Colour printer for photos - beautful colour and high definition

xoxyx

I'm looking for a good colour printer, but am hoping not to spend more than €150. Was very confused with the advice I got in the shops, so was wondering could you help!?!
Is there a big difference between printers with only one colour cartridge and ones with a few colour cartridges?
What brand/type could you recommend?
It's really just for printing out photos, but I want them to be as nice and defined as possible.
Thanking you!

stcstc

few things to consider

for the budget you have you need to stick to a4 max size

idealy you want a printer with multiple carts,

look at epson, and canon

the other thing to look at is the kodak, i have been told its quite ok, and carts are cheap, BUT dont know what its like for prints fading etc

elven

When i was looking at the kodak printers i couldn't get a definitive spec with the actual resolution anywhere.

I got a canon pixma ip1900 and the resolution was too low - it doesn't do photos very well at all. Just got a canon pixma ip3600 and it's much better. I previously used an epson r265 and while the resolution was gfreat, having 7 cartridges to replace each time meant that the cost of the ink was rocketing upwards and i tried tesco cartridges that were guaranteed to work, and the printer refused to use them. The canon only takes 5 cartridges that are cheaper than the epson ones.

Tbh if you're only looking for gloss/satin prints, half the time the heartache of home printing isn't worth it and you're better using photobox or the likes.

stiophan

Canons are good value as their toners while smaller tend to cost less and they seem more economic in most tests. Most printer makers tend to sell colour specific printers with special paper attachments for taking the old style photo paper prints. Note its also the quality of the paper and not just the printer that makes a difference. While it adds to the end print/page cost, the brands own paper usually has an option for printing to that specific type of paper and can max the advantage of it, over any good standard brand.
Most photo printers will have 6/7 toners some with 8 (2nd black). Look out for the printer makers sites own refurb websites as you will sometimes get good offers plus end of line old models in stores (note what new printers have been launched in the last 2 months so you can let them know they are obsolete now). I know canon has one. Keep a look out for liquidations as many offices had a3 printers that will not have had a lot of use.

xoxyx

Cool. Thanks guys. I can at least sound more knowledgeable when I go back out so the shop people won't think they can fob me off with some crappy printer.
One more point, I'm not looking to print glossy photos - am more thinking along the lines of matte. Does that make a difference in what I should get?

trad

If you are looking for a Kodak very few places sell them. I bought mine in Argos, cartridges are cheap enough at less than a tenner for the black and €14 for the colour. Printed some A4 prints with it and the look as good as my HP photo printer.

stiophan

If you want to print in Matte, then there is no difference what printer you get as the choice is to print on matte paper instead of glossy. I would consider checking out what options there are for matte paper on offer from Epson/Canon and HP as the greater choice and variety the more options you have to print in matte. Note while you don't have to print higher quality art on the manufacturers paper, it does help. There are others who offer excellent paper options like Ilford. I have not ordered this paper online before but it probably benefits from online ordering as profit margins in shops on these papers are often high. The better the printer, the better the matte printing results will be.
One nice thing about HP printers is that you can order a warranty extension for it and as printers often fail after a few years, HP has to fix them and they often just replace them with whatever has replaced them. If printing in colour or good B&W, use the print makers toner. No recycled or fill your own toners will give any level of quality if its quality of output you want.

cnocbui

Toner is a dry powder as used in photocopiers, not ink-jet photo printers, which use liquid ink.

I have a Canon multifuntion printer, scanner, photocopier and it is superb. It has individual ink cartridges for each colour, so you only need to buy what you need and you don't waste money throwing away 5 tanks with ink still in them because the sixth has run out. The Canon ink cartridges are reasonably priced and it is frugal with the ink so the operating costs are very reasonable.

I had an Epson previously and it was a nightmare and I would never buy another.

Don't just look at own-brand papers. I use Fuji premium paper and it delivers a really nice result. I have used Epson premium paper in my Canon with great results also.

CabanSail

If you want really good results, very few hassles & cheap prints, then the best advice is DON'T BUY A PRINTER.

Invest the money into Screen Calibration & then take your images along to a place that does good prints & have them printed for you.

The €150 printer will eat lots of paper & ink. The stuff ups cost just as much as the perfect prints. You will not get Black & White prints from a cheap printer.

If you stick to smaller prints (less than 8x10) you will get a huge amount of prints for just the cost of the printer.

cnocbui

You could say the same for printing B&W photos yourself, but many a photographer has done that at far, far higher cost than what a decent printer costs or what a lab would have done the resulting prints for. One or two probably learned a thing or two in the process.

CabanSail

Granted that there are some advantages to Home Printing, but then most of these can be gained from using someone reputable to do your printing (like stcstc) They can then advise you as to the best paper for an image etc.

Printing in the Darkroom is a lot more involved than running a Printer. In the Darkroom you are doing the Post Production on the image & this is where the creativity comes in.

For someone who just wants general prints for normal family use, using a printing service is much better value.

ValueInIreland

This Epson printer:http://www.epson.co.uk/Printers-and-All-In-Ones/Inkjet/Epson-Stylus-Photo-P50 is really good and you can pick one up for under €100. Epson printers are top of the pile for Photo printing, but as the lads say, stick to genuine inks or you will just waste your time & money. The next printer worth considering is the A3 Epson 2880 at €770!