Canon ChromaLife 100 vs Refill (Precision Colors)

[Ratjack]

I have had some prints up for several months from my Pixma pro 100 using OEM ink and love them. They have not faded or anything.

With that being said, some of my ink is starting to get low and I am looking at my options. I can purchase a whole kit of OEM ink for about $80 or I can get a refill kit with a resetter from Precision Colors for about the same cost (but can refill many more times with the 1 kit). I know that the PC ink is almost identical to OEM in color and I would have to really look at the pictures to pick one of them out.

My question is:

Should I expect the PC ink to hold up well? Should it hold up as well as the Canon OEM ink? Can any of you share your experiences with this refill ink and how it has held up for you?

Thank you!!

 

[martin0reg]

..
Should I expect the PC ink to hold up well? Should it hold up as well as the Canon OEM ink?
..

1 it depends .. for me they hold up well enough
2 from what I see and read, certainly not, because of the great improvements of the oem dye inks..

I am refilling canon cli-8 carts with IS ink (PC ink comes from Image Specialists) and I DO NOT expect the same longevity as canon OEM dye ink.
Regarding light fastness ALL 3rd party dye ink seems to be much worse compared to OEM dye from canon (chromalife) or epson (claria). With pigment ink the drawbacks of 3rd party ink may be lesser, because pigment has better longevity in principle.
Apparently Canon and Epson have done research and developement on dye ink, which the 3rd party manufacturers can not reproduce until now...

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3633678
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3593830

PS: paper also does matter here...with dye ink more than with pigment..

 

[mikling]

Remember that we are comparing a 50 cent to 60 cent refill to a $15 to $20 cartridge. Taxes on one OEM cartridge cost more than a refill. One cup of coffe at McDonalds cost a lot more than one refill...twice as much where I live. How many still complain about the cost of ink even when refilling? Lots actually. If you are serious about longevity..purchasing the OEM is prudent.

That my inkset is being used and taken to these serious levels is an honor and I wish it well but realistically, it was made for folks who do understand that refilling entails some compromises and not everyone needs OEM ink but wants to print some nice images without worrying about hitting that "print" button and emptying their wallet.

Canon has definitely made progress on their ink. One month of what Canon spends on research can easily fund my retirement. ....knock knock anyone at Canon listening?

 

[martin0reg]

Agreed - while refill ink costs indeed only a fraction of oem ink you can easily make 10 prints for the price of one: If you want to hang one on the wall, store 9 in a dark box and you have muliplied the longevity of your refill print.
But on the ohter hand this is not a real argument against the benefit of one print that holds for decades...in sunlight without glass...

 

[rodbam]

Canons dye inks will last a lot longer than refill inks if they are not behind glass. I have some Canon dye ink & IS refill dye ink photos displayed behind glass on my walls for over 5 years now & they both still look the same. So you will have no problems with the IS inks & they look just as good as OEM prints to me.

 

[stratman]

Museum glass with a well done framing is a good choice for protecting media.

 

[The Hat]

This post #1 Canon ChromaLife 100 vs Refill (Precision Colors)
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Is this thread really about the longevity of 3rd party inks or just the cost of them ?

Longevity comes at a price and you also have to use the correct paper to achieve this mentioned longevity thing ! so if longevity is you main goal and not the price then pigment ink is the real answer.

If however price is the biggest concern then there are 3rd party dye inks on E-Bay today that cost as little as the price of postage stamp and we won’t even bother mentioning longevity.

Comparing the cost of OEM ink to 3rd part ink is just been a bit silly, yes OEM ink does give you good quality prints, and so does 3rd party ink when properly profiled it can give you endless years of pleasure and enjoyment from the hundreds more prints you can do.

Wouldn’t the Museum Curator not be a bit upset with you walking out the front door with some of their glass under your arm.. ?

My two cent worth (Under Glass)

 

[stratman]

My two cent worth (Under Glass)

Always glad to hear from our resident peasant under glass.

 

[Lucas28]

Remember that we are comparing a 50 cent to 60 cent refill to a $15 to $20 cartridge. Taxes on one OEM cartridge cost more than a refill. One cup of coffee at McDonalds cost a lot more than one refill...

That's why a make my coffee at home
It can be compared with self refilling. My wife likes my coffee and also my photo prints.

For my Epson I've got a set of 'UV resistant dye ink' bought by Linexport. The UV resistance can be compared with pre-Claria OEM ink, which is not bad. The Claria OEM ink is still superior, both on UV resistance and non clogging.

This set is also available at Amazon.

 

[Emulator]

@ rodbam Hi Rod, have you now overcome your concerns with pigment on the 9500 II (gloss, presentation etc.) Does IS live up to you hopes versus OEM. Have you won any club photo competitions with it?

What are your comments regarding club contest judgement, I thought Roy's comments (a while back) very realistic!!. I think all judging should be carried out by a panel of non photographers, (passers-by, selected from the street and offered some inducement to give up some time).