Which printer is best for my underwater pics

[hughesy]

Hi
I'm looking for a new printer for my underwater digital pics. I will be using this prionter for normal tetx dics aswell. Wondered if anyone knows of a good one to buy. I've been look at a Canon MP970 does anyone know anything about this one.

Thanks

Hughesy.

[Reikimaster]

not too hot on the printers, but make sure you calibrate your montor before spending too much time playing in photoshop or anything.
my did spent ages sorting pics, croping taking red eye etc out. only to find the montor was way out to what was printing.

[Bantam]

I have an Epson - the one with shedloads of ink cartridges. I think mine is the R300 but there is a newer version. Cost about £150 to £200, and it's economies of scale - the more you pay for the printer, the better the quality and the cheaper the ink is. Mine has 6 or 7 different coloured inks and the more inks the better the quality with regards colours it can reproduce.

I print direct from the card, so I get borderless printing. From either an 8mp Olympus DSLR or Canon G9 12Mp (new toy!) - I can get nice A4 images which are brilliant quality. Usually I edit them on Aperture (V2 is lovely ) and then export them back out to a little 1Gb card I have for printing. Even direct from the Mac I have never been able to achieve borderless printing, so I just stick to using the card and I always get great prints.

I also learnt early on that paper is also worth spending money on. The Kodak paper and HP paper (sadly) is crap. I always buy either Fuji Super Glossy 4* (the one in the purple cardboard) or else Ilford Pro Inkjet Paper. Both give brilliant results.

(Note - the reason I hate the Kodak and HP paper is the way they deal with black - which seems to be laid on top of the rest of the image, vs the Fuji and Ilford allowing the ink to go through the gloss layer somehow.)

[hughesy]

Hi
Thanks for the advice i'll have a look into the latest Epsom printer. I think the Canon one also has 7 different print cartidges. I also recently purchased a G9, its a very nice piece of kit with excellent results. Couldn't find one fault on my recent trip to the Maldives even with the video. I'll also have a look at calibrating my laptops. Anyone know how to go on with this.

Thanks

Hughesy

[Cussy]

Hughsey
To do it properly, you need a calibration tool (Spyder, Pantone Huey etc). I have the Huey and its a neat piece of kit. As I do all my processing from RAW it's vital as I don't want to have to re-do them ever again. Downside with the Huey is you can't calibrate the printer as well, it was also £89, although for me it was worth it. There are online ways of doing it, but these merely change contrast and brightness and don't tackly colour issues too well.

As for printers, ask anyone in a camera club and there will be only one answer, the Epson 2400. But at £500 it's not cheap. I have the Canon Pixma ip4500. It is the A-lister in PC Pro mag. It's pretty damn impressive, but at times I find it difficult to get really good green out of it, but I've been told this is a problem to do with the colour space I have Adobe Lightroom set to (Adobe RGB I think).
Rob

[fatlaz]

Bantam, is that the epson with the integrated card reader?

However, we use photo quality printers at work that have to be high spec so I can have a look tomorow (in reply to the OP) to see what we use. Don't think that they are too pricey either. Will check which paper we use as well as the heavy weight paper tends to give a better quality final print.

Will be back with more tomorrow,

Ben.

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Cussy

Hughsey
To do it properly, you need a calibration tool (Spyder, Pantone Huey etc). I have the Huey and its a neat piece of kit. As I do all my processing from RAW it's vital as I don't want to have to re-do them ever again. Downside with the Huey is you can't calibrate the printer as well, it was also £89, although for me it was worth it. There are online ways of doing it, but these merely change contrast and brightness and don't tackly colour issues too well.

As for printers, ask anyone in a camera club and there will be only one answer, the Epson 2400. But at £500 it's not cheap. I have the Canon Pixma ip4500. It is the A-lister in PC Pro mag. It's pretty damn impressive, but at times I find it difficult to get really good green out of it, but I've been told this is a problem to do with the colour space I have Adobe Lightroom set to (Adobe RGB I think).
Rob

As an upgrade, what do you think of the Epson 1800? It's not badly priced (£350) but it's not far short of the 2400 in that it uses the same inks and is based on the same chassis, and even does A3.

Only reason I was even thinking of upgrading was A3 (or at least the flexibility of doing so) plus the inks for the R300 seem to be getting more and more difficult to find at all.

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by fatlaz

Bantam, is that the epson with the integrated card reader?

Yep, that's the one. It's quite old now, but still works a treat. But I feel like my image sizes are foxing it now as the 12MP spits out fairly hefty files.

I'm also umming and aahing about getting all my shots printed in a book format - Aperture allows you to create a photobook which then gets sent off to Germany for printing.

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by Bantam

As an upgrade, what do you think of the Epson 1800? It's not badly priced (£350) but it's not far short of the 2400 in that it uses the same inks and is based on the same chassis, and even does A3.

I would guess (and a guess it is too) that it will be very close to the 2400.

Originally Posted by fatlaz

Will check which paper we use as well as the heavy weight paper tends to give a better quality final print.

That is so true. I used to buy cheap paper until I was shown what a difference it makes. I have a set of A4 paper that cost me over a quid a sheet and the difference is staggering.

Originally Posted by Bantam

I'm also umming and aahing about getting all my shots printed in a book format - Aperture allows you to create a photobook which then gets sent off to Germany for printing.

I've used Bonusprint several times to get photo books done. The result is excellent and just because it's a hard back book, it makes the final set look so much more impressive. I actually think that online printing can be the cheapest option for most people. In the last year or so I've started entering competitions and feel that competition standard is too hit and miss from online printing.
Rob

[Gram43]

I have an Epsom Stylus Photo RX420 (replaced my old C70) and its great when printing piccies of my choice, having separate cartridges etc. I always use my PC to sort the pictures and then print, I never use the intergrated card reader.

However, why not save time and hassle and get yourself a digital photo frame (decent one that is) and you can have your own slide shows and amaze your friends when they come round. We got one last year for Christmas and I just change the pictures on the memory stick and show different pictures when I like.