PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Been using LD Products inks in a PIXMA PRO-100 for about 8 months now and have not seen any difference in the quality or the durability of the printed images. At around $5 a cartridge, beats the $17 OEM inks. looking for the link that I found back then which compared - side by side - prints from each ink set. When I find it, I will post it.

Started looking into refills now from Precision Colors. Have not done any printing with them yet so can't give you any credible first hand experience on those.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I use refillable ink cartridges and ink from InkOwl (https://www.inkowl.com). I've found the ink and refillable cartridges are equivalent to OEM. In fact I've had no refillable cartridges fail vs. faulty OEM cartridge problems. And the cost is about 10% of purchasing new OEM cartridges and refilling cartridges is not an onerous undertaking; just follow the easy to understand InkOwl instructions.

bwa

Murray Loc: New Westminster

I have a Canon Pro 100, and will not use any ther than the manufacturer’s ink. I don’t find it terribly expensive over time, and refuse to produce a short lived or flawed print.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

My theory of why refillable inks aren't as good as OEM inks is because OEMs are sealed air-tight in their cartridges, refillables are not. The main reason ink clogs is because if air reaches the ink it will form a scum on the surface which clogs nozzles. When you refill you expose the ink to air creating this scum. I've seen it happen.

Paaflyer Loc: Kansas City, MO

Try precisioncolors.com. They have great ink for almost all photo printers. Also see the videos on YouTube. Search for jtoolman at YouTube. Dozens of videos discussing this subject at great length. He Aldo has a group on Facebook do you can link up with other photo printers people.

Paaflyer Loc: Kansas City, MO

Try precisioncolors.com. They have great ink for almost all photo printers. Also see the videos on YouTube. Search for jtoolman at YouTube. Dozens of videos discussing this subject at great length. He also has a group on Facebook do you can link up with other photo printing people. Good info.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

I bought a Canon Pro-10 (pigment) printer in the fall of 2016 to do my annual stack of 8x8 inch B&W prints that I bind into books as Christmas presents for family members. I kept meticulous track of ink usage over the course of making ~1,037 prints. Using only OEM cartridges (which EVERYbody sells for $14.95, BTW, except Canon throws in free paper with multi-cartridge orders while Amazon and the local camera store - but not B&H - charge sales tax, and nobody charges shipping) I worked out an OEM ink cost of $0.676 per print. (For some reason, B&W prints use ALL of the inks, with Red cartridges lasting the longest, Gray used at 6x the rate of Red, and the others ranging from 1.7x to 4.1x the rate of Red.)

I saved a bunch of the OEM cartridges, and for 2017 switched to refilling them with Precision Colors inks. Images printed with the same settings from Lightroom, and looked the same on the same Red River paper as I used in 2016. I did NOT keep meticulous track of ink usage for the Christmas 2017 prints, but consumption did not feel remarkably different from 2016. I calculated the cost to refill at $2.00/cartridge, and a cost/print of $0.090.

So for the ~1,195 prints I made for Christmas 2017 I saved $700 by using third party ink instead of OEM ink.

I have never had an ink clog in the Pro-10 with either of the inks over the several thousand prints made so far. But if I did, I *THINK* I could just remove and soak the head like I used to do with the Canon S9000 (dye) printer I had years ago, and if THAT didn't work I might be able to replace just the head. Worst case, I could scrap the printer and replace it for less than the amount I saved by using third party inks for just one printing season. So far there's no indication that the printer won't keep going for the 2018 season, and if that happens I expect my savings from refilling ink cartridges will double. (YMMV, of course. If I only made a few prints a year I would stick with OEM inks. But at some volume level it just makes sense to consider third party inks, unless you sell prints and can build the OEM ink cost fully into the selling price.)

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

Here’s my answer based on experience. Non OEM ink caused the demise of TWO of my printers (I’m a slow learner). Also, SOMEtimes the color is off.

A lot of people SWEAR by the use of off-brand ink and I’ve been swayed by some of them to try it again (hence, the ruin of yet another printer).

Also, filling your own is VERY messy.

