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Canon Pro 10s vs 100s for BW printing

robdeszan

Member
Hello all,

More and more frustration with online printers has finally led me to this dilemma. I've ruled out Epson as Canon accepts 3rd party ink refills / cartridges and more compatibility with fine art paper.

The price difference is not massive, there is some cashback offer on both in the UK at the moment.

Bearing in mind BW printing in mind, would you choose Canon Pixma 10s or 100s?

Thanks,
Pat
 
Hello all,

More and more frustration with online printers has finally led me to this dilemma. I've ruled out Epson as Canon accepts 3rd party ink refills / cartridges and more compatibility with fine art paper.

The price difference is not massive, there is some cashback offer on both in the UK at the moment.

Bearing in mind BW printing in mind, would you choose Canon Pixma 10s or 100s?

Thanks,
Pat
Where have you seen these cash back offers?

I'm in the same boat as you. Looking at the 10s or maybe even a 1. Somewhat worried about the cost of ink though as a lot seems to be wasted.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Hi Pat,

I have owned both the Pro-10 and Pro-100, plus many Epson printers over the past 17 years, most recently the 3880 and now the P800 and P600. I do a lot of B&W and color printing, both for personal use and for monthly print exchanges (since 2002). Of these two Canon printers, I preferred the Pro-10 for B&W printing.

Firstly, I would say that while the dye inks in Pro-100 are surely improved, for ultimate longevity and if you have any interest in selling prints, I would highly recommend a pigment ink printer (like the Pro-10).

The majority (~80%) of my printing is on Baryta type papers (Ilford Gold Fiber Silk etc) using the photo black inks. But for printing on fine art matte papers, the Pro-10 pigment inks were much better (richer tones and darker blacks) than the Pro-100 dye inks. I gave up on trying to get really good B&W prints on matte papers with the Pro-100.

For most of the past 17 years I've used Epson printers exclusively, but I have also used the Canon Pro-10 and Pro-100 in the past 3 years (I was curious re how they would perform compared to the Epson printers I have used for so long). I have since given those two Canon printers to friends, as I strongly prefer the P800 (and a P600), both for print quality (especially B&W) and for lower ink costs. The ink cartridges on the Canon Pro-10 and Pro-100 are so small, the costs per ml of ink were very high and I was constantly replacing ink cartridges (I did a lot of printing on sizes up to 13x19 on those printers). The larger 80ml carts on the P800 reduce the $/ml cost of the ink dramatically, especially when making larger prints or many letter size prints.

I was surprised at your comment about the Canon printers having "more compatibility with fine art papers". That has certainly not been my experience. I have used many different fine art papers in the past 17 years and I could always find specific paper/printer profiles for my Epson printers from the paper manufacturer. I also had no difficulty finding profiles for the Canon printers on the papers I used (which did not include all the types of papers I have used on the Epson printers over so many years).

Generally speaking, the Epson Advanced Black and White (ABW) functionality of the P600/P800 etc printers is reason enough in my opinion to choose an Epson printer like the P600/P800 over either the Canon Pro-10 or Pro-100.

I won't get into the question of using 3rd party inks, since I don't know which inks you are referring to (Cone, MIS or generic inks?). Suffice it to say that a friend of mine wanted to save money on inks for his Canon Pro-100, so he bought some 3rd party inks from Amazon. Two of the carts leaked, others clogged his printer and nothing he tried to do could save it. He ended up having to buy a new printer and has stuck with Canon inks ever since.

Modern Canon and Epson printers are so good now, whichever printer you decide to get I'm sure you will be able to produce some excellent color prints, but for B&W, I would recommend the Epson P600 or P800 (my preference). If you really want a Canon, go with the Pro-10.

Either way, good luck and enjoy the experience of making your own prints. If you ever feel like participating in a print exchange (B&W or color), just send me a PM. I have learned a lot since my first print exchange in April 2002 by seeing so many beautifully made prints on a wide range of fine art papers, with different printers, workflows etc from excellent photographers/printers who live in US and other areas of the world.

Gary Benson
Alaska
 
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