Canon Pro9500 and Pro10 ink alternatives (for continental Europe)

[websnail]

As we're mentioned in here I thought I'd just clarify a couple of things in case anyone was wondering...

1. Brexit repercussions... Don't get me started.. I genuinely don't know what's going to happen but it's looking likely that we will end up with more expensive imports, price increases and ultimately some kind of flip flop until things level out. The costs of import duty are a pain in the proverbial but yes we wouldn't be charging VAT for non UK sources if that's the way things finally fall. My guess is that the main losers in all of this will be customers in the UK.. But until the fat lady sings all bets are off...

2. In case anyone is wondering, we have no plans to stop shipping outside the UK, but we are having to reconsider how we do so. The 'B' word has meant that untracked packages to some EU countries are being routinely and creatively returned as "uncollected". The recipients in most cases were not notified of the package and even lied to (by the post office/workers queried) about their orders whereabouts... Almost certainly a response to the 'B' stupidity but regardless we're having to dispatch most things tracked now... That definitely has cost implications but sadly can't be helped.

I have plan B's, C's and D's for shipping with DHL, Fedex, GLS and a few other options lined up so that we don't go dark but again it all depends on how 'B' works out. Oh and we are talking to potential resellers/distributors too...

3. As to our inks... for the 9500 we have two types...
- Image Specialists original blend (with the grey and photo black replaced due to adhesion issues following the merger with STS-inks).
- Our own ink blend which has crossover with our standard Pro-10 inks (not the abortive version 1 inks we tried many moons ago).

Worth noting that we're no longer sharing all of our manufacturers information or which is what so much. That's as much because some of our sources are now purchased from other resellers who we're loosely aligned with (and who won't tell us either) and because it's become something of a hard won trade secret. That said we will always indicate when a formulation or source has changed so end-users can adjust and/or re-profile as required.


Not sure how much that helps... if someone could pass the beer though... this whole 'B' thing is just...

 

[palombian]

I will switch soon to the PRO-10 versions of Y and MBK for my 9500 II, same for C,PC and GY when empty (no panic, still have over 1 liter all colors combined).
I'll have to make new profiles anyway, and the day I am out of printheads and need to switch to the PRO-10, I have already half of the inkset.
For PBK I still use the original PC C1158P on Aldi glossy and Ilford Smooth Pearl without adhesion problems (IMO the same as octoinkjet sells on clearance).

 

[websnail]

For PBK I still use the original PC C1158P on Aldi glossy and Ilford Smooth Pearl without adhesion problems (IMO the same as octoinkjet sells on clearance).

It might be... FWIW, the 1158 and 1157 (Grey) are both getting old and I'll happily take reasonable offers or even proof of charity donation to clear that stock out.

 

[stratman]

proof of charity donation

You are a good man, webbie.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Shipping to Germany worked so far - fast and reliable, I just hope that won't change with plan B or C or....

 

[palombian]

It might be... FWIW, the 1158 and 1157 (Grey) are both getting old and I'll happily take reasonable offers or even proof of charity donation to clear that stock out.

The 1157 Grey was ridiculous, replaced since long.
Checked the BK bottle, 1158 is still part of the PC inkset. I have no adhesion problems and average gloss.

That's maybe the advantage of the PRO-9500, the gloss was not homogeneous even with OEM ink.
I risk to be frustrated running a PRO-10 with 3th party .

PS: with PBK and the CO I use for glossy overprint I'll have 7 of the 10 inks for the PRO-10.
Only red and magenta seems to be different.

 

[Artur5]

My Pro10s has been running on current Octoink Pro10 inkset after the initial OEM cartridges were exhausted. ( only exception is red, always OEM). I’m happy with the color rendition. No problems with adhesion of the standard Photo Black, even on a few Canon Platinum sheets which came as a sample with the printer.
I admit having some problems with Magenta. You maybe saw my thread on this subject not long ago. It was a weird issue with mild, but recurring, clogs in the magenta nozzles. Hardly noticeable on real prints, but visible on nozzle checks with careful inspection. They were solved momentarily with out-of-the printer cleanings only to reappear some time later. Finally I switched to OEM magenta and the clogs vanished gradually before disappearing completely. Not a single issue since then. My guess is an occasional batch of bad ink but I can’t be sure. Maybe the problem was elsewhere and it would have been fixed by itself without reverting to OEM magenta ink.

 

[palombian]

Thanks for the info, @Artur5.

Magenta and Red always have been difficult colors.

I also see sometimes a lighter line or points with a magnifying glass somewhere in the nozzle check of my 9500, it disappears from it's own most of the time too.
Maybe some inks get old or the cartridge mesh slightly clogged.

Never had to remove a printhead for cleaning (but it is the first thing to do with a printer not used since long, forcing cleaning cycles through tickened ink is a sure way to ruin the head).

I read in early posts from @mikling that the PRO-10 printhead is more sensible to ink quality and that using PRO-9500 ink is not done. The other way can.
@websnail advised the same.

Until now I seldom did nozzle checks on my 9500 but I start to be more vigilant to keep my printheads as long as possible (or should I kill them to have an excuse for a PRO-10 ?).

In my experience (with exception of the QY6-0065 for the original 9500) the QY6-0077 heads last long. I only lost one after 3 years printing with an already second hand printer.

 

[websnail]

I admit having some problems with Magenta. You maybe saw my thread on this subject not long ago. It was a weird issue with mild, but recurring, clogs in the magenta nozzles. Hardly noticeable on real prints, but visible on nozzle checks with careful inspection. They were solved momentarily with out-of-the printer cleanings only to reappear some time later. Finally I switched to OEM magenta and the clogs vanished gradually before disappearing completely. Not a single issue since then. My guess is an occasional batch of bad ink but I can’t be sure. Maybe the problem was elsewhere and it would have been fixed by itself without reverting to OEM magenta ink.

This is actually not something I remember hearing about but thanks for letting me know. We do have a suitable alternative if you want something completely new (different manufacturer, etc). Still compatible so if you wanted to test it out I can send that over and resolve the OEM pain to your wallet.

Magenta's are traditionally the ones that cause the most problems with pigment load being so high but as I said, it wasn't something I was aware of. One thing that does spring to mind however is that we've found some cartridges don't clean up quite so well as others if they've been allowed to dry out. That may have been a factor... Something for me to keep an eye out for and test as well...

 

[palombian]

Since the PRO-10 yellow ink I received from octoinjet.co.uk was visibly lighter in the bottle I did a test in my PRO-9500II.

I flushed, dried an rinsed with a few ml of ink a PGI9-Y cartridge and filled with the new ink PGI-72Y.

Printed a yellow test page (made with Paint sRGB 255,255,0) and printed (on the Aldi glossy 300g) - without any profiling - to compare with the one I printed before with the original PGI-9 Y (formula STS) I use since years.

Also on paper the new ink was visibly lighter when wet, but after an hour I barily could see a difference.

sRGB measures with the Xrite Photo Colorpicker (part of the old Colormunki Photo software, no more in i1Studio):

PGI-9 C7062P: 248,208,0
PGI-72Y: 250,210,0

Doesn't look bad IMO, probably can become even closer after a few refills of the cartridge.

I learned a lesson: always wait at least 1 hour before measure the calibration patches.

To be sure I'll make a new profile and verify with mult-color test images.
Since I have little knowledge of color management, corrections and suggestions welcome.