I know so much has been written about the Canon Pro-1000, Epson P800, and Epson P5000, but I’m stuck again.
I have used the 3880 happily for over 5 years, and it’s still humming flawlessly as a backup printer in my second location. When I needed a second 17” printer, I got the Pro-1000 for its presumed reliability, easy of use particularly paper handling, and lack of ink switching.
After 14 months, I’m ready to give away the Pro-1000.
The Pro-1000 is UNRELIABLE. For the second time in a month, the printer seemingly turned off yellow mid-print. I got a sharp line on a 17x25 when it switched – like someone went crazy with the white balance slider for the last third of the image. The first time, one cleaning fixed it. It did the same thing today, and – after three cleanings, a deep clean, printing a big solid block of yellow, then two more cleanings – the nozzle check print is getting worse, not better. And the maintenance tank is 20% fuller. (My 3880 needed single head cleanings 3 times in 5 years.)
And there’s the INK CONSUMPTION that everyone complains about. Here’s my latest stat: 3880 uses 1 maintenance cartridge per 24 ink cartridges; 1000 uses 1 per 7. I swap MK/PK about once a week, but I’ll never complain about Epson ink swaps again.
And the Pro-1000 is SLOW. Same speed as 3880 while it’s printing, but prints per hour is half the 3880 because of all its whirring, clicking, and spitting into the spittoon. Printing 20 4x6s is painfully slow, because it seems to contemplate and spit after every print.
BUT I’m leery of the P800 because of the delicate and imprecise hassle of loading large fine art media. My final prints are generally 17x25 (cut from rolls) Epson Hot Press Bright or Ilford Gold Fibre Silk. Even reading Mark Segal’s and others’ work-arounds, printing 20 17x25s on fine art paper sounds painful. Even a slightly skewed print or a blunted edge ruins a print in my practice.
AND I’m leery of the P-5000 because I may not print enough – a few times a week, but a half dozen periods per year of several weeks of inactivity. And, most importantly, I print dozens of 4x6 test prints per month (the new contact sheets), and the P-5000 can’t do that. And large fine art sheets sound as painful on the 5000 as the 800.
My most common print tasks are: 4x6 tests on Canon glossy (75 per month); 13x19 and 17x25 on Epson HPB or Ilford GFS (5-15 per month); double-sided portfolios on Moab Lasal Matte (30 per month); and 10-50 per month draft prints of various sizes.
Oh wise ones, what should I do? CAMERA CHOICE isn’t like this: there are so many excellent tools that can do the job, and they’re always getting better. Why do I long for the retired 3880? Is there no printer that can do my job? Reliable, mix of 17x25 fine art and 4x6 test glossies, and affordable ink use?