Anyone using a Canon iPF8300?

[Jim Becia]

I am currently printing on an Epson 9600 that must 7 0r 8 years old. It has been a workhorse and is still going strong. I have been tempted by this Canon. I've seen a few prints from it but not too many. Right now they are having a great deal on the printer with a rebate and trade in allowance that gets the price down to about $2500 and it's shipped free to my door. There are a couple of problems that I would run into. The first being my computer is older than my printer and I still use XP, the new printer will not run on it. Also, I''m still running CS2 and I would have to buy that also. All of a sudden, a $2400 purchase turns out to be a bit more. Anyone using this printer have an opinion on it? It seems to be getting good press. Any help and or advice would be appreciated. Thanks. Jim

[Daniel Stone]

Here's a quick workaround to get a copy of CS5/6 on the cheap. Enroll at your local community/institution, and take an easy and cheap course. Use your ability to get a student discount from the adobe store, and.get the full master suite for around $700-800 or so.

I owned an IPF5100(17” max media width) printer, and it was a stellar performer for the time I owned it.

Canon does a great job with their pro-level printers, I'm sure nothings changed since I sold mine last year.

Dan

[Greg Miller]

Don't buy the CS6 master suite unless you will actually use all the components. Otherwise you will end up paying the master suite upgrade price every 1.5 years instead of just the Photoshop upgrade price.

Also, XP will no longer be supported in less than 2 years. Meaning no more security patches or anti-virus signatures among other things. Most other software will stop supporting XP soon too. So you need to be planning to buy a new computer anyway.

[erie patsellis]

If you have the need or desire to print yourself, you can't beat it. Of all the printers I researched it was the only one that "just works". My previous Epson 7600 was a PITA if it sat for a few days, the 8300 just fires up and prints with no drama whatsoever. Image quality will amaze you, period.

For software, you can go the local college route, get CS6 Design for around $300, I've been using an inexpensive HP computer from Staples, I needed one immediately to finish several design jobs when my 10 year old machined (finally) died, $500 on sale for a 3 Ghz AMD powered quad core, 8gb machine. Good value, though if you decide to upgrade the video, the PS will have to be upgraded as well (approx $55 from NewEgg).

[searover]

I have a iPF8300 & love it. I got it just over a year ago and print fine velvet rag to canvas, eSatin, metalic, gloss & even Tyvek & they all look great. Prior to the 8300 I used Epson xx80 & had to run nozzle checks every day. The Canon doesn't require require wasting the ink and I've let it sit unused, but keep it turned on, for two weeks with out use with no nozzle checked or cleaning needed.
The gambit is very broad & and the colors are as deep & vibrant as the Epson, maybe more so.
On the 8300 the print heads are replaceable & I have just done so.
The 80gB hard drive is great, I can reprint quickly from the printers menu & the accounting software is a wonder.
I usually print from Lightroom where the canon plug-in doesn't work, but it really works well. From Ps/CS4 the plugin works very well, the difference is negligible or maybe I'm just use to both.
Over all I would buy another in a minute. I won't buy a Epson as my Experence was nozzle cloging.

I'm sure you will like it.

John

[gnuyork]

I took advantage of this rebate and trade in deal. I have had the printer for a little over a month, however it's been sitting in my basement unassembled. I knew I would not have the time right away to get it up and running, but I wanted to get in on the deal before it was too late. Plus I need to invite four friends over to help me lift it up on the stand. It took three of us struggling to just get in in my basement from the garage.

I have used smaller epsons exclusively, however I have been reading great things about the canon ipf series, a big one being no or less clogging. I won't miss that at all.

I look forward to getting it set up soon...

[wentbackward]

Also hated epson love my 8300. Canon's support in this region is also fantastic. The big E does a lot of 'promotion', printing galleries of images on cheap mottled foam core board with bent corners that also end up warped in no time, they go up in areas where there's a lot of photography shops, with a bigger is better type approach. They have no clue what a real print can look like, are typically unhelpful at best downright arrogant at worst.

Canon all the way for me, and happy.

[IT Supplies]

I understand that this may be a little late from the other post. I work at the company, IT Supplies, and we actually have this model in our office. We print on it almost daily and think it's a great printer against Epson's 9890. What's really crazy is that we also sell this model and with Canon's crazy discounts, it will beat any 44" printer out of the water after the final price.

Let us know if you may have any questions regarding the printer.
info@itsupplies.com

We also have a tech that can answer questions regarding the supplies used on it or technical questions.

Chris W

[gnuyork]

Hey Chris, I actually ordered mine from you. Finally got it set up couple of months ago. Ordered a new roll of metallic paper that just came in yesterday and made some prints with the new paper. The results were stunning. I must admit, that I did have some reservations on canon print quality compared to Epson (which is what I have always had in the past, though nothing large format), but after a few prints, and working out the links with profiling etc, I have absolutely Zero reservations.

I do however seem to get slight magenta push of my images that I scanned from 35mm slides. I can't figure this put yet, could be due to my scanning process (Vue Scan to DNG), though the magenta tint is not on screen. Need to experiment/trouble shoot some more - But printing from digital images - Print matches my calibrated monitor spot on.

[Adamphotoman]

Hey Jim,
I was im the same position. 9600 and I jumped all over the IPF 8300. It might be a little unfair comparing a 10 year old technology with a 3 year old but I am impressed. I will enjoy. If you are using MAC you might want to consider Image Nest.