Need advice - Pixma P9000Mk2 or P9500Mk2 ?

[Vonbon]

Does anyone have experiences with both printers?

I want to purchase better printer than my old HP Photosmart. I read head clogging is a common problem for Canon Pixma. But since the price for Epson is very high, i think to stick with Canon.

The Problem is which one will I choose? P9000Mk2 is $470 while P9500Mk2 is $770. The newest Pro-1 is not coming yet. (in Indonesia). Is it worth to pay more for P9500Mk2 ?

My print schedule usually end of every month when all client's or gallery request already confirmed. I print 12x14 and below, 50% is monochrome.  This printer would be idle within first & second week. Most of our local labs print mono very bad, sometimes i got slight pink or magenta. Especially in BW.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I think Epson is the one with heads that clog.  My 3880 takes one day before the red head starts to clog.  In two days, the yellow clogs as well.  I run a cleaning every other day to keep from any serious clog.  Expensive!

[Drizzt321]

I haven't printed as much as I'd like, and not much in monochrome, but I do have the P9000Mk2 and really like it. I got it on the B&H $200 rebate sale =D   It's large, make sure you have the desk room, and otherwise I have to say I'm quite happy with the occasional casual prints that I make which is what I bought it for. I think it probably does a better job than the Walgreens/RiteAid/etc down the street, especially since I have a color managed workflow.

[Vonbon]

I think Epson is the one with heads that clog.  My 3880 takes one day before the red head starts to clog.  In two days, the yellow clogs as well.  I run a cleaning every other day to keep from any serious clog.  Expensive!

I also read Epson R3880 is much better than Canon P9500Mk2, but the price tag is $1699. Wewww...

[Vonbon]

I haven't printed as much as I'd like, and not much in monochrome, but I do have the P9000Mk2 and really like it. I got it on the B&H $200 rebate sale =D   It's large, make sure you have the desk room, and otherwise I have to say I'm quite happy with the occasional casual prints that I make which is what I bought it for. I think it probably does a better job than the Walgreens/RiteAid/etc down the street, especially since I have a color managed workflow.

Is it true that both Canon can only print borderless with certain Canon's own paper?

[Drizzt321]

I haven't printed as much as I'd like, and not much in monochrome, but I do have the P9000Mk2 and really like it. I got it on the B&H $200 rebate sale =D   It's large, make sure you have the desk room, and otherwise I have to say I'm quite happy with the occasional casual prints that I make which is what I bought it for. I think it probably does a better job than the Walgreens/RiteAid/etc down the street, especially since I have a color managed workflow.

Is it true that both Canon can only print borderless with certain Canon's own paper?

Not that I'm aware of, but I think you can only print borderless up to a certain size paper. Looks like the max size you can print borderless is 13x19 (it might fit larger paper, not sure). See this faq, and so a search for "borderless".

[crasher8]

You will be unhappy with the 9000 results in b/w. You need a true gray and black inkset to get the right tones. I suggest looking for a refurbished 9500 wither from Canon or Adorama. Also check out the online Epson outlet for refurbs and clearance printers. I've seen 2800/3000 and 3800 there for sweet prices. Best thing about Epson over Canon? Bigger cartridges which turn into lower cost per print. Epson doesn't have the clogging issues any longer btw.

[Jamesy]

I got it on the B&H $200 rebate sale =D

My buddy wanted to buy this yesterday but realized the rebate, sadly, is USA based only

[iMagic]

I have both and I have some observations. First, even if the heads get a little clogged for inactivity, after a clean cycle everything is OK. I have left them unused for weeks at a time and never had any recovery problems. Second, the printers have different purposes. The 9000 is way better at producing glossy color saturated work. The 9500 cannot reproduce the colour gamut you get with the 9000, but is better for B&W work and producing long lived archival quality prints. Depending on the photo, each printer will produce a different look. So to me at least it makes sense to have both and experiment to see which printer produces a better result. Email me back if you have any other questions.

[DJL329]

Check out ebay.  Lots of folks buy the 9000 MK II and a Canon body, get the printer for FREE after a rebate, and then try to sell the printer (they never wanted it in the first place).  The problem is that so many folks try to do it, there's too much supply, so they can be had for about $150 -- still sealed in the box (just with the UPC code removed).

[TrumpetPower!]

If you do a lot of black and white, you'll definitely want something with neutral grays in the inkset.

Your best bet may well be to get something like the Epson Stylus 1400 and a third-party inkset (inksupply.com is one of the more-mentioned sources).

That, or make sure that your printer has at least four different neutral inks in its inkset....

Cheers,

b&