Canon photo tank system printers

[Ink stained Fingers]

Thanks for further clarification,

details are scant now.

I just made that experience searching around for some information about Chromalife inks beyond marketing claims.

I am not sure media knows the distinction between Chomalife 100 and Chromalife 100+.

which even leads to spreading wrong information , I have seen several printer reviews with wrong statements about the actual inks in use and their performance - I got the impression from some reviews that the editor never really printed one page on the printer he reviewed - or claimed to have reviewed.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I see the first listing of the GL-53 inks - Chromalife - at a German dealer - no pricing yet but it won't take too long anymore until the inks are available

https://www.tintenshop365.de/GI-53C...an-fuer-ca-8000-Seiten-Druckleistung-4673C001

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I see an announcement for the U.S. for the G650 printer - there apparently called G620 - with Chromalife 100 inks

https://www.dpreview.com/news/93203...-new-pixma-all-in-one-wireless-photo-printers

A printer without the scanner - like the G550 in Europe is not mentioned.

And there is a comment to the durability of the Chromalife 100 inks

' Canon does say that the ChromaLife 100 inks promote archival photo quality.' .......................
But Canon won't guarantee for any durability

' 3. Based on accelerated testing by Canon in dark storage under controlled temperature, humidity and gas conditions, simulating storage in an album with plastic sleeves. Canon cannot guarantee the longevity of prints; results may vary depending on printed image, drying time, display/storage conditions, and environmental factors. See www.usa.canon.com/chromalife100 for additional details.'

Copied from this Canon page

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/...nters/all-megatank-inkjet-printers/pixma-g620

Inks are called GI-23 for the U.S. market

 

[stratman]

From the Canon USA page:

• CONVENIENT MEMORY KEEPING: free images from digital devices and print photos for albums, scrapbooks, and more.

Is it the 1990's again?

While not a guarantee, Canon does say

"Beautiful, Long Lasting Photos
Enjoy vibrant, beautiful, long lasting photos. The Canon ChromaLife100 system of ink and paper protects your photos from fading— retaining color and quality for up to 100 years in album storage."

I think to make an archival guarantee to all that use the ink is an impossibility. Canon basically says as much.

The basic question is whether the Chromalife100 inks archive better under the exact same conditions than aftermarket inks.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The basic question is whether the Chromalife100 inks archive better under the exact same conditions than aftermarket inks.

Only a test would tell , you have to pull the pieces of information together from here and there, just as an example Canon in my quote above refers not just to an album - 100 years or 300 years or....... for generations to come (Epson) but mentions here this time

storage in an album with plastic sleeves.

not just the album but an album with plastic sleeves, and now I have to find out which type of plastic sleeves - PVC or PE or ???? which don't harm the prints from additives, softeners, stabilizers etc - not all plastics will even last 100 years.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I scanned through the Aardenburg archives of fading tests with the Chromalife and Chromalife+ inks, there are only 3 reports with the Pro9000 and 8 reports with the Pro-100, but regrettably not on the same type of papers which makes a comparison impossible. The reports show a wide variance between the different papers used - mostly Canon in these tests, it is very much the paper contributing to the fading performance and not just the ink alone.

I cannot find anything relevant about the Chromalife (+) inks in the Wilhelm Research test reports at all.

 

[stratman]

A little off topic...

Canon has Lucia and Lucia Pro Pigment inks for various printers like the Pro-1, Pro-10, Pro-300, Pro-1000, etc.

Looked at my Maxify MB5120 OEM inks and there is NO acknowledgement of what version of Pigment ink it is., not on the box/insert/cartridge/website. Do not recall a version name for the PGI-5 inks on the MP830 pigment ink cartridge I used to use.

Called Canon and was unable to find anything about which/what version of Pigment inks for the Maxify. If it were one of the Lucia's I would think Canon would proudly display it on the box like they do for the cartridges of the printers mentioned above.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

that's funny, I did exactly the same some time ago asking Epson whether the matte pigment ink 105 of the ET7550 ink set is of the type of the Durabrite inks or the Ultrachrome inks, I only got a bla bla answer telling me that Epson is using high quality inks which are designed specifically for the type of the intended application - in this case document printing but nothing more specific and w/o mentioning their other ink types.
If you want to have a look for the Lucia and Lucia Pro inks you'll see that the older Lucia inks perform about twice as good as the newer Pro type inks - it's the opposite for the Epson K3 and HDX inks - the HDX inks last longer than the K3 inks.
http://www.wilhelm-research.com/Can..._and_Photo_Papers_Final_Report_2020-06-01.pdf

But let me stop here - I'll order a Chromalife ink set GI-53 as soon as it becomes available and expose it to the sun.......

 

[stratman]

the older Lucia inks perform about twice as good as the newer Pro type inks

So, basically marketing, like "New and Improved!"

Bizarre.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

So, basically marketing, like "New and Improved!"

I could assume that there are several reasons for Canon to change the pigments to Lucia Pro - it could be that they deliver a wider gamut or that customers told Canon that they don't need such a long fading persistance or that the new raw pigments are much cheaper than those for the original Lucia inks or a combination of all this. But it's a kind of strange that Canon is dropping the fading persistence and Epson with the HDX inks is increasing it at the same time. And this again shows how difficult it is to get behind those marketing claims and unravel real performance details.