Photo Quality Color Laser Printer Under $10,000 ?

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silenceseeker2003

Is there such a creature?

I know about a $100,000 such printer, sold by HP, but this is way over
my budget. I am looking for something that can print photos *decently*
(doesn't have to be best quality) for under $10,000. Is there such a
printer? If so, manufacturer and model number would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam
 
Is there such a creature?

I know about a $100,000 such printer, sold by HP, but this is way over
my budget. I am looking for something that can print photos *decently*
(doesn't have to be best quality) for under $10,000. Is there such a
printer? If so, manufacturer and model number would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam
Click to expand...

Laser is not condusive to photo printing, and I cringe whenever I see
someone go into an office supply store and copy a cherished photo on
their $50,000-100,000 copiers - it may look good, but going to a Kodak
or Fuji photo kiosk would be far better. A good color laser or copier
can make very /good/ prints, but not true 'photo quality'. If you are
talking about business printing, such as CD covers, etc, you may be
happy with far less expensive models. Otherwise you need an inkjet or
dye-sub printer. The best reason to spend a lot on a laser printer is
to get toner carts that last a long dime (5,000+ prints) rather than
the print quality, though the more expensive ones will generally be
better than the cheaper ones. So far I have not seen a laser printer
with more than 4 colors, while inkjets can have 6, 8, or even more,
which vastly increases the photo quality. You can go into Office Depot
and look at samples from Okidata or Samsung color lasers under $500
that are quite nice, so if I were you, I would go around and ask for
lots of samples to see if the quality is acceptable for what you want
to do.

Commercial items like cereal boxes use a different process to print,
and even that is not a truly high photo quality. The only way to get a
photo quality print is with an inkjet or dye sublimation printer. I
think you would be better off with an Epson Ultrachrome printer (R1800
or R2400) rather than a laser printer if you are interested in doing
photographic printing.

--

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.
 
Hi!
Is there such a creature?
Click to expand...

A while back, I tried printing photographs on an HP Color LaserJet 2500n. It
looked OK, but the print seemed dark and was very waxy to the touch. I was
not impressed.

When I got my Samsung CLP-550n, I read that it didn't do a great job on
photos. It wasn't until much later that I got around to trying it. I printed
a 5.1 megapixel picture on regular 20lb copy paper at 1200 DPI...

The result was absolutely breathtaking. I was stunned by the quality of the
print. Compared to a smaller version of the same picture made with an
Olympus "dedicated purpose" dye sublimation photo printer the only
difference I saw was the glossiness of the Olympus paper. Colors were smooth
and even, with no sign of dots or dithering.

The only drawback is that you probably cannot use inkjet photo papers in a
color laser printer. I don't think it would work well, and at the worst, the
coating on the paper could come off when going through the fuser.

I paid about $309 USD for the printer...but I think it normally retails for
a bit higher than that.

William
 
I'll try to respond to two postings at once here.

You asked about the longevity of color laser toners. Laser toners are
made of a mixture of dyes, pigments, and usually a styrene plastic, all
mixed together and ground very fine. Unlike liquid inks, which can
separate, thicken, gel, evaporate, settle out, etc, toner powders are
relatively stable, if kept in a dry cool setting. The probably biggest
risk is they can clump or compact over time, but probably even that can
be lessened if they are shaken well before placed in use, or are remixed
and shaken every so often to keep things mixed well.

As to the issue of photographic quality laser printing, can you tell me
a bit more about your needs? What type of image, and how many do you
need? How close to photographic does the output need to be (what's the
application)? How often will you be printing, how large a run per image,
how large an image (largest), what type of media will you be printing to
(paper, card stock, art quality paper, glossy, luster, matte, etc)?

There are a LOT of different printing technologies out there. As an
example, the Indigo printing method, which HP bought the rights to, uses
liquid toners, producing a pretty interesting electrostatic print using
specially coated papers. I believe HP redesigned these machines and
redeveloped the toners they use. There are several versions, but they
are major machines for printing industry use.

Check out this website for more info on it:

http://h30267.www3.hp.com/country/us/en/products/digital_presses/index.html

There are also small offset presses, and other models from several
manufacturers. There rae many wide carriage inkjet printers using dye
or pigment inks. Epson Ultrachrome printers produce photographic results
using slow drying pigment inks that don't usually clog. There are many
versions up to about 44" wide.


Art
 
Is there such a creature?

