so I am considering getting a more professional printer for prints and using this for CD's

 

[cuthbert]

I have a 7250, it's a good printer but I just can't get the colours right. I have tried everything including the Canon papers but if you select the Canon profiles it just seems to wack the magenta up to some craxy level.

It does an amazing job of printing to CD's so I am considering getting a more professional printer for prints and using this for CD's

This might sound daft, but if you are using lightroom are you using the Adobe Standard calibration profile or one of the camera specific ones, like Camera Standard?

With my 5d3 raw files the Adobe profile does crazy things to the reds, making them look magenta, even pinkish with some tones. The camera profile makes it look and print normally.

 

[connersz]

This might sound daft, but if you are using lightroom are you using the Adobe Standard calibration profile or one of the camera specific ones, like Camera Standard?

With my 5d3 raw files the Adobe profile does crazy things to the reds, making them look magenta, even pinkish with some tones. The camera profile makes it look and print normally.

I tried a lot of things but to be honest I am no expert in profiles. I know that you can set up a profile or get a profile for your paper and printer but I have no idea about the adobe or camera profiles.

 

[DaveS2]

I'm interested to know what settings you applied in the Pixma, so far I have never entered any profile's into a printer so its something I need to start to learn.

Trev, load an A4 sheet of Epson, or Ilford photo paper into the Pixma, and open a photo in Photoshop, or whatever you use.

Select print, and then go into the Pixma's 'Print Settings' menu.

Under the 'Quick Setup' tab, select the paper type and size etc. Then select the 'Main' tab option.

In the 'Colour/intensity' section, select the 'Manual' option, and then click on the 'Set' button.

This will take you to the 'Manual Colour Adjustment' page.

Leave all the settings at their default, and 'tick' the 'Print pattern for colour adjustment' box. Click OK and then go ahead and print.

This output a page with 19 thumbnail copies of you image on it. The reference image with Cyan:0 Magenta:0 and Yellow:0 will be in the centre.

Around it will be 18 other thumbnails of your image, each with a different colour balance setting applied by the printer.

Select the one which you think best matches your image, say C:5 M:-10 Y:5 for example, and then go back to the 'Manual' settings page, and enter these values into Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow settings.

That's it, go ahead and print your image with those settings.

What you have done is to create a 'Profile' that suits that paper, in that printer.

With Canon's own paper, I make no adjustments, because the profile set by Canon, for their paper and ink, as the default, is fine for me.

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

[Trev4]

Trev, load an A4 sheet of Epson, or Ilford photo paper into the Pixma, and open a photo in Photoshop, or whatever you use.

Select print, and then go into the Pixma's 'Print Settings' menu.

Under the 'Quick Setup' tab, select the paper type and size etc. Then select the 'Main' tab option.

In the 'Colour/intensity' section, select the 'Manual' option, and then click on the 'Set' button.

This will take you to the 'Manual Colour Adjustment' page.

Leave all the settings at their default, and 'tick' the 'Print pattern for colour adjustment' box. Click OK and then go ahead and print.

This output a page with 19 thumbnail copies of you image on it. The reference image with Cyan:0 Magenta:0 and Yellow:0 will be in the centre.

Around it will be 18 other thumbnails of your image, each with a different colour balance setting applied by the printer.

Select the one which you think best matches your image, say C:5 M:-10 Y:5 for example, and then go back to the 'Manual' settings page, and enter these values into Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow settings.

That's it, go ahead and print your image with those settings.

What you have done is to create a 'Profile' that suits that paper, in that printer.

With Canon's own paper, I make no adjustments, because the profile set by Canon, for their paper and ink, as the default, is fine for me.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Dave, that's very useful, its an area I haven't delved into before, in fact I didn't know it existed on the Pixma, so I'll be trying that for sure.
Can I ask, even though it might be obvious when I try it out. When you enter these settings, do they automatically become the default settings, or do you need to enter them on each printing session, or each individual print, or can you save it as an option for future use.
Thanks for taking the trouble to type all this out.

 

[DizMatt]

just got rid of my ip4200 as it was getting on and for photos not to great anymore, as I've been using compatibles.
it was released purchased c.2006 there is fundamentally nothing that wrong with it. it's going to the father in laws for general printing purposes
No hesitation in getting the ip7250. only complaint so far is that the software totals at nearly a gig...really? sheesh!
Will see how it goes.
I've avoided Epson for about 10+ years having owned and sold them in the past.

Would be interested in a source of quality compatibles however for my canon. The cheap ones just don't cut it. A photo i printed out on canon paper looked great in jan'13 but is badly faded now

 

[DaveS2]

I haven't put Epson paper through the Pixma for a while now, but from memory, I believe that what ever you set manually, remains there until you change it.

So, when you next select 'Manual', your settings should still be there.

That said, its best to check that is the case,

Dave

 

[Trev4]

I haven't put Epson paper through the Pixma for a while now, but from memory, I believe that what ever you set manually, remains there until you change it.

So, when you next select 'Manual', your settings should still be there.

That said, its best to check that is the case,

Dave

Thanks again Dave, its appreciated. I'll have a play now and check all this new info out

 

[Trev4]

Would be interested in a source of quality compatibles however for my canon. The cheap ones just don't cut it. A photo i printed out on canon paper looked great in jan'13 but is badly faded now

As I mentioned earlier, I used JetTec ink with my Epson and was very satisfied with the colour and longevity, many others on here also use them. They aren't the cheapest compatible on the market, but they do seem to offer good quality and compatibility at a reasonable price. I bought them from Premier Ink http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/ who gave me good service. I have spoken to them about Canon inks and from my initial checks, they look very competitive for originals but I haven't looked around properly yet. They did say that while JetTec is good for Epson, they don't recommend them for Canon, but they do have another compatible that works well on Canon printers. I cant speak for these as I haven't used them (I decided to stick with originals now). They have an informative website and are very helpful and knowledgeable when you phone them, its a good starting point for supplies in my opinion.

 

[NickSladek]

I have had mixed results from my MG7150 - but I think I need help with the print set up and what Photoshop profile I need to use. Any advice gratefully received. Some prints have been great!