Canon 6300 vs Epson 7900

[Stella Starr]

I just starting up my photography business (fine art and portraiture). I am in the market for a printer. I went into my local pro photo store today and came back with a recomendation for the Canon 6300. I was surprised at this because it seems that the majority of pro photographers and anyone I ahve asked about printers says go with Epson. When I look at the prints from each one it is hard to tell the difference. So I am wondering from people that may have some first hand experience what are the pros and cons of each one?

[Ernst Dinkla]

They gave you a good advice to start with, Epson is no longer the sole or the best solution, there are choices today.  Going first through the threads in this forum may tell you something about all the options. A printer is just one part of the printing business: (third party) media choices, sizes, quantities, rolls or sheets, color management, print finishing etc have to be considered too and could influence the choice of a printer.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst



Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[Mark D Segal]

If you are doing this as a business, it's important to learn whatever you can about relative reliability of the equipment and quality of service provided by Epson and Canon to professional clients. Test image measurements I've done for an output from the Canon 6300 and my Epson 4900 (similar to 7900), indicate they differ to a degree here and there as one would expect, but they are remarkably close and visually look very, very similar in respect to colour rendition, grayscale, and rendition of image detail.

[Wayne Fox]

search the forum.  The difference between these two printers has been discussed ad nauseam here and elsewhere, so there is lots of info. Mark's point is well said, understand the features, long term cost of use, and if you are a portrait photographer do some research to see if either printer has an advantage in skin tones.

It's difficult to separate good from bad advice because pretty much everyone is biased toward their choice (human nature) so they over emphasis the disadvantages of one brand (which they normally don't use and so really don't have much experience about so they are just repeating things they've read) and underplay the disadvantages of the one they like and normally use since they feel those are just part of the process.

Both are good, both produce great output, both have advantages and disadvantages. The dealer may not be the best one to listen to because he may be selling you the one that makes him the most money or is the most convenient to sell. I have a dealership for both and am somewhat guilty of that ... I just can't take a chance on stocking a Canon printer because there just isn't much demand for them.

I'm biased towards Epson for few reasons, but will also readily admit that you won't be disappointed with the Canon.