4x6 printer recomendations

Bendr · February 8, 2012

Hi all,
I have been tasked with putting together a photo booth for my sisters wedding. I'm in the planning stages, figuring out costs, etc. I've got most of it figured out, but now I'm looking at options for printing the photos.

I wanted to see if you guys have any recommendations for printing at least a minimum of 4x6's. We are trying to find something that is fairly economical(initial cost + ink and paper) but I'm not sure how much to expect cost-wise.

Any advice would be welcome!

Thanks,
Ben

mercphoto · February 8, 2012

Ink jet printers are cheap, but the ink isn't. Dye sub printers are more costly, but the price-per-print is much lower. Your problem is, I would imagine, you are going to use this for one event. In other words, there isn't a cheap solution for one event.

I'd advise getting a printer that you would like to own after this event is over and just use that for making the prints you want.

tebogan · February 9, 2012

Canon Selphy CP420, CP 760
I have used these printers for onsite printing of talent contests, Halloween and Santa events. Got both from e-bay. These are dye sub printers. Cost of prints with the 108 package is less that $0.40 USD each.
printers are less than $50.00USD on e-bay.

cmason · February 9, 2012

+1 on the Canon Selphy. Great printer. Prints look great, folks can't tell them from Walmart/Walgreen's etc, which is really all they are familiar with. For the quality, printing is faster, as ink jets take longer for high quality. Its so portable I take it when visiting family over holidays, as everyone also ways wants a photo, and it save me from going to Walgreens.

Rocketman766 · February 9, 2012

I have used the Canon Selphy (but stopped) and if it the one I am thinking about, the only reason I stopped using it was because of the perforated edges. Otherwise I liked the prints it provided.

As far as inkjet costs, if you choose to go that route, CIS... I purchased (3) continuous ink systems for my Epson Artison 730 and love it! I paid ~$20 for the tanks which came full of ink, and have printed a few hundred 4x6s, same amount of 5x7s and about 75-100 8x10s and I am no where near needing to refill any of the tanks. Refill ink is about $7 a bottle I think.... Paper is about $0.36 per sheet or less. Yes, the printer is $200 ( $140ish on ebay) but if it is something you will continue to use, no matter what brand you choose, I would go with the CIS. And there is no difference in the print quality from the original ink vs the CIS ink.

Bendr · February 10, 2012

Rocketman766 wrote: »

I have used the Canon Selphy (but stopped) and if it the one I am thinking about, the only reason I stopped using it was because of the perforated edges. Otherwise I liked the prints it provided.

As far as inkjet costs, if you choose to go that route, CIS... I purchased (3) continuous ink systems for my Epson Artison 730 and love it! I paid ~$20 for the tanks which came full of ink, and have printed a few hundred 4x6s, same amount of 5x7s and about 75-100 8x10s and I am no where near needing to refill any of the tanks. Refill ink is about $7 a bottle I think.... Paper is about $0.36 per sheet or less. Yes, the printer is $200 ( $140ish on ebay) but if it is something you will continue to use, no matter what brand you choose, I would go with the CIS. And there is no difference in the print quality from the original ink vs the CIS ink.

Thanks everyone for the input! I looked at the Canon, and while it sounded reasonable cost wise, the biggest downside I saw was print speed, and being limited to the 4x6s.

I decided to pull the trigger on the epson artisan 730, office depot has it for $100 right now, and with the continuous ink system it sounds like a steal to operate. Combine that with the print speed, and that it can print 8x10s also, and it sounds ideal...

@Rocketman:
Was there a specific CIS that you have found to work well?

Thanks!
Ben

Art Scott · February 10, 2012

Rocketman766 wrote: »

As far as inkjet costs, if you choose to go that route, CIS... I purchased (3) continuous ink systems for my Epson Artison 730 and love it! I paid ~$20 for the tanks which came full of ink, and have printed a few hundred 4x6s, same amount of 5x7s and about 75-100 8x10s and I am no where near needing to refill any of the tanks. Refill ink is about $7 a bottle I think.... Paper is about $0.36 per sheet or less. Yes, the printer is $200 ( $140ish on ebay) but if it is something you will continue to use, no matter what brand you choose, I would go with the CIS. And there is no difference in the print quality from the original ink vs the CIS ink.

Please link us to the system you bought ... ... I am very interested in a quality CIS ... all I have looked at say they are great and prices range from $80 to over $300 (cpmplete systems... tanks to go in printer...hoses and supply tanks filled with dye ink or pigment) ...but no one wants to say who makes the ink, just that it is German...also nothing on the Wilhelm site that I have found as of yet....

Rocketman766 · February 16, 2012

I bought my CIS system thru Ebay just by searching for my printer. This is the one that I chose and am still happy with it. I looked again and it seems now the price is $36. Even at $36, thats alot of prints for the money.....
Found here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140694395108

Now, I want to make sure I give all the info I have if I am going to put out there that I use and like this system, so just FYI, I did have a few minor hiccups over the past two events where I used the printers. About 4 times the printer popped up an error and it said it did not recognize one of the ink cartridges. All we did was either remove the cartridges briefly and re-install or just power down the printer and restart it. Both options took care of the issue at that time and we were printing again minutes later.... As far as the ink goes, I do not know where the ink is from or who makes it.

I also looked at CISinks but did end up using the one from ebay.

4x6 printer recomendations

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