I have been trying to research this, but I need some help from people who have experience with these printers, please.
My HP DesignJet 130 died in December, after 15 years of excellent printing. I want (at least) a 24" inch printer, but I just don't know about the maintenance/repair requirements of these new printers.
- I have a part-time photography business, and I am retired from my regular job.
- I sell most of my photographs as fine art prints, or as custom framed prints that I frame myself using custom wooden frames made by my husband, who is a lifelong woodworker. I have never done canvas prints. So far.
- I do NOT make a high number of prints, ie I'm NOT a print shop. Probably the highest number of prints I would make in a month would be 60-80. Most months it would be 10-20 prints. Most of my prints are 12x18 and 15x21 but I have done some 23x36.
- I live in Alaska, and I am about 200 miles from Anchorage. This can cause problems with getting technical help/repairs. Quite a few years ago, I had a maintenance contract with HP, and when I had a problem with my DJ 130, they actually sent a technician from Anchorage to my home. I was impressed.
- I am gone on camping or photo trips several times each year, for 2 or 3 weeks at a time. I have read widely varying experiences that people have with their printheads plugging up, so I would want a printer that is least affected by sitting unused for that time. The rest of the time, I make sure to make a print at least every week.
--- Since I do not print a high volume of prints, I am concerned that the HP Z9 is just too much printer for me. I think it is made for a busy print shop. I know that I never came close to using my DJ 130 to its full capacity. I am just a part-time photographer and printer, so price does matter to me.
--- I would like to know what kind of maintenance by a company technician is required by any of these printers. There are no photographic printer stores in Anchorage ( by far the largest city in the state), so any technician would have to come from one of office printer stores there. When I read reviews, I often see comments about needing to have the printer serviced. Is this something that is a normal routine, or just when needed for repair?
--- The Premium Plus papers that I used with my old printer gave me excellent lightfastness. I read the thread on here started by eternal camper back in December, and MHMG said,"HP chemists would have to have gone seriously backwards on light fade resistance, 2x or more, with the Z9+ Photo Vivid ink set compared to the previous Z3200 Vivera set (which has been tested) before the HP Photo Vivid results would be on a par with the Canon Lucia Pro-11 ink set." So does this mean that the Canon 2100 is not good regarding lightfastness?
I thought that Wilhelm Research had decent ratings for the Lucia ink.
--- I have no experience at all with Canon printers. I don't even know anyone who has one. Most of the photographers I know here have Epson printers (P800, 3800, 4800, 7800) and I only know one other who had an HP. I would prefer the HP, but honestly, I'm not sure I can afford it. I definitely prefer to have a maintenance contract, and the contracts for the Z9 are pretty expensive.
--- Can one of the Epsons (P6000 for example) sit unused for a period (couple weeks) of time? Quite a few years ago, when I was working and gone to a remote site for a couple weeks, I occasionally had some issues with my HP printer, but I found that if I printed at least every 2 weeks, it was OK. What is the Canon 2000/2100 like on this issue?
--- Do all of these printers have "auto clean" routines, and if so, do those routines use up large amounts of ink?
It's hard to find reviews of some of these newer printers. For example, on B&H Photo, there is only 1 review of the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-2100...
Since I feel that the Z9 might be too much printer for me, I was kind of leaning towards the Canon 2100, but now I've just read a bunch of Epson P6000 reviews that were really positive, and which seemed to imply that the printhead plugging issues are getting better.
I sure would appreciate any and all comments, especially on lightfastness and which printers have the least maintenance issues.
Thanks!!!
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