User experience Canon PRO-4000 vs Epson P9000

[smikkelmit22]

Hi There all,

I have been printing for a while. Been very loyal to Epson, i still have a few epson printers.

Unfortunately, last monday a printhead of one of the epson printers died. Now the process of getting it fixed and the price tag that comes with it is such a pain, i'm now considering trying a Canon pro 4000. Epson wants to charge me 1700 EUR (1.873,75$) to get the head replaced. Which is ridiculous. I tried buying the head myself so i can replace it my self. But they refuse to sell me only the head. Which pissed me of so badly, i'm kinda done with the Epson circus, or Epson mafia, whatever you want to call it. This is the 3th head this year (on multiple printers, one was still under warranty luckily.).

Now, the main reason i want to switch is because of the maintenance cost. I'm very happy with the Epson quality. But every time something breaks down, you can sell one of your ribs to pay for it. I kinda feel like this guy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6kOEtgQqE

On the web, i have checked some comparisons and noticed the Canon PRO-4000 is very simular and lower in price also. And a big plus, the price of a new head is 'only' about 400$. Also, i can replace it myself.

I've read about the gamut comparison, apparently there is a 9% difference in the advantage of Epson. All other specs looked very simular.

Now before i rush myself in-to things, i wanted to see if there is some user experience here. Are there any owners of a PRO-4000. Some things i need to keep in mind or consider before throwing myself to Canon.

As always, thanks much.

[Panagiotis]

Hi There all,

I have been printing for a while. Been very loyal to Epson, i still have a few epson printers.

Unfortunately, last monday a printhead of one of the epson printers died. Now the process of getting it fixed and the price tag that comes with it is such a pain, i'm now considering trying a Canon pro 4000. Epson wants to charge me 1700 EUR (1.873,75$) to get the head replaced. Which is ridiculous. I tried buying the head myself so i can replace it my self. But they refuse to sell me only the head. Which pissed me of so badly, i'm kinda done with the Epson circus, or Epson mafia, whatever you want to call it. This is the 3th head this year (on multiple printers, one was still under warranty luckily.).

Now, the main reason i want to switch is because of the maintenance cost. I'm very happy with the Epson quality. But every time something breaks down, you can sell one of your ribs to pay for it. I kinda feel like this guy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6kOEtgQqE

On the web, i have checked some comparisons and noticed the Canon PRO-4000 is very simular and lower in price also. And a big plus, the price of a new head is 'only' about 400$. Also, i can replace it myself.

I've read about the gamut comparison, apparently there is a 9% difference in the advantage of Epson. All other specs looked very simular.

Now before i rush myself in-to things, i wanted to see if there is some user experience here. Are there any owners of a PRO-4000. Some things i need to keep in mind or consider before throwing myself to Canon.

As always, thanks much.

I have a PRO-4000 since February. I have printed 285 sq. meters of glossy (RC, Baryta) mostly paper on it. Very satisfied till now. Easy operation. No problems.

[smikkelmit22]

Hi,

Thanks much for the info. By any chance, have you also tried printing on Canvas? In a review, they mentioned it can be hard to load thicker media's. You noticed any problems?

Thanks much

[Panagiotis]

Hi,

Thanks much for the info. By any chance, have you also tried printing on Canvas? In a review, they mentioned it can be hard to load thicker media's. You noticed any problems?

Thanks much

Canvas is very easy to auto load because it doesn't curl.

Stiff papers as Canson Baryta Prestige 340 or Hahnemuhle Baryta FB 350 are very difficult to auto load when the roll is close to end because the curl there is bigger. The printer tries but most of the time it fails. I always load manually these stiffer media at the end of the roll. Manually loading is not very easy but it's doable.

In any case there is no head strikes (I have none) if you leave the head height in "Auto" which is the default for every media type I believe.

[I.T. Supplies]

We've rarely had issues with most of the canvas that we carry on the Pro-4000.  Can't say much on the large Epson printers as we didn't have one available to test (except the P7000 Commercial that our color consultant was using).

