CLI-8 Cartridges, How does the chip really monitor ink?

[mikling]

The chips appear to be identical to the CLI-8. And those BCI-7s are from Japan.

 

[Trigger 37]

Canonfodder,.. You indicate that you use Image Specialist inks. I'm sure you have seen Neil Slades posts about his favorites, but how did you choose Image Specialist and how to you compare them to Canon color. Neils favorite is G&G from inkGrabber, but I've used G&G carts and I don't like them,... no matter what he says. They also don't really sell their ink for refills,... but they do sell ink they call "Universal",... which in most of us,.. this sets off an alarm. Anybody that sells ink that they say is universal and will work in any printer is selling junk. To me it is not an issue as I refill and will always refill and Neil thinks it is much easier to just stick in a new cartridge and "Throw Away the Old Ones". To me this is a waste,.. and I could not do that even if it were cheaper.

He also gives good marks to MIS ink and they seem to be the highest price. There are dozens of other inks. Which ones have you tried. Obvisouly you like Image Specialist the best,.. but I don't like their 1oz and 2oz bottles. I have been used to buying my ink in 8oz bottles. Of course the ink for my i560 and the MP730 are no big deal, but I'm going to be more particular with my Ip6600D. By the way,... did I mention that I love the quality of print I'm getting out of that unit. The only problem I'm having is that when 4x6 paper feeds from the lower cassette, they get tinny scrap marks on the print. This does not happen when I load 4x6 from the back tray. I already have set the function in the printer to raise the printhead but I still get the scape. It is very faint,.. but who wants anything like that on a high quality photo.

This is the second iP6600D printer from Canon already,... I don't want to have to get a third one. I'm sure they will tell me to take it too my local repair shop for adjustment,...but that is 75 miles away and would require me to take two trips,.. one to delivery it and one to pick it up,..that is 300 miles and $40 woth of gas. I guess I don't have a choice if I want it fixed. They could also check out everything else.

 

[fotofreek]

Trigger - My wife uses an ip5000. We use the lower paper cassette for plain paper only as the paper path is nowhere near straight. Photo paper is much better handled int he upper paper feed where the paper path is nearly straight. I don't know about scrape marks, but I've had the problem of slight banding or ink smears at the trailing edge of 4x6 prints that can be attributed to a slight curve in the paper. I got this info from the Canon web site a few years ago. Instead of leaving glossy photo paper in the printer feed area between print jobs, I store all photo paper flat and only put in on the upper feed area when running print jobs. Any paper left after the print run is returned to the flat storage area.

 

[mikling]

An item to note about Neil Slade's comments. he prefers the G&G with consideration to the aspect that he finds it too hard or troublesome to refill the Canon with MIS ( Image Specialists ) ink. Otherwise, the MIS ( Image Specialists) ink is superior to the G&G in color accuracy and fade resistance and does note this.

With the chipped cartridges you may have seen some people reporting failures of the chip and this should be noted. Some weight should be placed on this consideration because these chips can and do fail and transferring from tank to tank versus refilling may well pose greater potential for them failing.

MIS is a reseller and distributor of Image Specialists inks.

 

[on30trainman]

Trigger,
I think you answered your own question about the paper. I don't use photo paper in the casette on either my ip4000 or ip6000D. Think that curve the paper takes is too much for the heavier photo paper.
BTW - I love your Thomas avatar.

Steve W.

 

[Trigger 37]

On30trainman,.. Only a "TrainMan" could love that picture. My granddaughter is totally in love with Thomas the Train, and she has just about everything that can be made by them. I made her(yes she is a little girl) a 3'x5' table to hold all of her train and village setup and I painted it as solider island. The picture is actually her 3rd year birthday cake of Thomas the Train.

Thanks to all about the lower cassette and photo paper. It is really a shame because if it worked it would be great feature. It keeps the photo paper dark, and since I only use the 4x6 every now and then, it was a good place to keep them. I am adding plain paper all the time, so I don't think it would be handy to use the cassette for 8x10 paper,... but I will give it a try and reverse them. I can see that making that sharp curve is bad for photo paper but I thought they would have figured out a way to just feed the paper up from the bottom on top of the 8x10 and then re-feed it forward without every having to roll or bend it.

