Canon IPF6300s?

[uintaangler]

I did a quick search and didn't come up with the answer I was looking for
How does the Canon IPF6300s compare to the IPF6400?
I know it is 8 ink cartridges vs 12 - as somebody who is using an Epson 4900 - if I wanted to pick up an IPF6300s because the price is appealing and 24" would be nice - is it worth considering?
Thanks.

[crwoo]

The 6400 will make better photos than the ipf6300s will. Canon markets the 6300s to costumers that dont need 12 colors, such as graphics. you could get by with it, but the 6400 will have softer gradients and better quality... especially in light blacks.

[mstevensphoto]

the 6400 is also much faster and quieter. but for photos you want 12 inks. if you're a sign shop then the 8 color version is fine.

[TSJ1927]

The Canon IPF6300 24" printer IS a 12 color printer.

[jferrari]

The Canon IPF6300 24" printer IS a 12 color printer.

A quote from the website: "Equipped with an 8-Color LUCIA EX ink set"

[Wayne Fox]

A quote from the website: "Equipped with an 8-Color LUCIA EX ink set"

Not sure what you are quoting from, but here is the ipf6300 link from Canon USA site,  here is a copy/paste from that page ...

"magePROGRAF iPF6300 offers the optimum balance of ultra-high-quality printing and performance. Equipped with LUCIA EX 12 color inks, "

The 6300 was the predecessor to the 6400, which was a pretty significant improvement over the 6100 (which I had).  Print quality and gamut are outstanding. I don't recall what the actual improvements were in the 6400, but side buy side print comparisons would most likely be subtle.  Hopefully someone who had owned both will chime in, but I don't think you would be disappointed with the print quality of the ipf6300. Are you buying it used?  I thought the 6300 was discontinued quite some time ago.

[Landscapes]

The critical difference is the "s" on the end of the 6300.  If its the 6300s, then it is in fact the 8 color version.  The 6300 is of course the 12 color version.

Now here is the interesting thing.  A PDF brochure I found says it uses the PF-05 printheads (just like the 6300/6400/8300/8400)... but the ink carts are 105s, not the 106 numbers like for the 6300/6400.  At $1000, if the ink carts were the same, you could almost just buy the printer for 2 spare printheads and the ink carts and this would be cheaper than the individual parts.  The internal stuff it probably mostly the same so its good for parts perhaps.  But alas, those inks might be useless.

http://ccserver.copiercatalog.com/catalogfiles/canon-au/brochures/ipf6300s/Brochure.pdf

[Wayne Fox]

didn’t notice the s, didn’t realize canon made such a machine. 

I’m puzzled as to the intended market, but guessing it really isn’t photographers.  Heck I couldn’t even find any color profiles for the machine on Canon USA site. From a value proposition for someone wanting to print high quality photographic output, or indeed high quality color matching of anything, I don’t see the few hundred dollars savings as worth it.

[uintaangler]

didn’t notice the s, didn’t realize canon made such a machine. 

I’m puzzled as to the intended market, but guessing it really isn’t photographers.  Heck I couldn’t even find any color profiles for the machine on Canon USA site. From a value proposition for someone wanting to print high quality photographic output, or indeed high quality color matching of anything, I don’t see the few hundred dollars savings as worth it.

Agree!

[Erland]

a friend of mine has a 8300s in his Copyshop. His customers are not picky enough to notice a difference between this and the non S version. Canon advertised it as following:

An extremely versatile solution, the 44" imagePROGRAF iPF8300S printer is ideal for those who need quality large format output and maximum productivity. Built for the photography, proofing and production markets, the iPF8300S delivers high quality imaging while increasing overall productivity. Equipped with an 8-Color LUCIA EX ink set, 160GB hard drive, built-in calibration and 44" borderless printing, the iPF8300S is an excellent solution for portraits, advertisements, retail signage and contract proofs.

deal for production grade printing environments, the iPF8300S is up to 40% faster than the 12-Color line of imagePROGRAF Graphic Arts printers. Achieve maximum productivity with large 330ml or 700ml ink tanks and a unique sub-ink tank system for replacing ink on-the-fly without stopping the printer. And with a 160GB hard drive, handling multiple complex jobs is simple, especially in shared printer environments. Finally, minimize your cost per print with Fast/Economy modes that reduce printer ink consumption.

[enduser]

Lots of users here love their Epson 3880 with its 8 channels.

[hugowolf]

Lots of users here love their Epson 3880 with its 8 channels.

?

[Wayne Fox]

Lots of users here love their Epson 3880 with its 8 channels.

?

yeah, my sentiments.  Lots of users love the 3880, but that doesn't mean an 8 channel Epson = an 8 Channel Canon which I still doubt is intended for the photographic market. (and not that it matters, but the canon is a 7 color printer, since it only uses either PK or MK at any given time.)

I'm not saying the quality is bad, but just don't think its worth saving a few hundred dollars in place of the 6400 (and since the 6400 is 12 colors it comes with 50% more ink at $70 each, that's $280 of ink value, so we're talking a couple of hundred for the higher quality 6400).   From a feature standpoint the 6300s may be more like the 6450 because of the included hard drive, but that's a feature few really need.