Best Photo printer for under $1,000?

I read on this site some photo printer recommendations made four years ago. I want eventually to sell some of my photos but don't really feel the need to sacrifice for a more expensive printer until my future sucess warrants more of a capital outlay. I would appreciate some recommendations for printers priced under $1,000.

Thank you,

Jeff Seldomridge
Autumn Hills

Jeff - How large do you want to be able to print? Under $1000 limits you pretty much to 13x19, but a bit more and you can get into a 17" model like the Epson 3880.

Hi David,

I would think that 11 x 15 would be plenty big enough. I did see a refurbished 3880 for $995. I just wanted to hear from experienced people. On the net I have seen advertisements for the Epson R1900 and for the R2880. I have a Canon IP6000 and it's starting to weird-out. The last time I had large prints made was from Kodachrome 64 slide film, a couple of decades ago. It doesn't have to be Epson either.

In that case, you're probably already looking at the right models. Here's a post I made about a year ago - and not too much has changed.

...if all you're concerned about is the final product. I could get prints done professionally and cheaper I think from MPix, or WHCC, or West Coast Imaging, or others. But I, personally, like working on prints.

So if you do get a printer, in that price range you're looking at a 13x19 printer. I'd check out the reviews on Photo I. The available models are :

Epson 2880 (pigment)
Epson R1900 (pigment)
Epson R1400 (dye)
Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 (pigment)
Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 (dye, and my printer)
HP B9180 (pigment)
HP B8850 (pigment)
There might be a couple of other dye printers as well...

You might know this already (Jeff), but the first thing to decide is dye vs. pigment. Most people choose pigment because of it archival qualities - the print will last a lot longer. But pigment is a little harder on the machine (more clogs), has some bronzing issues, and doesn't tend to have quite as large a gamut. Dye longevity if properly framed or stored is probably still longer than I'll live, but if you sell prints, pigment is probably the way to go. (Hence, more pigment printers available.)

I'd guess beyond that that the Epson's are the market leaders here, maybe just because they've been doing it the longest. All of these printers are good. One last thing though - if you're going to switch between glossy and matte, you might consider getting one of the models that doesn't require switching black inks.

Pigment inks in newer printers have gotten better, but mostly on the larger models. That hasn't filtered down yet that I've seen (although I think the Canon's are now Mk II versions, so maybe some of it has). I've also heard some things about the HP's lately being flaky or hard to use, but they got glowing reviews initially. They don't seem to be for sale on B&H either, so maybe they've got some new models coming out. (Of course, there's always a new model around the corner for any of these...)

Dave has given you good directions. If you can live with the limits of 13x19 for awhile, go with the Epson 2880.

Bill Brennan

Thank you Dave and Bill, this gives me a lot more to think about. My first inkjet printer was an Epson (maybe 6 or 7 years ago) and if the printer sat unused for a couple of weeks then everything had to be recalibrated again (clogged heads). Then I got a Canon IP6000 and it worked great for a few years without every having to unclog heads...even when months had passed without using. But now that I have a better digital SLR (D300s) I need a better printer.

Thanks again for all the helpful info.....I'll reread the info. many times.

You might want to search on here for other threads too, Jeff. I should have included the link to the thread I mentioned above. There are others out there too.

I have Epson R1900 - the prints are great. Feeding Fine Art papers is pain, but clogging heads are not an issue even when it sits there for a while. You need to run the automatic clean process to make sure it's ok (when printing after a long time, say a month)

I also use the r1900. I am keeping my fingers crossed because I had an r1800 that didn't last. The prints are fantastic. My only complaint so far is the ink price. It is outrageous. Make sure you factor it in to your final costs for the prints you sell.

I use an Epson R2400 for making 12x16 (approximately) prints from 4x5 and 645 at 360 dpi. The K3 inks are great, and the prints are gorgeous. I use Epson papers and the latest profiles from Epson.

As with the 1900, the inks are expensive, so I make smaller proofs before committing to a large print. That helps.

Before I do any printing, I run a quick nozzle check to see if the head needs cleaning. If the check comes out good, I just go ahead and print. This saves a lot of ink.

Another little tip for Epson printers; always turn them off using the front panel switch. When you press this switch, the head is parked so that the nozzles do not dry out.

--P

R2880 is probably the best printer in your budget range. We use their predecessor R2400s in our studio for small print jobs and we are quite happy with them. If I could have a do-over I would have kept the thousands of dollars spent on wide format printers and RIP software and just used one of the pro labs. I use Capitol Color Imaging for a lot of things that can't be done on our Epsons. I would be happy to let them do all our printing. The only reason they aren't is that they don't print on my favorite papers. My advice is save the money and headaches and go the lab route.