I know with the newer Pro-4100, it's all automatic roll feeding vs semi-automatic on the Pro-4000.  The Pro-x100 series has a "brain" to scan the media and auto detect the proper media type so you don't have to do it yourself.

You should be fine loading most thicker paper/canvas on the Canon or Epson, but Epson's allows you to feed and print on poster board thickness due to the straight feed patch.  You can feed anything that is (basically) stiff on the Canon as it needs to bend the media.

IT Supplies

[NAwlins_Contrarian]

I don't know the cost difference in your country, but in the U.S., right now B&H advertises the new Pro-4100 for only $500 higher net cost than the older Pro-4000 ($3700 for the Pro-4100 versus $3200 for the Pro-4000). They say they already have it in stock. I think you should ask yourself whether the Pro-4100's upgrades would be helpful to you.

Also, Epson has announced the P9570. Supposedly it will be available next month (December 2019). It appears to be a significant upgrade over the P9000.

[I.T. Supplies]

I don't know the cost difference in your country, but in the U.S., right now B&H advertises the new Pro-4100 for only $500 higher net cost than the older Pro-4000 ($3700 for the Pro-4100 versus $3200 for the Pro-4000). They say they already have it in stock. I think you should ask yourself whether the Pro-4100's upgrades would be helpful to you.

Also, Epson has announced the P9570. Supposedly it will be available next month (December 2019). It appears to be a significant upgrade over the P9000.

That's technically the same price for any US reseller.  Even ours is the same price and have been shipping for most of last month on the Pro-x100 series already.

The changes on the Px570 is pretty well updated over the P9000.  Better color gamut (just over 99% pantone with Orange, Green, Violet and Light Light Black all together), auto black switch, customizable touch screen, covered roll holder, adjustable basket and over 2.5 times faster in speed.  There are a few more features, but these are the main points.

I'd put our link on here, but can't from advertising issues.
The Pro-x000 series is very limited on inventory now since they are discontinued and the x100 series is shipping.  With the price you can get on the new model, it's a better deal already with the updated roll feeding feature and software.

IT Supplies

[mcrepsej]

I've had Epson 9xxx printers since 2006, but when two printers went down with a month apart, I bought a Pro-4000. Had a few years of experience with the Canon Pro-1000.
BUT. The Canon Pro 4000 is not a production printer and should only be used by the owner as the plastic case must be handled with care.
Epson printers are built like a tanker compared to Canon.
Print quality is at par with Epson, but its durability is significantly lower.
A very big annoyance is the rod for rolls. I've been put back several generations in relation to Epson's fast roll holder. A really negative thing if you switch a lot between different papers.
Should I have a new printer today it is Epson 9500. No doubt about it.

[John Nollendorfs]

Might consider the HP Z9 printer. It has user replaceable heads that area very reasonably priced. Also the inks are probably the longest lasting in fade resistance.
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=130954.0

I have a Z3100 that's 12 years old and still going strong, and a Z3200 I got a year ago on a close out deal.

[Rob Reiter]

Switched from Epson (9600, then 9800) ten years ago to Canon (8100, 8300, 8400, now Pro 4000.) I run a small commercial studio and print every day. Canons have been very reliable and head changes are as easy as ink cartridge changes. I replace the head about once a year on the 4000. As far as image quality goes, I don't see any significant difference, although I do prefer Canon blues, such as skies. Maybe this is because of the blue ink in their ink set? They did drop their green ink with this generation and put in a clear "chroma optimizer." I thought I would miss the green for landscapes but while there is a barely perceptible difference, I don't find it a problem. And while I was skeptical about the chroma optimizer, I've learned to love it on glossy papers.

One thing Canon has improved with each generation of inks is their resistance to scratching and buffing. Of course, large dark areas on matte papers are always tricky with any printer, but the Canon printers seem to do the best in this area. Also, although I haven't measured it, I do feel I get more mileage out of an ink cartridge with the Pro 4000 than any printer I've ever owned.

