Well spotted RMM, I though the colours looked a little bit odd all right. :|
I also think that those cartridges are doomed to failure when filled with pigment inks; the OEM PGI-9 cartridges have no vent hole in the top or sponge inside...
If you want to get the best out of the pro 9500 I would suggest you try your hand at refilling.
This printer uses all pigment inks and works much better with the original OEM cartridges..
I guess you meant to say to get the best economy out of the Pro9500. No 3rd party manufacturers have compatible inks that match OEM inks for this printer so far. You will have to profile the 3rd party ink yet it is still not as good as OEM performance. To get the best out of the Pro9500 you will be better off to use OEM inks.
As I am using third party inks (Image Specialists.) and profiling (not needed) with OEM cartridges on the pro 9500, in my opinion I think I am getting the best out of this printer both in economy and quality.
The cost of running the pro 9500 is totally prohibitive for most home users on OEM inks as it uses the small cartridge + it also have a drink problem ..
I have been a very frequent visitor to a professional photographic supplier called Keeble and Shuchat Photography in Palo alto California, which is a largest professional photographic equipment supplier on the west coast of US Continental. They have a very large demo room filled with all sorts of printers (HP, Epson and Canon) paper and ink supplies. The best part of this demo set up is hundreds of large prints already printed and labeled clearly for customers to compare and evaluate printers, papers and inks. I once walked in and asked for a large Nikon lens cap because I lost mine in one of my hiking trips. I expected to pay $10 to $20 because it is a Nikon OEM 82mm cap. The salesman turned around to check out the drawers behind him for a few minutes searching. He then turned back and handed one to me. I asked how much it would be. He said don't worry about it. It was free. I have been a customer there for 20 years. I guess they recognized my face. They have a dumpster there filled with old out of fashion or defective equipments. I picked up a Kodak auto focus slide projector and walked away with a $5 bill.
If you have a chance to visit it you will quickly find that among the usual crowds there is nearly nobody interested in 3rd party inks. I was very curious why there seems absolutely no one inquired about 3rd party stuff. I eventually asked some people if they ever heard of Image Specialists inks. The answer I got was quite surprising. They said there is no match to the OEM quality. Cheap? Not quite. Quality? No. Those people were professionals. They spent tens of thousands of dollars for professional digital backs (medium format) and thousands of dollars for printers. They don't want to be screwed by cheap imitations.
Well, we are not professionals and we don't make money out of our photographic work. We have to look for cheap alternatives. The point is if you talk to those professionals you will get the same answer that to get the best out of the professional printers OEM is your best option. However, the imitations are truly the best for economy.
leo8088
Thank you for your insights into professional photography which should no dough interest a lot of would be photographer on this forum.
I am a Master printer by profession and only interested in just text and graphics printed on a variety of different paper and boards, hence why I could not spend the time profiling colours for every different type of paper that I use.
When I print text with a little logo with lines and numbers, its all most impossible to say what ink was used to do the job OEM or otherwise.
As I am one of the nearly nobody interested in third party inks which uses Image Specialists ink and enjoy their (cheap imitation as its called) as it suits the market I happen to work in.
I dont know anyone on here that can afford to spend tens of hundreds of Dollars on inks and its a no brainer to say that OEM ink is the best let alone surprising.
As the inkjet printers get better so too will the third party inks, but only if we all support them.
I miss spent some of my youth rubbing shoulders with photographers and the one thing I learned from it was that no two photographers could agree on what was the best shot, just like two economists.
If I ever have the good fortune to visit your great state of California I would like to visit Keeble and Shuchat just to see their display room and give them my honest opinion on its contents, and most lightly a good argument to boot..
Your words again are saying to get the best economy out of the Pro9500 by refilling with OEM cartridges. It serves you well for the market you are targeting. But to some professionals (there are different kind of professionals) OEM ink gives them the best out of their Pro9500. They invest heavily in their gears and they will not shoot their own foot by using 3rd party ink because it is cheap. When they are hired for a pro job they are not going to produce their product with 3rd party ink that could cost their reputation and career say 5 or 10 years later. If something goes wrong 5 to 10 years later they can point their fingers at Canon or Epson.
I am not one of those pros and most people hear are not either. To get the best quality print out of a Canon Pro9500 there is no doubt you have to use OEM ink. This is still true for all dye based printers including Pro9950. If you demand quality prints OEM ink is the way to go.But to save money then you have 3rd party alternatives. I don't think anyone can argue OEM is not the best.
If you come to California you will not regret for visiting Keeble and Shuchat. Most photographic supply stores here are long gone yet Keeble and Shuchat is growing amazingly over the years. They have two stores (one of them has two stories). There have been a lot of changes to the company. A lot of film gears are gone and replaced with all the high end digital ones, including cameras, printers, scanners, lighting equipments and of course supplies as well as a lot of demo prints. I used to go there almost once a week just to meet the crowds and see what's happening in the photographic trends. I found very few people looking for 3rd party supplies there.
Thanks again for your insight into the professional photographer.
Photography is something I have never got passionate about, I just point and shot and to hell with the consequences and printing my results are the same.
Sometimes to look at a picture the surroundings are more interesting that the original subjects are, warts and all as I am one who doesnt like to air brush out the faults.
You have certainly put Keeble and Shuchat on my tourist map and sparked my interest a whole lot by the passionate way you have described it.
I might even see you there cheers..