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Archive 2012 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers

  
 
SoundHound
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


My HP Z3100 has ground to a halt and HP is discontinuing the line (Z3200, etc). The Canon iPF6400/8400 are brand new for Canon. Anyone have some experience with these printers?


Nov 16, 2012 at 08:50 PM
Alan321
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


No direct experience. Make sure that the printer drivers work properly with whichever operating system you use. You would possibly need those drivers if you want to print 16-bit files or utilise other clever features.

Check out the inks too. My iPF6100 was superseded by the iPF6200 which used a more physically robust ink that is not usable in mine. I presume there were no downsides to the change but I don't really know. Maybe there's been another change.



Nov 22, 2012 at 03:29 PM
colinm
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


No downsides to the change unless you've got a bunch of old ink laying around. The 400 series uses the exact same LUCIA EX inkset as the 300 series but in a new cartridge. The new-style cartridges are backward-compatible with the old-style 300 series slots, but the 400 series printers will only accept the new-style cartridges.

I've used the 400 series. There's not much to say about them or the competing Epsons. Short of buying an HP, it's not really possible to buy the wrong printer for general photographic reproduction anymore. Press print, manage your color, great prints come out. Coming from a Z3100, anything in the current generation will be leaps and bounds ahead of what you're used to. (Perhaps most noticeably if you're reproducing reds on matte papers.)

Do you have any specific areas of interest or concerns?



Nov 22, 2012 at 05:29 PM
JOSHUA.ABIOLA
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


I have a friend using this ipf8400. It is very good,color is fantastic and very fast. Get a good rip software ,you cant go wrong.


Nov 22, 2012 at 07:50 PM
SoundHound
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


I print almost always on glossy paper. When I use less than glossy I print B&W. So I never moved up to the Z3200 with it's better Red ink. I spoke to an expert and they seemed to think that the stock/ included 16/12 bit Canon PhotoShop Plug in would work fine. A good RIP is another $1500.

The HP has one less color ink for a glosser tank. Canon should have better blues but not sure about the loss of gloss (Canon's story is they apply the ink in a different sequence for quicker drying, less scratches and a better surface).

My hesitation is losing the spectrophotometer (a good accessory unit is $1500 and tweaky compared to the auto HP profiling) so adding $3K to the basic printer the cost is really a lot for small volume printing. So I may repair/replace the HP although, for sure, it needs a RIP for bigger than 250Mb photo files.



Nov 26, 2012 at 03:33 PM
John Caldwell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


I own a 24" Z3200. I'm currently wanting a 44" 8400 when the purchase price is a little lower.

While I wish the 8400 had a spectrometer like our Z does, there really is no need to have built-in profiling unless you have a barrage of media types for which good profiles don't exist. I'll just have custom profiles made for the 8400, just like we now do for our Epson 4900. As for a RIP, I can't really imagine the basis for requiring that added expense, now that we have have Lightroom. Others will report differently, but I'd be interested to hear what a RIP buys you in 2012.

John Caldwell



Nov 26, 2012 at 08:00 PM
SoundHound
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


My limited understanding of a RIP, for my purposes, would be to print big files (into the Gb for huge panos). Also I had been using five papers or so and don't understand canned profiles since my only experience has been with the HP-just push a button and a click or two. Maybe it's just thevidea that you have tweeked the color for each roll you own.


Nov 27, 2012 at 05:33 AM
John Caldwell
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


Printing gigapixel pano files I have no experience with, so I am ignorant of what a RIP can offer in that instance. As for profiling each roll of paper you get, sure, if your needs are that precise. Since Booksmart Studio makes very good profiles for about $30 each, I haven't been so insistent of built-in profiling but I understand the appeal.

John Caldwell



Nov 27, 2012 at 08:05 AM
acktdi
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


I've got an ipf8400 on order. There isn't a huge amount of information about the x400 series online yet, but it seems close enough to the x300 line that the reviews should be very comparable.

I bought mine from an Ebay seller for $4000, I have no financial interest with that seller, but he has the best price that I've found.



Nov 28, 2012 at 01:31 PM
Hammy
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


After a couple of years with my Epson 7600 sitting on the shelf with head issues, during which time I was running to Sams for poster prints (they use 7800), I caught a deal at B&H ($2100) on a Canon iPf710 (36")
It's technically a CAD/CAM printer with only 4 colors (CMYK/MK) but the output on it is spectacular. Connectivity is easy on the network and the speed at which it prints is amazing.
Personally, having other Canon printers with 8 inks (9000Mk2s) vs 4 colors (iP4600), I cannot tell a difference in the output, so the 4 color works great for me. I'm sure there are many who would 'need' the additional colors, so I'm sure the 6400/8400 series would look great also.



Nov 28, 2012 at 02:28 PM
dallvr
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


I have a 24" ipf 6350 that I love. I would guess that the 6400 would be great as well, but only time will tell. With the 6350, the color is spot on when compared to my calibrated monitor, the plugin for Photoshop works great, and it doesn't clog even though my use is sporadic.


Nov 28, 2012 at 02:43 PM
Erie Patsellis
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Canon iPF6400/8400 Printers


Regarding printing large prints, my 8300 prints larger images just fine. I recently printed a series of large (42x64 to 44x144+) images at 600 or higher dpi natively (downsized from their original 5 Gpixel+ sizes) and it worked just fine sans RIP.

I print for several photographers, typically 4 or 5 days a week, and would love a good nesting program, I keep considering Qimage, but haven't bit yet.



Dec 01, 2012 at 12:49 AM





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