I am about to pull the trigger on one of the Canon iPF printers which will be my first wide carriage printer. I was debating the 5100 vs. the 6100 but the money to get the 8100 is not really that much more.
If I get the 44" 8100 I'm fairly sure it will be six months before I want to print anything wider than 24-30". In fact, I suspect most of the time I'll be printing 17".
Are there any critical downsides anyone can foresee getting wider now than I need immediately. I was worried about ink going bad but, to be honest, I really don't have the experience to know if that is going to be an issue.
Also, I've been assuming that I can still use smaller format rolls and sheets but I could very well be wrong.
I don't want to wind up kicking myself for getting one that is too big, but my wife will kill me if I try telling her I would like to go larger six months from now. Seriously, that would not work out with my otherwise very supportive wife.
Someone recently noted here that they wanted 24" wide canvass prints, but forgot they needed another 4" to stretch on frames. That sounds like a legitimate concern as well, so even if my limit was only 24" of printed material, I may need the extra 20" of the 8100 just to give me that extra 4".
Hopefully some folks can chime in and save me from regrets. Thank you in advance.