photo printers

paul_y3k · Post by **paul_y3k** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 11:47 am

Photo printers

guys,
has anyone got any advice about decent photo printers. Basically I've been using photobox to upload and print my digital cam pics for the last year and a bit and I reckon they must of had at least Â£200 off of me so far.
Given that I've just come back from my hols with 400 odd pics (after deleting all the rubbish ones) I thought it might be worth to look into investing in a decent photo printer.
Is it worth it, or shall i continue to give photobox my custom. Photos from them work out at around 11p per pick, and come the next day.
I would be looking for 1) Quality 2) Speed of Print, but the price per page is going to be important too. I will of course be anting to use all the proper papers etc.

lemme know ya thoughts ?

Jussi · Post by **Jussi** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:08 pm

Buy Epson Stylus Photo 950 http://www.epson.co.uk/product/printers ... yphoto950/
I have Epson Photo printer and the picture quality is incredible. But you have to use Epson's photopaper to get the best results.
So i recommend Epson (i have before that Canon and it wasn't so good). Don't know any UK prices, but in Finland about 500euros, yes it's high-priced, then there is Epson Photo 935 which cost's here about 290euros. Cheap and still good is Epson Photo915 which is here about 170euros.
I print all my photos myself it's so easy, in this summer i have been taken over 1000 digital photos (printed about 50 or so).

col · Post by **col** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:17 pm

If your after large quantity of prints link that, than i think you'd be better off getting them done at photobox. Time and cost wise, including being the printer isn't worth it. I just go to boots or Jessops with a cdr, much easier imo

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:28 pm

have you tried local 1hr photo shop. One I use for work has a digital processor so can produce prints from digital media or put your film onto CD and if you want they can do it quickly.

Personaly I find the quality of digital prints never matches traditional film unless you spend silly money. I can get film processed in half an hour and scan any images I need digital.

RTF · Post by **RTF** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:30 pm

Yep, i agree with Col
When you look at the costs you make with photo-inkt and photopaper for your inktjet printer you have higher costs per photo at home then when you bring/send them to a professional company.

The Epson 950 is indeed one of the best photoprinters available.
disadvantage is that it isn't the best printer to print a lot of text with.

I've got an HP 7350 printer. It gives very good results with the right paper and inkt. You can also put small photopaper in it and yhou can print directly from your memorycard if you like.
The 7550 is almost the same but a bit faster then the 7350 and it has a small color LCD screen so you can view and select a to print photo from there.

In tests the new Canon printers also get good reviews but, i also have not very good experiences with Canon.

paul_y3k · Post by **paul_y3k** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:34 pm

hmmm looks like the consensus is photobox.
ta all

Jussi · Post by **Jussi** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 12:41 pm

The Epson 950 is indeed one of the best photoprinters available.
disadvantage is that it isn't the best printer to print a lot of text with.

Yep, i agree with text it isn't so fast (it's very slow). Therefore i use old laser printer (which i bought from work) for text.
And sure if you have hundreds of photos to best way to print them is to use some local photoshop.
But in the future might be good to consider some photo printer.

rob · Post by **rob** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 2:48 pm

bonus of the Epson 950 is that you can print direct onto the surface of CD's as well. So your pirate, er I mean backup music/software can look good and no more scribbled labels on the discs.

Save all of your holidays onto CD and also print the cd as well.

We are just about to buy one this week for use at work. well we would do if I wasnt working nights - damn these microsoft security patches - only another 380 serversto go

paul_y3k · Post by **paul_y3k** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:44 pm

hmmm photobox is 25p per picture. Would a printer better that or even equal it ?

RTF · Post by **RTF** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:19 pm

Well, i've got a tet review over here from jan. 2003
They came up with the following results:

Canon S530D Eur. 0,36 per print, fair quality result
Epson Stylus Photo 915 Eur. 0,40 per print, good quality result
Canon S830D Eur 0,40 per print, good quality result
Epson stylus photo Eur 0,41 per print, good quality result
HP 7350 0,53 per print, good quality result

exchange rate i found for 25p is 0,36 eur.

But it can be that in the UK photopaper is more or less expensive. Also for the cartridges.

And when i print a photo from my HP7350 you can always see the difference from when i pick them up at the local photoshop. That's allways better quality...

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:20 pm

Viking - 6"x4" gloss paper Â£7.99 for 36 sheets about just of over 22p a sheet (unrecognised brand)

Jessops 10cmx15cm gloss paper 3.99 for 20 sheets about 20p a sheet (HP brand)

this does not allow for wastage. buying A4 and trimming it yourself would be cheeper( if two prints perpage) but more time consuming and you would need to buy a trimmer. I would extpect the paper that runs of a continous roll to be cheeper but you have to pay for the attachment for the printer.

Add to this the cost of ink cartrides and the printer I doubt it will cost less than 25p a print

carl · Post by **carl** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 9:09 pm

There has been some debate about how long photos printed onto the glossy 'photo' inkjet paper will last. Digital prints from a proper processing company like photobox are made by shining a laser onto ordinary photographic paper, so they will last as long as normal photos (in fact, they are normal photos). Photobox's website mentions a lifetime of 150 years.

thebigkung · Post by **thebigkung** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:15 pm

Paul,

To get a printer or not, that is the question?

Cost wise printing at a 'shop' is on a par to printing at home (if printing on photo paper).
The benefits of printing at home are plain to see.

Instant. You don't have to wait to go to the shop or wait for them to be printed
Flexible. You can print the pictures how you want them. Small, large, multiples, on different paper types with little fuss.

The print of you and your nephews I gave you was printed on an Epson 1290 the larger sort of brother to the 950.

These printers I think give about the best photo output and as Rob said the 950 will print on CD's as well. But there are other printers that will produce good photo prints that may be better if you have a smaller budget and going to use it infrequently.

Note: Most printers won't print borderless prints some will.

You need to decide if not printing at home is becoming an inconvenience. If it is then it's time to find a printer.

Regards,

Sherlock

rob · Post by **rob** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 11:54 pm

the espon 950 already has the roll attachment inclkuded for the photo paper by the roll.

Go on buy it and make some funky discs

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 12:54 am

epsom 950 cost in the region of Â£300 lets say as its a nice round figure.

which is a lot more that some photo quality printers

ets say it last 3 years and you take 50 shot a week which is lot. I use my camera for work and would be stretched to match that figure.

thats 2500 shots a year

your printer is costing you 4p a print

a more realistic for an enthusiastic snapper might be half that costing 8p a print.

I have looked at converting from film to digital and would pay a premium but to acheive the same quality the cost difference is still too big