Please share experience: Canon Pro9500 MK II and Epson R1900(or R2000)

[The Hat]

ChakonariCanon does not display ink levels after refilling.

Is it correct that ink levels on refilled Canons always show as empty, i.e the ink level monitor no longer works? Do I have to estimate when I need to refill or wait until I see that the ink is running out during printing to know when to refill? What about the ink levels for refilled carts on the Epson?

Once the Canon cartridges are reset the printer will continue to show all ink monitoring
just like a new cartridge no different and there is no need to manually check them either.

If you are leaning towards a Pro9500 be warned that this printer will not work with a CISS whatsoever no matter what supplier say.
There is no changing of cartridges no wasted ink or continued clogs with the Pro9500 and
good quality I. S. Inks supplies are no problem either + they dont need profiling .

Good luck with your choice and I hope you choose wisely..
P.S. I am expecting Remuneration this week from Canon..

 

[Chakonari]

...
Once the Canon cartridges are reset the printer will continue to show all ink monitoring
just like a new cartridge no different and there is no need to manually check them either.

...

Good luck with your choice and I hope you choose wisely..
P.S. I am expecting Remuneration this week from Canon..

Thanks for that, there appear to be a lot of people out there spreading wrong information, because they answer questions without actually having done things themselves. I'll make sure to let Canon know, that you "highly" recommended them and told me to never use a 3rd party CISS with their printer. Maybe they will send you some free paper

@ jtoolman Any more positives for the Epson from your end?

 

[jtoolman]

I can answer only in regards to Epsons. Cannon users can better coment as I am just not qualified to do so.

Yes, I can see all ink levels on either refilled carts or when using the CISS at all times. In fact It reports that ALL my colors are Genuine and Epson!!!!!
When one ink color is declared "empty" by the chip, you reset it or as with some earlier types of chips, they would automatically reset when they reached 10%. Convenient but dangerous if you forgot to refill your carts. On a CISS, it's really moot as you always visually know if the CISS unit actually has ink in it. On my R1900, if I am printing a large print and half way through it I run out of a certain color, the printing will stop mid way. I them hit the INK button, the carriage will travel to the ink replacement position, I press the reset button on my master chips, hit the ink button again and all positions are brought back to full, not just the reported empty one, but ALL of the other partially used ones as well. Once the reset is done, the printing continues without a hint of where it stopped.

The Hat is correct when he advices to start off with re fillables carts. CISS's can be tricky if not set up correctly. I guess I've been using them for so long now that they are second nature to me. I often forget that small fact! As The Hat stated, on the fact that there is no CISS for the Canon Pro9500. That's the only reason I did not get that printer initially as it truly is an excellent printer with great printing results.

I also have to say that I can't remember when I last had a head clog on any of my printers. Even one nozzle. None of them are using OEM ink, which according to many as well as the printer companies themselves, is supposedly the biggest cause of common printing problems. Maybe I've simply been lucky, but I don't really think so. I use all my printers often, and run weekly color purge charts and nozzle checks and head aligments as part of my normal maintenance routine which is a lot less wastefull than even light head cleanings.

A good CISS with Reset To All Chips, is probably the best scenario to have as long as you have it correctly set up.
Just my oppinion.
I get a LOT of printing done that way.

I have a small Epson Artisan 6 ink all in one, a R340 and the 1400 all running on a Reset To Full Chip, refillable Damper cart system. All refilling is done right on the printer by just lifting the little flapper doors on top of the carts. Add ink to each cart, close flappers, reset. All done. No mess no fuss. Any time you have to constantly remove a cart from its seat on the ink carriage to refill it you are inviting the introduction of air into the system. The major cause of bad nozzle checks and unnessesary head cleanings ( Very wastefull ). The seals under the carts will eventually wear out after numerous removals and reinstalls. If you go with the Canon, hopefully there are some carts available which will allow you to refill without disturbing them from the carriage. On the other hand, if you go with the R3000, there are yet no alternatives to OEM.

Yes, the switching between Matte and Photo black is still an issue. It is a lot better than on earlier models where you had to physically swap the carts between glossy and matte jobs. When you get into either refilling or a ciss, it really no longer matters. Only if you use OEM will the expense add up. Also to minimize PK and MK ink lost to swaping between matt and photo, you could always arrange your printing jobs according to type of paper. So you can do all your matte paper in one large run before switching back to photo black.

I will very likely purchase the R3000 but not until a good CISS + inks is made available for it.

Printer Companies are constantly changing the coding on their chips and their printer's firmware in other to try to prevent their systems from being refilled. That may cause a delay in the production of 3rd party alternatives, but not for too long.


Enjoy your adventure into color management.

 

[Chakonari]

Ok... Ross from Inkjetcarts confirmed that they are working deciphering the chips for the R2000 and R3000 but have no time frame.

