Digital BW, The Print

Well, I'm using a 9000 for B&W output and am quite pleased with the 
results.  One of the prints that I frequently show around (read: brag on) 
was taken at Biltmore House this summer, in Asheville, NC, and my comment 
to people is that it's the best print that I've ever made over the 30+ 
years that I've been doing B&W printing.  I've been using Canon's inks, but 
just bought a set of refillable cartridges and bulk ink (from 
inkjetgoodies) to try to cut the cost down.  I expect to do 300-500 prints 
for Christmas books I make for relatives, and the difference between $2 and 
$11 per cartridge will add up very quickly.  Not to mention that there have 
been times when my local photo store was out of a particular Canon 
cartridge for a week or so.

The speed of the Canon is indeed wonderful.  I was using an Epson 860 with 
Lyson Small Gamut inks for B&W, but it took about 10-11 minutes for that 
machine to produce an 8x10 or so sized print.  The Canon does it in about 2 
minutes, and with quality at least equal to the Epson.  I am able to 
control image tone with the Canon inks in the same way as with the Small 
Gamut - using the Colorize feature of Photoshop and adjusting hue and 
saturation to get the tone I want.

Part of my buying decision for the Canon printer was the fact of the 
replaceable printhead.  I had envisioned being able to have a separate 
printhead loaded with Lyson Small Gamut (whenever they come out with the 
Canon 9000 version) and keep the Canon inks for the little bit of color 
work I do.  But when I called Canon to get a second head I was told that 
the printhead was a warranty repair item and that they would not sell it 
except as part of a factory repair.  My store got the same answer when they 
called independently to see if they could order one.  I have the impression 
that this policy will change after the printer has been on the market for a 
year.  OTOH, I seem to be getting wonderful results with the Canon inks, 
and if the generics produce equal results with my Christmas prints I may 
just stick with them.  I may end up getting a spare printhead once (if) 
they become available, just to be able to keep working if the original 
craps out, but they supposedly (will) cost $175, so then again I may not.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Kip

At 10/10/2002 07:56 PM +0000, Gabriel wrote:
>I'm leaning towards picking up a Canon printer for doing color work
>primarily for its speed (as much as 5-7x faster than a 1280 with
>equal quality), individual tanks, and user replaceable printhead.
>
>I'm leaning this way because the Epson I had intended to start
>running with MIS quads has been exhibiting problems with random black
>lines in the printout.  From what I can gather online (and advice to
>the contrary would be welcome) this means that the printhead is kaput.
>
>So, I may be getting a Canon to do my black and white as well.  I
>appreciate the idea of a replaceable printhead as this is not the
>first problem I've had with Epsons.  My question is this, anyone out
>there using a Canon for black and white?  Might I be the first in
>these uncharted waters?  Anyone want to chip in and get Paul Roark a
>setup so he can create his much admired curves for these printers?