About Canon Canada CPS event :
Found the info of this event by reading Michael's announcement in LL. More info here:
http://www.canon.ca/CPSE/It was a useful and well organized event. Packed with photographers, Canon staff were answering the questions and there was a good opportunity of testing Canon gear and printers. In house rebate coupons were given to the guests for the new products.
Guest Photographers Vincent Laforet and Denis Reggie shared their experiences and techniques thru the slide show and talks.
Adobe and Apple seminars were another part of the event . Each seminar was 1 hour with lots of info to absorb.
All together very well done. I enjoyed it and it was a pleasure being there. Toronto and Montreal events are the next and the detailed info can be found in above link.
About 5100 and 6100 :
New black inks and self color calibration capability can be considered the most important improvements compare to the previous generation of Canon large format printers.
The samples I got printed with 5100 using auto color mode for output profile via PS plug-in, were not acceptable. Can not comment on the other profiles coming with the printer .
The other issue is we need to wait some time for availability of the plug-in for CS3. It is in progress , not clear when it will be ready.
Availability, Suggested retail price( in Canadian dollars), and rebate coupon for CPS attendants in Canada :
IPF5100 - will be shipping in a few weeks / retail: $2495 / rebate : $200
IPF6100 : available/ retail: $4295 / rebate: $400
IPF8000 : available / retail: $6995 / rebate :$700
IPF9000 : available / retail :$17995 / rebate :$2000
The shortcomings of the profiles or the unavailability of the plug-in CS3 at the moment are not deal breakers and hope they will be addressed by Canon soon. The new models have specially targeted the HP Z series and I will consider them very strong competitors for what they can offer. Guess we will see some in depth reviews soon .
Regards - Avalan