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Canon i900D Photo Printer

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February 20, 2004

I'm guessing that by semi-professional you mean commrcial. :) Basically, the differences come down to ink, paper, and resolution.

In the ink department, the i900d is a dye based ink. This is great for glossy prints and semi-glossy prints like portraits and such. But the ink won't stand up too well to exposure to sunlight. The i900D is geared towards the consumer who will be printing photos themselves for home use. If you want a high quality dye-based printer, you might want to look at the i960 as it has double the number of print heads and from what I've seen of in-store test prints, the quality coming off of the i960 is better.

The 2200 prints with pigment based inks. It CAN use dye based inks, but by default, you will have pigment based inks installed. The printer is very high resolution and the prints are resistant to light fading. However, there have been some problems noted about bronzing and some other isues when printing on glossy stock. For matte prints behind glass, it is excellent.

You should check the manufacturer's listing of compatible papers for either printer.

The I or s series 9000/9100 printers from Canon are a more fair and equivelent comparison with the 2200 from Epson. Both are 13" wide printers and can print high detailed photographic reproductions.

Are the differences noticable? That depends on what is printed and who is looking. :) My suggestion is to take a couple of test imagesand have them printed on the various printers at a local photo shop for comparison to see how they look.

As far as longevity goes, the Epson will win out over the Canon. :) The ultrachrom pigment inks used by epson are rated at about 75-100+ years of longevity when printed on their archival papers. I believe the Canon inks are rated in the 25-50+ years range on their 9000/9100 printers.

If you want a good portait and photograph printer which will do both glossy and matte images well, go with the Canon i9100. It will cost less than the 2200 by about $100-$200 depending on where you buy it and it will have a replacable print head as well as seperate ink cartridges. The super glossy pro photo papers that Canon produces prints great pics. Just make sure to stick with Canon paper though. :) Otherwise your prints will come out looking bad.

If long life of the images is a serious concern, then you will want the Epson 2200.

The i900D is a fine printer, but you will feel restricted by the 8.5x11" max size if people ask you for larger enlargements.

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February 20, 2004

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February 20, 2004

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December 28, 2008