I currently have an Epson 3800, which I have had for about 3 years. Possibly looking to get a wider format, 24 inch. At the time, Epson was the gold standard. Today, I am getting the impression that Canon has closed the gap somewhat. I would like to get the opinions of FMer's that actually have these units. I would like you to speak of the print quality, frequency of nozzle clogs, cost of inks and maintenance between the two.
In think your right, Canon and HP both have closed the gap over the past few years. I can't imagine you going wrong with any of the top three brands now days. I currently own a Epson wide format and have no complaints.
I've had an HP Z3100 for almost four years. Never any problem with it. No clogs, even after it has sat idle for a couple of months.
The Z3100 (and the newer Z3200) has its own internal color spectrophotometer so it can automatically create its own custom ICC profiles for any paper you load. This was the reason I went with the HP over an Epson.
As far as print quality goes, Epson, Canon, and HP will all deliver.
This question gets asked a lot, and generally Canon wins. Speaking from reviews and comparisons I've read, HP is considered the bottom of the pack in every regard except the included color calibration, which is a very cool feature indeed.
Scott Martin (a very respected professional in this field who travels the world, consulting on all things related to color) has made a review of the Canon x300 series, but it also serves as a frank comparison of the Canon x300 series, Epson x900 series and HP Z3200. Of particular note are the color gamut comparisons. Read the review and come to your own conclusions, but the lacking gamut on the HP Z3200 is truly astounding. http://www.on-sight.com/2010/04/25/canon-x300-printer-review/
I've consistently heard disappointing things about Epson's overzealous use of ink, both during printing and for cleaning cycles, and people who encounter frequent issues with clogged heads. As of the most current iteration (Epson 7900 vs. Canon 6300) you really will find people split. Previous models usually gave a very small edge to Epson, but now you can generally find just as many people insisting the edge goes to Canon now in terms of overall image quality. However, Epson does have a slight lead because it can do 3.5 picoliter droplets, compared to Canon's 4 picoliter ones. Epson's piezoelectric-based printheads can eject more consistent, perfectly round dots versus Canon's bubblejet heads that use a tiny heating element to boil a dot out of a microscopic well of ink. Unfortunately it's not this simple, as there are other tradeoffs, such as speed. I've read that a Canon can churn out a perfect print in its best quality mode within the time it takes an Epson to print an equal sized print in it's lowest quality mode. On top of that, there are other considerations, Epson's heads are designed to last a long time (provided you don't get a terminal clog) but are not user serviceable - if you truly cannot clear a clog, you'll need to have someone come over to disassemble your printer to replace the head. Canon's heads only have a 1-year warranty and are considered consumables, to be replaced every year or two, depending on volume of printing. For what it's worth, you'd have to push GALLONS (not an exaggeration) of ink through the heads before they were considered to have reached their expected end of life. When the time comes, they easily pop out.
I'd highly advise you to google things like "canon 6300 vs epson 7900" and read all the various forum posts and reviews. For what it's worth, all units within a Canon model subset will have the same printheads and overall performance, just different carriage widths (5xxx = 17", 6xxx = 24", 8xxx = 44", 9xxx = 60").
Thanks for the information. I will take a look at the link you gave. Do you think that the difference from 3 - 4 picoliters possibly leads to less nozzle clogs with the Canon?
Manufacturer-supplied ICC profiles tend to be quite good these days. I have used my own Z3100-created custom profiles for all of my printing, so I really can't comment as to how the HP's self-generated profiles compare with the manufacturer-supplied profiles. But I would expect the differences to be very subtle at best.
One of the real benefits of the Z3100/Z3200 is their ability to self-calbrate, again using their built-in spectrphotometers. This can be a real advantage for commercial printing shops with multiple printers as it will guarantee the exact same results regardless of which printer is used. For me (with a single printer) it is not such a big deal. But I still do a calibration after any ink cartridge change and pretty much every month. It may be more psychological than anything, but its nice to know my printer is "calibrated." If I ever get a print that doesn't look right, I know to look elsewhere for the problem.
Again, I think any of today's wide format printers are capable of producing truly outstanding results.
I've had a 24" Z3200 since it was introduced. Were I buying today, I'd buy a 44" machine rather than a 24". I'd be tempted to buy the Canon 8300 rather than another HP. In my case, the self-profile aspect of the Z3200 hasn't been as useful as I imagined in that I don't rotate paper type that much - basically 2 or 3 matte papers and 2 gloss. So in my instance having the ability to make free profiles has not been that critical. The greatest operational benefit of the Z3200 has been the absence of head clogs- something I never experienced from any Epson machine we owned.
It looks like you are in Pittsburgh, so you have heat on for more than half the time of the year. Not having any nozzle clogs with that dryness is impressive. Are you doing anything special to prevent the clogs, or is this particular machine just not that prone to them?
+2 for the Z3100/3200! FYI the real difference between the 3100 and 3200 is only the red ink cartridge with a, claimed, better reds for less than glossy paper. If you can find a Z3100 trades in sometimes at a dealer.
They sell for the cost of a 17" carriage printer-or less. Check out the ink supplied (a real $ factor) and get the dealer to set it up on site for you with some kind of a warrante.
I have a 5100 and i have been on the fence for a long time about getting a 24 inch printer
Like you i am looking at the 6300 or 7900
No matter how much reading i do i cant seem to make a decision. I would really like to compare by looking at one of my image printed on each of these printers instead of the samples Epson and Canon send you.
I own an Canon ipf 6300 the prints from this printer are wonderful and super sharp, if the file been printed is that way. The great plus with the Canon is no loss of ink swapping from gloss to matt black and very few cleaning cycles, in use. I also own an Epson 3880 and the prints from it are just about as good as the Canon ( Canon has better reds ,blues).
I hear you. I think I could actually make a call to order one, and by the time that call is over, change my mind to purchase the other. Thanks for the link, I actually did come across that in my research last week.
Thanks for the hands-on experience that you have with the Canon. Yes, the biggest selling point for me is that the Canon is said to have less nozzle clogging. However, that is a point that would be difficult to actually prove. As for the saving of ink when switching between photo and matte black inks, for me, that would be fantastic and is one of the reasons I am still considering the Canon, despite the poll results here.
It looks like you are in Pittsburgh, so you have heat on for more than half the time of the year. Not having any nozzle clogs with that dryness is impressive. Are you doing anything special to prevent the clogs, or is this particular machine just not that prone to them?
Thanks,
Jim
Most people in this area have humidifiers on their furnace and maintain 55% humidity indoors during the heating season. If they don't, they should for health reasons.
My Epson 3800 is 4 years old, I've never had a problem.
It looks like you are in Pittsburgh, so you have heat on for more than half the time of the year. Not having any nozzle clogs with that dryness is impressive. Are you doing anything special to prevent the clogs, or is this particular machine just not that prone to them?
Thanks,
Jim
No JIm. But we don't run the furnace as much or as often as most people. That may or may not be a factor. In the same house we have or have had other machines and had plenty of head clogs. Our Epson 3800 doesn't get much use, and clogs are definitely a feature of that machine. Same with 2200; 1280, 2000P, 900, and some other models I can't recall. Head clogs were a bog deal for us with those machines. But we are hobbyists, and don't print often enough.
