Decent photo printer?

[paulWTAMU]

I used to sell these, and was pretty good at picking them out but it's been 3 years or so...
I got a decent Canon point and shoot on clearance yesterday; the SX120is for 160 bucks, and I'd like to be able to print decent 8x10 or larger photos. Any particular suggestions? Tried looking at CNET and under photo printers they dno't have a review since 2008 Are dedicated photo printers passe' or something?

edit: DPMag had some reviews but only on 500+ dollar machines which are more than I'm willing to spend.

[FireGryphon]

Many years ago I got an HP Deskjet 5650. It can have two cartridges which can contain up to six colors for printing photos. I personally like HP because the inks are durable (won't fade or change color) and their paper is also archival quality. Unfortunately, it's hard to find reviews of newer printers, and most photo printers I see these days, even from HP, only use up to four colors of ink. In my experience, this makes prints a bit less vivid and lifelike. I suppose, in this case, all I can do is offer you this experience so that you have some sense of what you can possibly look for.

[danny e.]

are you looking for "good" prints or professional grade prints?

If $340 is in your price range:
Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II

[ludi]

Any particular reason you're looking for a photoprinter when an online-accessible shop like Adorama can do professional-grade 8x10 prints on actual photographic paper for less than $2 per?

I mean, if you're planning to shoot live births or something and need to keep the distribution as narrow as possible, that would make sense, but otherwise, there's no competition -- upload, crop & resize, choose a paper type, click "order" and watch the magic of the Internet charge your credit card. Given both the cost of the photoprinter and the cost of the photoprinting supplies, you'd have to roll through at least 200 images before the self-printing option would start to come out ahead.

[danny e.]

Any particular reason you're looking for a photoprinter when an online-accessible shop like Adorama can do professional-grade 8x10 prints on actual photographic paper for less than $2 per?

I mean, if you're planning to shoot live births or something and need to keep the distribution as narrow as possible, that would make sense, but otherwise, there's no competition -- upload, crop & resize, choose a paper type, click "order" and watch the magic of the Internet charge your credit card. Given both the cost of the photoprinter and the cost of the photoprinting supplies, you'd have to roll through at least 200 images before the self-printing option would start to come out ahead.

I agree with this.
I have two "professional" printers and unless you're actually a pro photographer that wants prints right away.. its just not worth it.
I havent come close to getting my money back on the printer / paper /ink.

[swampfox]

Any particular reason you're looking for a photoprinter when an online-accessible shop like Adorama can do professional-grade 8x10 prints on actual photographic paper for less than $2 per?

I mean, if you're planning to shoot live births or something and need to keep the distribution as narrow as possible, that would make sense, but otherwise, there's no competition -- upload, crop & resize, choose a paper type, click "order" and watch the magic of the Internet charge your credit card. Given both the cost of the photoprinter and the cost of the photoprinting supplies, you'd have to roll through at least 200 images before the self-printing option would start to come out ahead.

I agree with this.
I have two "professional" printers and unless you're actually a pro photographer that wants prints right away.. its just not worth it.
I havent come close to getting my money back on the printer / paper /ink.

I agree too. I've used Adorama numerous times, and have always been very happy with their service and the quality of the prints.

[SecretSquirrel]

For that matter, even Wal-mart is cheaper than printing it yourself. The only time I use my photo printer is when I have to have it today. BTW, I have an Epson R300 that I am quite happy with. You can't buy it any more though.

While I certainly agree that print shops are certainly cheaper, I can understand wanting to have access to a photo printer locally. We I to have to replace my current printer, I would probably go with the Epson Stylus Photo 1400. I have had good luck with my last two Epsons (YMMV and others may say the opposite) and it has enough functionality to be useful but not so much as to be really expensive. I do wish they would work on the vertical resolution though.

--SS

[paulWTAMU]

based on that it seems like maybe doing the online stuff is my best bet. I don't mind shelling a couple/three hundred bucks but if there's a cheaper option that does as good a quality print...

[ludi]

If you decide to try Adorama, take note of the holiday schedule they have posted -- they're closed 2H this week and all of next, which then means a backlog of orders the week after. By the second week of October they should be back on a normal business schedule.

Of course, there are other options. Check out this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=72127

[SpotTheCat]

Costco is decent. Better than Target/walgreens IME and cheaper and faster to boot.

[etilena]

For us here in Australia, a print can be as cheap as 9c (there's a sale every now and then, with regular prints at 15c each) with the print itself being not too bad (especially if you have colour calibrated your own monitor) but the paper it's printed on is too flimsy. I have a decent colour printer at home but unless you print often, it's often not worth the cost as the ink dries after 6 months of non use. Got it during a time when prints were still 30-40c a piece so these days I just bulk upload online and wait for the postman to arrive.

[paulWTAMU]

we don't have a costco. we've got a sam's club but I don't have a membership. Wife and I keep thinking about it