I know about a $100,000 such printer, sold by HP, but this is way over
my budget. I am looking for something that can print photos *decently*
(doesn't have to be best quality) for under $10,000. Is there such a
printer? If so, manufacturer and model number would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam
Click to expand...

What's wrong with what you have now? You sounded very enthusiastic about it
earlier.
mark_
 
([email protected]) said:
Is there such a creature?

I know about a $100,000 such printer, sold by HP, but this is way over
my budget. I am looking for something that can print photos *decently*
(doesn't have to be best quality) for under $10,000. Is there such a
printer? If so, manufacturer and model number would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam
Click to expand...


Nobody seems to have seen the beast in action, but Xerox claims color
accuracy good enough for proofing purposes:
http://www.imaging.org/resources/web_tutorials/solid_ink.cfm
and they will send you a sample print:
http://www.imaging.org/resources/web_tutorials/solid_ink.cfm

Brendan
 
In message said:
Is there such a creature?

I know about a $100,000 such printer, sold by HP, but this is way over
my budget. I am looking for something that can print photos *decently*
(doesn't have to be best quality) for under $10,000. Is there such a
printer? If so, manufacturer and model number would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Canon CLC 1100 series, you MIGHT be able to get the lowest model (1120?)
with a print option for around that figure. Your local dealer should be
able to provide a print sample. Failing that the CLC2620 or 3xxx should
come into the price range.

I do wonder about people's complaints about photo quality from colour
lasers. First one I had was a QMS magicolor 6 years ago and that put
out decent enough pictures, the only issue with it really was that it
had quite a few components that needed regular replacing. I could feed
it glossy laser paper for better quality output.

The machine I have now, Minolta Bizhub, produces very nice output, I
have comparison prints with the CLC2620 and my old CLC950. There's very
little difference between the 2620 and the Minolta, the 950 produces a
nicer (glossier) output, but for my purposes it really wouldn't have
been worth the extra cost to replace it with the new equivalent model.

If you are looking at this level of machine, it might be worth looking
at having one supplied on some sort of contract basis.

You MIGHT find a dealer able to supply a second hand CLC5000/5100 on
some sort of service contract. That's a half ton machine at around the
$100,000 new.
 
Is there such a creature?

I know about a $100,000 such printer, sold by HP, but this is way
over
my budget. I am looking for something that can print photos
*decently*
(doesn't have to be best quality) for under $10,000. Is there such a
printer? If so, manufacturer and model number would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

My 2yr old Konica Minolta 2350 (9600 x 600 dpi) certainly prints
"decent" and supports glossy paper - some family members are totally
happy with photo prints from it, even on plain paper. (However, I
much prefer the prints from my Canon i9900 :) ... I presume the newer
2450 (and 5450, 7450) are also just as good, or better than the 2350.
http://printer.konicaminolta.com/products/color/compare.asp
 
Hello Sam,

Kodak used to make some decent dye-sub printers which were perfect for
photos and image files. The 8650 was solid and the PS model had a
robust PostScript engine. The 8670 PS was not so reliable. They never
got mine right and basically seemed to abandon the line. Looking at
their website now, they have a Digitial Photo Printers line which
includes the 9810 (roll fed dyesub) and the 1400 (low volume). Then
there are the serious looking 6800 and 6850. Finally, the ML-500.
They all appear to be 300dpi/continuous-tone thermal dyesubs. A quick
check on the Internet shows the 1400 runder $500. The ML-500 used to
list at $15K. All the others appear to be under $3K. Remember, these
are continuous-tone, so you can't compare the 300dpi of these units
with 4800dpi inkjets. Also, note that Kodak wants to make money on the
supplies -- paper+ribbon will probably average $2/8.5x11/12 page. I
assume they still use the same great feeling paper that they did with
the 8650/8670.

While Kodak's 300dpi continous-tone output is pretty good for pictures,
I've tested a Fuji Pictrography 3000 with 400dpi/continuous-tone and
definitely noticed the difference. It was sharper. The current Fuji
Pictrography 3500/4500 models are much cheaper then their predecessors:
I've seen the 3500 for well under $5K. In the past, they required a
3rd-party RIP. Even if their bundled drivers aren't good enough, you
should still be able to put together a good package for under $10K.

http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/proPhotoProductPictrography.jsp?NavBarId=item778810

I don't know if everything about these printers is appropriate for you,
but I suggest you find someone to demo print a few of your pictures on
them.

Best of luck,
Ben
 
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