While I can't say I rave about paper loading, I don't find it a problem worth complaining about and I changes rolls a lot and mix in all sorts of odd sheet sizes, not to mention strange hand made Japanese papers, super thin stuff, fuzzy edges, etc. Rarely a problem.BUT like others have mentioned here, some papers with significant curl at the end of a roll can be problematic.

And of course, the bonus for using a Canon is virtually never a problem with streaking caused by head clogs!

Biggest negative? Not with the printer, but with the Print Studio Pro software. It's a big step up from printing through the Print dialog box, but a step down from the simplicity of the old Photoshop plug-in used on the 8xxx series. I'm used to it now, but it has some utterly stupid "features" that tripped me up initially.

Overall, really happy with Canon printers. I don't miss anything about Epsons!

[smikkelmit22]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the thoughtful response. I did post a reply yesterday, but it seems in clicked in preview instead of post. Since it can't be found.

I don't know the cost difference in your country, but in the U.S., right now B&H advertises the new Pro-4100 for only $500 higher net cost than the older Pro-4000 ($3700 for the Pro-4100 versus $3200 for the Pro-4000).

Also, Epson has announced the P9570. Supposedly it will be available next month (December 2019). It appears to be a significant upgrade over the P9000.

I'm not completly sure what the differences are between the pro-4000 and pro 4100. I did notice the price difference, but checked the reviews of the 4000 and thought it was good enough. But i will look in to the differences. Also noticed IT supplies told something about automatic vs semi-auto loading, not sure if it's worth the difference in $.

Switched from Epson (9600, then 9800) ten years ago to Canon (8100, 8300, 8400, now Pro 4000.) I run a small commercial studio and print every day. Canons have been very reliable and head changes are as easy as ink cartridge changes. I replace the head about once a year on the 4000. As far as image quality goes, I don't see any significant difference, although I do prefer Canon blues, such as skies. Maybe this is because of the blue ink in their ink set?

Overall, really happy with Canon printers. I don't miss anything about Epsons!

All with all, the canon experiences here look very well. For now i will repair my old printer, since i got the head relatively cheap. But looking at all these experiences, i see no reason to not try the canon 4000 (4100).

No scary stories, issues or whatsoever. I think i will take one in 2020 (or earlier if my printer dies again). Just to see how it goes.

[I.T. Supplies]

smikkelmitt22 - the biggest update was indeed the semi-auto roll feed to pretty much all automatic where you just put the roll onto the holder and it auto feeds itself.  The software has the lens in the printer read the paper for the weight and type of finish and will auto select the media type.  If you use the same paper quite often, this helps it auto detect easily.  There may be a setting to select the reading feature, but I was told that this is a helpful way so you don't have to determine which media type would be best out of all the options available.

This video hasn't been released in the US yet, but it's available overseas (before announced in the US):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI9e1bBI0cY

The Pro-x000 are probably very limited on quantity at the moment, so it's best to get the new model as the price is just barely more.  Usually new models can be almost $1000 more or near MSRP at the start of shipping.

[eternal camper]

Well, just finished reading this topic and felt that I had to respond as I am just going through this exercise in trying to decide now what new 24" printer to get.

I had been using Epson all my printing life and have had an Epson Stylus Pro 4900 for past 5 years but do to clogging issues on a few heads, sold it and for past month have tried both the Canon Pro-2000 and HP Z9+, with great results for each.

I did look at the specs of the New Epson 24" 7570 but it will not be out for about a month here in Canada and it should be priced around $5,200. Canadian. Due to my experiences with Epson, and the way they treat old customers, I have decided to leave Epson, and will try to decide between the newer Canon Pro-2100 and the HP Z9+.
There are certainly pros & cons for each brand, and I really am having a tough time deciding which one to choose, but I hope to make my decision by end of the month.

Stephen