IPF6300 info

[natas]

I have only found one review of this printer. Does anyone in here have experience with this printer? I am very interested in buying the unit because of the nice rebate and free extra ink they are offering now.

If you have the printer can you post your opinions of the unit so far?

[Doyle Yoder]

I have only found one review of this printer. Does anyone in here have experience with this printer? I am very interested in buying the unit because of the nice rebate and free extra ink they are offering now.

If you have the printer can you post your opinions of the unit so far?

Is this the one you found?

http://canonipf.wikispaces.com/message/view/FAQ/22507119

Doyle

[natas]

Is this the one you found?

http://canonipf.wikispaces.com/message/view/FAQ/22507119

Doyle

Yes that is the one I found.

The review is helpful, but I would still like to see what other people think. I am also wondering how long before a printhead will need to be replaced. The price to replace a printhead seems a little steep.

[k_p98]

I am also wondering how long before a printhead will need to be replaced. The price to replace a printhead seems a little steep.

I think that when you factor in the price of the rebate and the $650 in extra ink, even if you have to replace the printhead down the road, you'll still be way ahead.  It was the printheads on the original iPF5000 that had longevity issues, but the 6300 has a third generation printhead.  I love my 6100, and given that the 6300 has a new inkset that has 20% more gamut and more scratch resistance, you can't go wrong.  The Epson will waste too much ink, even in the switch for between the blacks, so if you print on both matte and glossy paper regurarly, forget the Epson.  Also, the Canon is cheaper over all.  I really think you can't go wrong with the Canon, but I only have the 6100 not the 6300.

[natas]

I think that when you factor in the price of the rebate and the $650 in extra ink, even if you have to replace the printhead down the road, you'll still be way ahead.  It was the printheads on the original iPF5000 that had longevity issues, but the 6300 has a third generation printhead.  I love my 6100, and given that the 6300 has a new inkset that has 20% more gamut and more scratch resistance, you can't go wrong.  The Epson will waste too much ink, even in the switch for between the blacks, so if you print on both matte and glossy paper regurarly, forget the Epson.  Also, the Canon is cheaper over all.  I really think you can't go wrong with the Canon, but I only have the 6100 not the 6300.

Thats sort of my thinking as well k_p98.

I have always been a big epson fan, but I HATE that I am stuck with pk on my 4800 because I refuse to waste that much ink just to change papers.

[JeffKohn]

I was initially put off by the list price of the 6300 when it was announced, but they're already being sold for well below list and with the rebate/free-ink offer it was just too good of a deal to pass up.

So far I'm very happy. I had previously been printing with an ipf5000, so some of the features from the x100 series are new to me, such as calibration, better handling of media type settings, etc. The new custom media type support is nice, although there's room for improvement - custom types can be exported from one printer and loaded onto another, but only for the same model; 6300 and 8300 can't share custom media types, they have to be manually created for each model.  

The Photoshop Print Plugin now has the ability to use Adobe's CMM, which means you can do rel-col with BPC in the plug-in now; no need to do "convert to profile" in Photoshop first. The plugin also has some proofing options that may be useful for some, but it's not something I have a need for. The accounting module in the driver/status-monitor is another nice edition. It lets you track materials cost on a per-job basis - not just ink but also paper. Unit costs can be entered by the user, even for custom media types.

I know some felt that the first-generation print heads weren't lasting as long as they should have, but I believe Canon made improvements with the x100 series' print heads. The x300's get yet another revision, which will hopefully last as long as or longer than the 2nd-generation heads. I'm a fairly low-volume printer, so it's not something I'm terribly concerned about, to be honest.

[natas]

I was initially put off by the list price of the 6300 when it was announced, but they're already being sold for well below list and with the rebate/free-ink offer it was just too good of a deal to pass up.

So far I'm very happy. I had previously been printing with an ipf5000, so some of the features from the x100 series are new to me, such as calibration, better handling of media type settings, etc. The new custom media type support is nice, although there's room for improvement - custom types can be exported from one printer and loaded onto another, but only for the same model; 6300 and 8300 can't share custom media types, they have to be manually created for each model.  

The Photoshop Print Plugin now has the ability to use Adobe's CMM, which means you can do rel-col with BPC in the plug-in now; no need to do "convert to profile" in Photoshop first. The plugin also has some proofing options that may be useful for some, but it's not something I have a need for. The accounting module in the driver/status-monitor is another nice edition. It lets you track materials cost on a per-job basis - not just ink but also paper. Unit costs can be entered by the user, even for custom media types.

I know some felt that the first-generation print heads weren't lasting as long as they should have, but I believe Canon made improvements with the x100 series' print heads. The x300's get yet another revision, which will hopefully last as long as or longer than the 2nd-generation heads. I'm a fairly low-volume printer, so it's not something I'm terribly concerned about, to be honest.

Thanks so much.

What about black and white printing? How well does the printer handle this? I do have a dedicated Epson 1400 with quad inks in it, but I do get the occasional 16x24 print request in black and white...so I want to make sure its good

[JeffKohn]

Monochrome output is excellent. It has multiple black/gray inks, and you have the option of printing using the normal RGB print mode and profiles, or a dedicated Monochrome mode. Many use the RGB printing path to simplify their workflow, and it also allows you to do your own toning in Photoshop if you so desire (split toning, etc).  I like a simple warm-tone print, and I've found the Monochrome mode works well for that. I've profiled my Monochrome settings using QuadtoneRIP's QTR-Create-ICC.exe, and IMHO this gives a slightly better DMax and linearity than printing with the RGB mode.

[Wayne Fox]

I know some felt that the first-generation print heads weren't lasting as long as they should have, but I believe Canon made improvements with the x100 series' print heads. The x300's get yet another revision, which will hopefully last as long as or longer than the 2nd-generation heads. I'm a fairly low-volume printer, so it's not something I'm terribly concerned about, to be honest.

There is more to the head revision than durability, the nozzles were also re-engineered to help alleviate the "tail" that is typical of a thermal technology like this, allowing Canon to get a more consistent roundness to dots and allowing more precise positioning of dots. One of the goals of this generation of Canons was to improve not only gamut, but more important was to be able to render more natural gradations.

One additional thing, I believe the replacement heads for the 63/8300 is 30% cheaper than the 61/8100, another nice cost savings if you keep the printer long enough to use up the spare nozzles.

[John Hollenberg]

One additional thing, I believe the replacement heads for the 63/8300 is 30% cheaper than the 61/8100, another nice cost savings if you keep the printer long enough to use up the spare nozzles.

I noticed the printheads at $450 each at itsupplies.com--a significant decrease from the $600 each for the printheads for earlier generations.

[JeffKohn]

Here's another x300 review: http://www.on-sight.com/2010/04/25/canon-x...printer-review/