Printers :S

Amandapanda

Hi there,
i am new here, and relitivly new to the technical side of photography.

i am trying to expand my horisens and am also looking to do a photography degree.

i am looking to purchase a dye sublimation printer - for on-location prints and also for home prints. my budget is between £300-£600 but the least i spend on the printer for the same quality the more i can spend on the lighting - i am not sure which is best to pour the money in to as it is likely i will only really use the printer for onlocation work (events) and the rest of the shoots i do i will continue to use the person i use at the moment to get prints.

some help would be really really helpful
thanks
A x

darkdragon

Amandapanda wrote:

Hi there,
i am new here, and relitivly new to the technical side of photography.

i am trying to expand my horisens and am also looking to do a photography degree.

i am looking to purchase a dye sublimation printer - for on-location prints and also for home prints. my budget is between £300-£600 but the least i spend on the printer for the same quality the more i can spend on the lighting - i am not sure which is best to pour the money in to as it is likely i will only really use the printer for onlocation work (events) and the rest of the shoots i do i will continue to use the person i use at the moment to get prints.

some help would be really really helpful
thanks
A x

Hi and Welcome

I just finished doing my own research on this exact thing last week. I was originally looking for a dye-sub printer for onsite prints too. The results of my research showed that dye-sub was not really the way to go because of lack of resolution. Most of the printers (though i'm sure I didn't read on all of them, but a lot of them) give great color shades, better than inkjet usually but at the cost of DPI. My favorite dye-sub was actualy only 300x300 dpi and the photos were not sharp, though the color was outstanding. I guess it really depends on what you think is most important - I like sharpness and clarity myself.

After all my research I ended up going with the Canon Pixma mini320. I've been using it for a few days now and WOW I love it. I don't have the specs right now, but the DPI on it is amazing and it prints not only 4x6 but also 5x7 and wallet size. The 5x7 prints are amazing. Another great thing about the printer is that it actually is portable - unlike most "portable' printers i saw - the mini320 has an optional rechargeable battery pack. Truly perfect (IMHO) for onsite/event printing.

Downside to the mini320 is that it is larger than the dye-subs - but the fact that you don't have to lug around a paper tray or have one poking out is great.

Price: under $120 (not sure what that is in your money, but I'm pretty sure it is well below budget)

Amandapanda

darkdragon wrote:

Hi and Welcome

I just finished doing my own research on this exact thing last week. I was originally looking for a dye-sub printer for onsite prints too. The results of my research showed that dye-sub was not really the way to go because of lack of resolution. Most of the printers (though i'm sure I didn't read on all of them, but a lot of them) give great color shades, better than inkjet usually but at the cost of DPI. My favorite dye-sub was actualy only 300x300 dpi and the photos were not sharp, though the color was outstanding. I guess it really depends on what you think is most important - I like sharpness and clarity myself.

After all my research I ended up going with the Canon Pixma mini320. I've been using it for a few days now and WOW I love it. I don't have the specs right now, but the DPI on it is amazing and it prints not only 4x6 but also 5x7 and wallet size. The 5x7 prints are amazing. Another great thing about the printer is that it actually is portable - unlike most "portable' printers i saw - the mini320 has an optional rechargeable battery pack. Truly perfect (IMHO) for onsite/event printing.

Downside to the mini320 is that it is larger than the dye-subs - but the fact that you don't have to lug around a paper tray or have one poking out is great.

Price: under $120 (not sure what that is in your money, but I'm pretty sure it is well below budget)

thanks very much for that. i shall have a look in to that printer. and yes it is much below my budget i think

thanks again

Amandapanda

Hi, have just looked in to that printer - no luck for me, I can not seem to find anywhere in the UK that sells it. not even on the canon website

darkdragon

Amandapanda wrote:

Hi, have just looked in to that printer - no luck for me, I can not seem to find anywhere in the UK that sells it. not even on the canon website

I'm glad I'm not in the UK. Did you check Amazon.com for the UK? I think it is pretty new, maybe it just isnt there yet.

Amandapanda

sadly not there. i shall keep my eyes out for it.

thanks for your help though