MT Shooter Loc: Montana

After many conversations on UHH over aftermarket ink for the Canon Pixma PRO 100, I finally decided to order a set from LD Ink as I was almost out of Canon ink anyway and the LD Ink was about 1/3 the price. I have always liked the PRO 100 prints but the exorbitant ink cost kept me from printing anything more than 4x6 and 5x7 with it as I have much better options when printing larger.
Well the first 20 or so prints were fine, but I attribute that to factory ink still in the system. It was not long before lines were appearing in my prints, so head cleanings started. The more cleanings I did, the more lines showed up in the prints, and the more factory tanks had to be replaced with LD tanks. Now all 8 tanks are LD and the prints are totally worthless due to the ink lines. Most are clear across the prints, some only partially, so the print head clogs causing them are intermittent. I only use Canon paper in this printer, always have. This is the third PRO 100 I have disposed of over ink issues. Oh well, at least they were free as I got them during the free promo deals two years ago.
Time to shop for a replacement small print printer. And only factory ink will be used.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

You did not trash it you sabotaged it!!!

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

I gave up and send mine out MT. I think I went through 3 printers. And it was always ink or head issues. Now I don't get mad as much.:):)

twowindsbear

Can't you 'run' all the bad ink out & replace it with good ink? Or would that much ink cost as much as a new printer? Seems a shame to trash a printer.

JustMePB Loc: Currently Indian Trail, NC.

I use both the Canon OEM and Costco refilled Canon cartridges in my Canon Pixma MX922 AIO.... haven't had a problem yet and I've used quite a few refilled Costco Canon cartridges. Maybe I'm just lucky.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

I wonder about different inks sometimes. I have been ordering aftermarket ink from the same supplier going on 20 years now without a hitch. I wear out the rollers on my printers before the head shoot craps. I print a lot! I use Epson printers exclusively but that should not matter.

Bill MN Loc: Western MN

I get my ink from the "ink farm" for my Canon printers. No problems.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Sorry to hear of your loss! Ink is expensive. I would think the Pro-100 might be a bad choice for someone doing a lot of regular printing, especially a shop. For me, I might do a few prints a month because I live in a small condo with limited wall space. I'm allowed space for about 20 "wall hangers" at a time. So, if a $5 print can be done for $4, I only save a few bucks. Even if it costs $6 or $7, it still makes little difference.

Have you looked at the newer Epson EcoTank series? Printers cost more but, the ink comes in bottles and is cheap. Epson does not seem to be bragging about "art quality", but they do print photos. Maybe for a stack of smaller sized prints they would do OK.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Thank you for posting this. I'm a Canon printer user and bite the bullet on the ink costs, but the results are are good and and the printers last a long time without problems.

However, as another poster said, what about the Epson Eco-Tank system printers? Personally if Canon introduced such a system I would buy it at the earliest opportunity. Epson are clearly great printers, and seem to have the economic advantage at this point in time!

tinplater Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

Ink is the biggest rip off in the photo industry. I have been using after market inks on my Pro9000ii for several years and with the amount saved I could replace the printer several times. So far no issues whatsoever.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

My only issue with the Eco-Tank printers is the 4color system. I print lots of B&W so I need Grey's as well as blacks. I typically print 10 to 60 prints a day for customers as well as myself so quality is absolutely required.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

So, what do we all need? A multi tank printer with a ten or twelve tank system? Something that can accommodate both large capacity and small capacity tanks? Or do we just need to set our own expectations accordingly? Quality is seldom cheap! How do vendors deal with that range of economic product cost envelope?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I have found that 6 color systems work pretty much just as good as 8 color systems, but the newer 12 color printers can be phenomenal.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

So since this is a photography forum, we could nominate ourselves as a focus group - sorry, couldn't resist that! - and discuss what would be a printer system that we would be willing to pay a reasonable amount for:

How many inks? Print quality, print durability, printer durability, cost per print over a certain volume and a certain time period?

If we can't collectively put forth a recommendation to Canon or an Epson or whomever, then who can?

Why don't we do it? Nikonian72? Are you paying attention? Could be a good topic for the new printer forum, although it should also be posted in the main section to get a more representative sample....

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

What printers are your work horses?