I considered buying one of those new printers with the sealed easy refill tanks, but, in the end; I replaced my dead Canon (with the dead printhead that NOTHING would revive) with a Brother printer. It came with a years supply of BROTHER ink, thus cutting the ink cost down.

I will NEVER use non-OEM ink in my printers and that is my suggestion to you.

Edit: For what it’s worth, I get most of my prints from Smug Mug or Shutterfly; but, when I print at home, I do it on a Canon Pro 10 and would never consider putting cheap ink in it. My cheap Canon printer did a pretty good job on photos too. I haven’t tried printing photos on the new Brother. printer.

jdedmonds

Anybody have a proposed explanation why the posts in this thread cover the entire spectrum from all good to all bad?

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Because you also see failed printers that used manufacturers inks, I have five possible explanations:

1) bad batch of ink(s) caused by manufacturing problem - all manufacturers (including OEM) periodically have production issues
2) bad printer hardware that failed - all manufacturers periodically have production issues
3) users who fail to follow the proper procedures when using inks - how many times have we seen people not willing to follow directions because "it should work like that"
4) environmental changes - high heat often causes gelling of inks while large swings in temperature and/or humidity can cause failures by drying the cartridges
5) printers that have stood unused for long periods of time

All printer manufacturers have a list of optimal environmental conditions as well as recommended environmental limits.

Certainly, there can be bad formulations of inks that are not compliant with manufacturer's specifications. Those companies are out for a quick buck and have no problem misrepresenting their products. Established companies however want to be around tomorrow and will supply high quality products.

Sometimes just the lack of printer usage will cause inks to gel near the printhead and render it unusable. I certainly won't argue with the folks who blame their printer failures on the 3rd party ink. At the same time, I wouldn't blame an OEM ink for a failure either unless (in either case) the problem was properly diagnosed. The 2 companies I use have been in business for years and their success rate is as good as the manufacture's. One of them identified through continuous compliance testing that the Canon yellow inks could cause gelling of the ink if the cartridge is not completely cleared of the manufacturers ink before refilling with their ink. As a result they now will supply clean replacement yellow cartridges to prevent any issues. A few users had experienced the problem but most never saw the issue in their own printers.

I have also heard people accuse manufacturers of causing a printer failure after the printer driver recognizes non OEM cartridges have been used. I think that is a dubious claim but from a software perspective, it could be done.

Unless I can prove it was the ink that caused the printer to fail, I will stick with the result I get. Perfect quality match and longevity of my prints will continue to support my decision to use 3rd party inks in my Canon PIXMA PRO-100.

Just my 2 cents worth - your results may vary ...

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

Love this example. If I wasn’t already convinced to use OEM ink only, this would convince me.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

This is a very compelling argument FOR the use of Precision Ink instead of OEM (this seems to be the most recommended brand to use). I just have three comments.

1. If OEM ink fails and ruins a printer, the manufacturer SHOULD compensate for such a loss. I’ve never had that happen in 30+ years, so I can’t speak from experience.

2. If I were printing 1,000 pictures, I would send them out. Smug Mug will print odd sizes.

3. I use my Canon Pro 10 often enough that the ink doesn’t clog up. I also have printed odd sizes as needed for my scrapbooks or to fit frames. I love that I can print a 13x19 print and I have a few on the wall. I do like the prints I print at home the best.

The OP has a lot of opinions to digest before deciding which way to go. We were asked for our opinions and everyone has one!

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
What paper do you use from Red River?

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

Thank you for this link. It sounds like something I will use for special cases! They don’t show a price list though, so I imagine it’s not cheap. Maybe the price comes up when you submit a picture for printing?

I do know that pigment ink is superior to all other ink. I did like the prints I got from my little Canon Selphy printer that uses a sub-dye technique which layers the colors on in three passes. Not practical for large volume printing and only one size can be printed.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

LD ink ruined the print head on my cheap Canon printer after the second batch was installed. I could not fix it. I wasn’t using this printer for pictures but I couldn’t even print a black & white document. The print came out reddish-brown.

Needless to say, I had to trash the printer and I threw out the ink, too.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I considered this last year and watched a lot of videos on it. Still seems like a PIA. No thank you