Printer recommendations: Hi all. I am a newbie digital photographer. I photograph mostly nature close-ups, flowers and insects primarily and the occasional “snapshot.” I just bought a...

Missmarchetti Loc: South Portland, Maine

Hi all. I am a newbie digital photographer. I photograph mostly nature close-ups, flowers and insects primarily and the occasional “snapshot.” I just bought a Nikon 3200 after losing the original, and printers and MacBook in a house fire. Meanwhile, I have been using my Apple smartphone. I’d like to print a number of these photos as well as Nikon photos. What printer(s) do you recommend? Thanks.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Missmarchetti wrote:

Hi all. I am a newbie digital photographer. I photograph mostly nature close-ups, flowers and insects primarily and the occasional “snapshot.” I just bought a Nikon 3200 after losing the original, and printers and MacBook in a house fire. Meanwhile, I have been using my Apple smartphone. I’d like to print a number of these photos as well as Nikon photos. What printer(s) do you recommend? Thanks.

This question is like going to a car dealer and telling the salesperson that you would like to travel to a number of locations - and leaving him to guess what you REALLY want. It's best to be as descriptive as possible - print size, quality, paper types, budget, etc - it will help get you some concise and thoughtful responses.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Missmarchetti wrote:

Hi all. I am a newbie digital photographer. I photograph mostly nature close-ups, flowers and insects primarily and the occasional “snapshot.” I just bought a Nikon 3200 after losing the original, and printers and MacBook in a house fire. Meanwhile, I have been using my Apple smartphone. I’d like to print a number of these photos as well as Nikon photos. What printer(s) do you recommend? Thanks.

I always recommend the Canon Pixma Pro-100. Prints up to A3 13x19 size. The current model is the Pro-200; B&H has a special for $600. But, keep in mind, with photo printers, it's the ink that costs, not the printer.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

There really aren't any bad photo specific printers.

Decision 1 is pigment ink or dye ink. Pigment ink prints are supposed to last longer. Dye ink prints are usually less costly and supposed to clog less when infrequently used.

Decision 2 is Epson or Canon. Both have candidates in both ink groups. The model names or descriptions will make it clear that they are optimized for photos and will have 8 or more ink colors.

Decision 3 is print size, but I think most of the photo specific printers start at 13" wide but will print smaller.

Bill_de Loc: US

Gene51 wrote:

This question is like going to a car dealer and telling the salesperson that you would like to travel to a number of locations - and leaving him to guess what you REALLY want.

Any car salesman worth his salt would still make the sale!

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Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Bill_de wrote:

Any car salesman worth his salt would still make the sale!

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bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I never sold cars but sold a lot of airplanes. The best customers were the ones that knew how far they wanted to fly and how many people or how much weight they needed to get there. Life was a lot easier if the potential buyers were straight forward about what they needed.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Missmarchetti wrote:

Hi all. I am a newbie digital photographer. I photograph mostly nature close-ups, flowers and insects primarily and the occasional “snapshot.” I just bought a Nikon 3200 after losing the original, and printers and MacBook in a house fire. Meanwhile, I have been using my Apple smartphone. I’d like to print a number of these photos as well as Nikon photos. What printer(s) do you recommend? Thanks.

I recently purchased an Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 which is a recent release and is meant as a true photo quality printer. It's 13X19 inch maximum print size and I am very happy with the image quality so far. The ink cartridges appear to be lower in price than some other brands. It is available for about $350 with shipping from some online retailers. I paid a little less than that at Staples online.

Gspeed Loc: Rhinebeck, NY

bsprague wrote:

There really aren't any bad photo specific printer... (show quote)

Such a helpful answer! I learned something. Thank you!

~ Eileen

Gspeed Loc: Rhinebeck, NY

Missmarchetti wrote:

Hi all. I am a newbie digital photographer. I photograph mostly nature close-ups, flowers and insects primarily and the occasional “snapshot.” I just bought a Nikon 3200 after losing the original, and printers and MacBook in a house fire. Meanwhile, I have been using my Apple smartphone. I’d like to print a number of these photos as well as Nikon photos. What printer(s) do you recommend? Thanks.

Welcome to the forum. Please ignore the snarkiness (usually a bunch of curmudgeny old men with nothing else to do) and just zone in on the helpful, sharing, kind people who, in addition to trying to be funny, are also helpful. You will learn so much here! It’s a great place if you have a thick hide.

Hoping to get up to your magnificent state this year!

~ Eileen

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I am also looking for a printer. Right now the shelves in the stores are pretty empty! One of my requirements is that they have a straight paper path. I have only used Canon photo printers (have the Pro-100), and both of the intakes are a straight path for the paper. I assume Epson is the same???

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

If you are using a smart phone and do not plan to go to a camera you will not need a printer that can print large prints as you camera pixel count will restrict you. But if planning to go to a camera (any brand) I would look at a Canon or Epson with 10 or so color cartridges as the reproduce a better picture. I do know that Canon runs sales and are priced way down I don't know about Epson. The Canon 100 seems to be a popular and well liked I use a Canon Pro 1000 (inks at $70.00@) but understand it is more costly and would not want you to spend that money just getting started.

Wanderer2 Loc: Colorado Rocky Mountains

Picture Taker wrote:

If you are using a smart phone and do not plan to ... (show quote)

The OP stated that he had just purchased a Nikon D3200. I would think he wanted a printer for that and not just his cell phone but I may be wrong. But that's why I recommended the Epson 15000 above. No, he probably wouldn't need that for a cell phone only.

glwalden Loc: MISSOULA,MT.

Been using the Epson 15000 for about a year and I don't see how the prints could get much better. Previous printer was the Epson 2000p. Changed to get more ink cartridges making it way cheaper to print.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Wanderer2 wrote:

I recently purchased an Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 which is a recent release and is meant as a true photo quality printer. It's 13X19 inch maximum print size and I am very happy with the image quality so far. The ink cartridges appear to be lower in price than some other brands. It is available for about $350 with shipping from some online retailers. I paid a little less than that at Staples online.

The XP-15000 looks like a wonderful photo printer! The advertising says it uses Epson Claria inks. It is hard to figure out what that means. One reference said that the colors were dye ink and black is a pigment ink. That suggests that the colors might fade faster than more expensive printers that use all pigment ink. Yet, Epson says that "in an album" the longevity is 300 years.

For me, the reality check is that my prints are for me to hang on my walls. If lucky, my longevity is 20 years, plus or minus 10. So the difference between less expensive printers that use dye inks and more expensive printers that use pigment inks is not a real issue.

If it comes that my Canon Pro-100 quits, the XP-15000 would be on my list of probable choices.