Bit scary is that it took them 9 months for the R3880. But then again, the R3000 is different so no one can really say. The way I see it, could be tomorrow, could be next year.

Epson told me that the ink usage for prints (not cartridge yield, excluding ink for changing) for the R2000 and R3000, is the same as for the R1900 and R2880 respectively.

As I'm planning on selling prints, it just means a smaller profit margin until damper carts are available, but I need to be careful about playing around and making trial prints - that is if I do get the R3000 and not the Pro9500 MK II. No matter which way I go, there'll be a piggy bank next to the printer to make sure I "pay myself" for each print. Perhaps the printers could be modified with a coin slot for this purpose

In any case, I fear to have ventured into very addictive territory.

 

[The Hat]

ChakonariPerhaps the printers could be modified with a coin slot for this purpose

Didnt you know that there are coin slots in all these printers already?
Just lift the lid and then they become visible to you.
The printer manufacturers call them cartridges..

 

[jtoolman]

ChakonariPerhaps the printers could be modified with a coin slot for this purpose

Didnt you know that there are coin slots in all these printers already?
Just lift the lid and then they become visible to you.
The printer manufacturers call them cartridges..

GOOD One!!!!!

 

[Redbrickman]

ChakonariPerhaps the printers could be modified with a coin slot for this purpose

Didnt you know that there are coin slots in all these printers already?
Just lift the lid and then they become visible to you.
The printer manufacturers call them cartridges..

No Change given either

 

[jtoolman]

I looked at Inkjetcart's Pro Canon page and the Pro 9500 was not included. Many other models seem to have their support. I've been reading some reviews on Canons at photo-I, a UK based site and the Pro Canon line seem to truly a great group of printers. The printer driver interfaces are MUCH better than the Epson in my oppinion. They also have a great Photoshop plugin to directly print from.

As far as the R3000 chips, they might have to do the same as many have done with eh R3880, where you have to trasfer the actual OEM chips off the carts your priter came with onto their refillable tanks in tandem with a manual resetter. Two of the carts have "Master" chips on them that apparently have some function to do with the maintenance tank resetting. Not sure.

They may also make the refillable tanks taller to increase their volume which means the cartridge compartment lid has to be kept open. That will require some sort of trick done to the lid sensor. That's what they did to the R3800 and R3880. They can be refilled installed but, you have to manually remove them to reset their chips. I don't like that. DO that enough times and the O rings may start to deteriorate.

Hopefully they will solve that soon. I guess I could also just buy the larger 17" wide R3880 but I think I'll be very happy with the smaller R3000 instead.

 

[Chakonari]

To help you budget all your ink needs. (Pre-production model):

@ jtoolman: Do you need to do anything extra with your postcards to make them smudge/water resistant or does the ink and media you use take care of that? I've probably read all the reviews available in English (and some in German) for the Pro9500 MK II and R3000 that are available... and all claim that the R3000 beats the Pro9500 MK II in terms of print quality.

I think I can do without an old version of PS elements. Re the print plugin for Photoshop - Epson has one too, which can be downloaded from their website. The R1900 is supported as well by the way.

 

[jtoolman]

Good pigmented inks + good media should result in a smudge free product. Ross Hardy, in one of his videos takes a test print done in Bond Paper and soaks it in the sink. The paper certainly falls apart, but not a drop of the dripping water shows any evidence of color leaching and there are no runs of smudging on the wet print. You can't get any more graphic than that.

Keep in mind that since you might be using Pigmented K3 inks on your cards, you might not want to use Glossy card stock. Luster or art matted type papers have worked better for me. If I print on luster I set my driver to use full gloss optimizer to reduce or prevent gloss differential, specially If my cards are designed to have an image border.

Epson V Canon? Well that's all subjective I think. I happen to love Epson but I am not manaical about it. Those who love Canon will also be pretty loyal. I seriously doubt you will be able to choose the Epson or Canon print if you are shown each one individually of possible even together. There are very well known fine art photographers that will only use Canon and those that will only use Epson and you will not be able to sway them from their respective printers.

I do have the EPSON Plugin but have yet to play with is. I print using QImage for most images that will be framed or sold. My card I do straight out of Photoshop and Elements would also work perfectly. I create tamplates with a shape "Window" that I can "Clip" the image into. Works very well when I make my ten card box sets. Ten images, ten cards. Oh and since I do print on Luster sometimes and since I do use a template say 6.25 x 9 ( folds to 6.25 x 4.5 ) I tell the printer driver to print borderless so the gloss optimizer will be applied to the whole paper surface. If you do not do that the automatic border that is applied will show gloss differential. Just a little trick when printing with pigmented ink / GLOP.

Here is a nice link for starting off with color management.

http://www.ronmartblog.com/2010/07/color-management-101-how-do-i-get.html

Enjoy