Mikling,.. thanks for setting me straight about Neil. I knew that MIS was one of his picks, but I had not made the connection that MIS was "Image Specialist" ink. I had gone to the Precision Colors web site where they talk about the Image Specialist inks but no where do they mention it is "MIS" ink. Now I know.

One last question for the forum,... At our Costco store, there is only one kind of Kirkland paper and that is "Professional Glossy Inkjet Photo Paper". This is the same for the 8 1/2 x 11 and the 4x6 and they are both 10.4 mils. I have been having some good luck with Glossy paper from Staples and from Meritline. Both seem to be very good,.. but not as good as the Kirkland.

 

[on30trainman]

There are/were apparently two types of Kirkland paper - 8.5" X 11" made in Switzerland (made by Ilford?) and 4" X 6" made in USA. Now the 8.5" X 11" says "Made in USA" on the package. I have had very good luck with the "Made in Switzerland" paper and Hobbicolor inks. No experience with the "Made in USA" version yet. Actually went out and bought two boxes of the older paper while it was still available.

Yep - a railroad buff would notice the Thomas avatar. Model Railroading is my main hobby - the On30 refers to "O scale" trains on HO gauge track, scaling out to about 30" between the rails - narrow gauge. My grandson is also a Thomas fan - took him and another granddaughter for a ride on the Thomas train a few years ago.

Steve W.

 

[canonfodder]

Trigger 37 asked me a question earlier, but our very helpful Forum members have done a fine job of answering the question. I first purchased Image Specialists ink from MIS because of Neil Slades reports. Later I decided to buy my Image Specialists inks from http://www.precisioncolors.com/ . The price is right and the pedigree of the ink is clear and given on the labels. Those of us who really like the Costco Professional Glossy Photo Paper have very good results with it for our glossy prints. We live in fear of it being changed or dropped or repriced. I know that I don't have an equal alternative. With a member card, the price just can't be beat. A close relative has a card, so I get the benefit. The last time I calculated, I had paid just under 13 cents per sheet. Can anyone beat that for such fine paper? My glossy prints are costing me about 16 cents per 8" X 10".

 

[Trigger 37]

Canonfodder,... Well I hope things have not been changed,... I just got my Kirkland at Costco last week, ...150 sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 for $18.60, and the box says,.... "Made us USA" Now how do we tell if this is the same stuff or if it is made by Ilford. I have both papers but I would need some suggestions on how to run a test between the two. Photo printing is so subjective, I need a better way to test these. My Ilford paper is purchased at Sam's club and is also a very good price, but not as low as the Kirkland. The Ilford is "Gallerie" Professional inkjet "Smooth Gloss Paper". I need a good test to compare these papers.

 

[canonfodder]

Canonfodder,... Well I hope things have not been changed,... I just got my Kirkland at Costco last week, ...150 sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 for $18.60, and the box says,.... "Made us USA" Now how do we tell if this is the same stuff or if it is made by Ilford. I have both papers but I would need some suggestions on how to run a test between the two. Photo printing is so subjective, I need a better way to test these. My Ilford paper is purchased at Sam's club and is also a very good price, but not as low as the Kirkland. The Ilford is "Gallerie" Professional inkjet "Smooth Gloss Paper". I need a good test to compare these papers.

Trigger 37,

I think I have at least a partial answer to a test which will compare the two papers. I want Grandad35 to check this out and comment. He would be a significant player in the test. What I propose is the extension of an ink comparison test program that we, (Grandad35 and I) have been working very hard on for too many months. Our ink testing is very close to launching now. It was delayed for some time due to a medical time-out.

For information about our ink tests, see: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1646

Our Ink Testing Project is primarily aimed at dye type inks such as Canon uses. Our project uses a constant photo paper type as the base for samples of ink. Our choice of photo paper is the Kirkland Professional Glossy Photo Paper which is coated and works especially well with dye type inks. Our test will be tried with other inks once it is proven to be useful with the dye type inks, and I believe some comparison of papers may be also possible. I can forsee that only coated papers might be compared with the method we have worked out. This is due to the particular method used in transferring the ink sample to the photo paper.

Grandad35 and I will confer on the subject of paper testing and post our conclusions, including a request for paper samples where needed, if we will proceed.