Canon I-9900 Photo Printer

Canon I-9900 Photo Printer
by Canon

List Price: ~~$499.99~~
Our Price: $310.00
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Category: CE
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Customers in the UK, buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Canon
Platform: Mac OS X
Model: 8580A001
Product features:

Up to 4,800 x 2,400 dpi resolution
4-by-6-inch photos in as little as 38 seconds
13-by-19-inch posters in as little as 3 minutes
8-color ChromaPLUS ink system for true-to-life color
USB 2.0, Mac FireWire, PictBridge interfaces

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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon I-9900 Photo Printer

Customer Review: i9900 outputs the best A3+ prints
Summary: 5 Stars

Unless Canon introduces a new A3+ printer this year (i.e. iP9910?), the expensive search for a large format ink printer that can produce photographs just as fine and smooth as the best dye-sublimation/diffusion printer might be over. The pros and cons are based on a comparison between the i9900 and the i9100 printers that I own.

i9900 PROS

1. improved hinged 3-step paper rest and extension
2. smoother operating paper guide
3. improved 3-step paper output extension
4. better secured front cover
5. relocated and resized operation panel
6. direct print port connection with specific digital cameras
7. two USB (2.0 and 1.1) and one FireWire 400 rear ports
8. lower in height by 14 mm
9. wider colour gamut
10. quieter than the i9100 in the non-Quiet Mode
11. faster output of photos
12. less grainier looking images
13. more detailed blowups
14. 768 nozzles per colour (1200 dpi) versus 512 for the i9100
15. except for photo cyan, Canon's specifications indicate, and it's true, that all of the ink tanks will last longer than the same inks used in the i9100
16. easy out-of-the-box set-up
17. like the i9100, black coloured text is very good for resumes and AutoCAD prints (you may have to trick your AutoCAD loaded PC into believing that it is printing to a Hewlett-Packard plotter to maintain your line settings)

i9900 CONS

1. added expense in replenishing 2 extra ink tanks with Canon inks (Canon's specifications indicate, and it's true, that the red and green inks will last more than twice as long as cyan)
2. 1.5 kg heavier (a non-issue if the printer stays put in one spot during it's lifetime and your desk isn't already near collapse)
3. wider by 4 mm (no big deal unless your desktop is already tight on surface area)
4. i9100's Quick Start Guide better clarifies with illustrations on how to determine the best printout pattern per column when performing the Simple Head Alignment (minor complaint)
5. BJ Solution Disk replaced PhotoStitch (which was available with the i9100) with Stitch Photo which is only compatible with Canon digital cameras with Stitch Assist
6. dark grey coloured paper guide scale is difficult to read than the lighter coloured scale on the i9100
7. 2-handled plastic bag containing the printer can rip when lifting the printer out of the carton for the first time

The i9900 is stingier on ink, faster to output smoother vibrant prints, and is overall an improved design over the i9100.

i9100 + Vivid Photo mode is approximately one notch less vivid than the i9900 without Vivid Photo mode. Avoid overusing the Vivid Photo mode on the i9900 on skin tones. With the exception of head to chest portraits, other photos will exhibit skin tones unnaturally pinkish to reddish looking. Vivid Photo mode works well with sceneries bringing out the blues, greens, reds and yellows.

Up close comparisons of 8.5" x 11" identical sample images at a photo retailer produced with Canon's iP5000 and the i9900 showed that there is little difference if any (to my naked eye) in detail and grain in images produced by the iP5000's 9600 x 2400 1-picolitre head and the i9900's 4800 x 2400 2-picolitre head. The 5-colour ink tanks of the iP5000's images lacked the contrast (punch) of the i9900's 8-colour ink tanks.

Even in comparison with Canon's strongest competitor, Epson, their large format pigment-inked identical sample images were not as smooth, better detailed nor richer in colour than the i9900. Epson's printer head uses a different technology and does produce excellent natural looking results.

The i9900 can only print up to an advertised 13" x 19" print. Meaning, no banner size (13" x 44") printing like the more versatile Epson. You can call Canon and get their reasoning on this. Maybe Canon does not want the i9900 to compete with their W6200 24" wide format 1200 x 1200 dpi 6-colour ink bubble jet printer?

A Fuji Frontier or Noritsu digital lab it is not. Based on dye and pigmented ink images outputted in February 2005 from the best of Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Lexmark and even Canon's iP5000, the i9900 in my opinion outputs the smoothest and richest images.

UPDATE MARCH 6, 2008: After 3 years, the i9900 developed black streaks along the leading edge of every print. Setting Prevent Paper Abrasion eliminated the problem. But this custom setting is supposed to reduce the quality of the print. So, for $50.86, I had the i9900 cleaned, adjusted and tested at an independent authorized Canon service centre the other day. I also found out from the technician that the i9900 had produced 1844 prints in 37 months of ownership. He also showed me how to periodically clean around the print head nozzles and the underside of the print head carriage.

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Description of Canon I-9900 Photo Printer

i9900 Photo Printer

The Canon i9900 photo printer provides a high-quality, versatile solution for photo enthusiasts and low-volume photo professionals. This low-profile, quiet machine offers wide format printing (up to 13 by 19 inches) as well as fast 4-by-6-inch borderless prints in as little as 38 seconds. (All reported speeds are maximums. Actual speeds will vary.) For truly professional-looking results, the printer also supports resolutions up to 4,800 x 1,200 dpi.

Print directly from PictBridge and BubbleJet Direct cameras. No PC required.

The i9900 utilizes an eight-color, separate ink tank color system to increase the range of color reproduction. This multi-tank technology features low-ink sensors so you won't run dry in the middle of a print and saves you money by letting you replace only the color that has run out. The i9900 offers a built-in sheet feeder that's able to handle up to 100 sheets of 17 lb. stock, 10 envelopes, 30 transparency sheets, or a full range of specialty papers. It even comes with a sample package of 4-by-6-inch Photo Paper Pro.

Offering direct connection to Bubble Jet Direct or PictBridge-compatible digital cameras or DV camcorders, the i9900 also features fast USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces (FireWire compatible with Mac OS only) for convenient peripheral connection. It comes with a comprehensive package of image editing software, including Easy-PhotoPrint Plus, Easy-WebPrint, ZoomBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, ImageBrowser, and PhotoStitch. (See tech specs for system requirements.) The unit is backed by a one year warranty on parts and labor.

What's in the Box
i9900 photo printer, i9900 print head, ink tanks (BCI-6C cyan, BCI-6M magenta, BCI-6Y yellow, BCI-6Bk black, BCI-6PC photo cyan, BCI-6PM photo magenta, BCI-6R red, and BCI-6G green), power cord, easy setup instructions, document kit (quick start guide, registration card, setup software and user's guide, software CD), Photo Paper Pro sample pack; printer cable not included

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