Dye-sub printers

[Patrick Lacson]

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an 8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or PowerShot G2.

Thanks!
--Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[Jay Campbell]

Patrick --

Dye-sub printer discussion on this forum seems to be sparing at best.

I own a Canon CD-300, which produces 4x6 and 4x10 panoramic. I had been happy with the printer until recently, but I'll bypass that discussion unless you care to hear more.

To answer your direct question, a number of people on this board endorse the Olympus P-400, a dye-sub that produces prints up to 8x10. I think it runs in the $700-800 range.

Jay

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[JoeMA]

Patrick,

As an owner of a once great dye-sub printer - the Alps MD5000P which does make 8x10's and is very versatile on paper types etc., I am moving to the latest generation of ink jets. Why?

1. My Alps developed a printhead problem and unfortunately Alps is no longer repairing these printers (They will give me a refurbished one for $250.)

2. The current generation of Epson - 890 or 1280 (soon, very soon I hope, the 950C) and Canon S800 (very soon S900) really do give dye-subs - at least the consumer versions like Olympus, Alps, Sony, Canon,etc. a run for the money - and in some ways are even better.

3. Supplies and service on Canon and Epson are plentiful - Epson more so.

4. Ink jets are cheap - you can buy a Epson 820 now for $100. or less with their $50. rebate.

Anyway, while I loved my Alps and two years ago no ink jet could compare to it, and even now, for color on plain paper it is light years ahead of Epson Canon and HP - I will be moving to the new inkjets - BUT, you should hear from some Olympus P-400 fans here (almost 8x10 - I think 7.6x10???) who will extol that dye-sub as still the best --- go see for yourself -I think CompUSA has all the ones mentioned here and compare.

Good luck

Regards,
Joe

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[Jim Dawson]

The Olympus P400 comes close. It won't print a full 8x10, its something like 7.64x10, glossy only. I understand that they are available for $799. To get a full 8x10 (or 8x12) with a choice of glossy or matte you would have to bite the bullet and buy a Kodak 8660 for $4895 like I did.

The older Kodak 8650 will print a full 8x10 but glossy only. They are often available on Ebay for $1200-$1500.

Jim

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[Colin Kerwin]

Patrick, your first two paragraphs sound exactly like our household. I have fun taking and editing pictures, and my wife loves to scrap book. She, too, was skeptical about the utility of a digital camera for her purposes, particularly in that she is interested in archival type quality prints.

Anyway, we have a P-400 and love it. It was actually a gift to my father, but somehow we ended up with it. Resolution is fantastic, colors are great, speed is not a problem and the prints will last year after year without fading given the protective layer placed on the print on final pass. Most inkjet dyes will fade after just a few months (although arguably with the digital file on record, you just print another one).

If cost is a problem, while not as convenient, there are certainly many web based print shops that you can upload your digital pictures to and have them print for you on photo quality paper. Cost is about the same as normal film prints from negatives, but you only pay for the pictures you want. Best part is, you don't have to go to the store. Just upload your pictures, and a few days later they arrive in your mailbox. We've used photoaccess.com with good luck - they printed 100 of our Christmas card photos that I designed using Photoshop (not something I'd do on the P-400).

Finally, we use a Canon G1, so I'm obviously partial to the G2. It's a great camera. Although I'd love to own a D1 from Nikon! Yeh right.

Good luck. Colin

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[rufus68947]

I bought a G2 in mid December, and had thought I would buy a high end printer at the same time. I still have not found the ideal printer, and also found that my $99 Epson 777 (that I bought a year or so ago for general purpose) prints with very good results (people can't even tell, and are usualy shocked when I tell them it's from my printer)

Longevity of prints is important to me though, my wife 'scrapbooks', and it's more involved than just printing another one after it fades, she sinks hours and hours into this.

I'm actually thinking of buying a Sony SV77 for now, and hoping Olympus comes out with an 8.5 x 11 version of the P400, or something better comes along. The A4 paper of the Oly P400 isn't really a problem I don't think, I measured every 8x10 frame in our house, and prints would fill the visible window; I would just like to be able to get three 4x6 prints per sheet, thus cutting the print cost (for 4x6) by 33%.

BTW, I love my G2. Be warned, the autofocus on digital cameras is way slower than P&S 35mm, it takes some serious getting used to. You won't be able to just hand it to a stranger in auto mode and ask them to take your picture, at least not with as much confidnce they will take a good picture as you have with your P&S 35mm.

Good luck.
Barry

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[Patrick Lacson]

Colin,

Thanks so much for the insight into the P-400 and online photo development. It seems that the P-400 is the dye-sub printer to get. However, JoeMA seems to advocate ink-jet printers are the way to go.. The thing that bugs me is they have all these demo printers (ink-jet) at Staples, Best Buy, etc.. but when you ask them for a demo on photo-quality mode on photo-quality paper, they'll say "sorry, we can't open the glossy paper unless you buy a new ream."

We're not in a huge rush to buy the printer since we still don't have the camera. We might just go with the online photo-development or the local Kinko's for now until dye-sub prices go down.

Thanks again everyone!

--Patrick

Anyway, we have a P-400 and love it. It was actually a gift to my
father, but somehow we ended up with it. Resolution is fantastic,
colors are great, speed is not a problem and the prints will last
year after year without fading given the protective layer placed on
the print on final pass. Most inkjet dyes will fade after just a
few months (although arguably with the digital file on record, you
just print another one).

If cost is a problem, while not as convenient, there are certainly
many web based print shops that you can upload your digital
pictures to and have them print for you on photo quality paper.
Cost is about the same as normal film prints from negatives, but
you only pay for the pictures you want. Best part is, you don't
have to go to the store. Just upload your pictures, and a few days
later they arrive in your mailbox. We've used photoaccess.com with
good luck - they printed 100 of our Christmas card photos that I
designed using Photoshop (not something I'd do on the P-400).

Finally, we use a Canon G1, so I'm obviously partial to the G2.
It's a great camera. Although I'd love to own a D1 from Nikon!
Yeh right.

Good luck. Colin

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org

 

[Thanasis Siozos]

Patrick,

most of the people in this forum are amateur or prosumer users. Here's my solution FWIW. I've got an Epson 1290 (1280 in the States) and I print at Epson Heavyweight Matte. Then I laminate at low temperature the prints with an appropriate UV protection pouch depending if i want a glossy or matte print and i crop with a cutter. This gives them extra waterproofness and stability and one can only find it's not a developed print if they look on the back side where there's no logo. Right now i'm doing some tests to see the durability of the laminated prints in direct sunlight!

Anyway, this method gives superb results and the cost is around $0.40 per 21x29.7cm print (or 8x10 in the States).

Hello printer experts!

My wife and I are converting from the 35MM point and shooot world
and into digital. The big advantage that I see with digital is the
direct image manipulation with great software like Adobe or Gimp...

My wife however loves to take the physical pictures and put them in
her memory book. I've tried to persuade her into converting her
art craft into the digital world, but the one thing that is holding
us back is the ability to reproduce these great digital images into
photo-like quality pictures.

I've heard that Dye-sublimation printers give us this ability so I
went to Staples and checked out the Sony 4x6 dye-sub printer. I
was absolutely floored at the image quality. My question is, what
commerically available dye-sub printers are out there that can
print images larger than 4x6? Ideally I would like to print out an
8x10 baby/family pictures for family and friends.. and of course
the 4x6 memory book photos for my wife

We actually haven't bought a digital camera yet but once we find a
decent printer that can reproduce photo-quality like images, the
digital camera selection will probably be between the Sony F707 or
PowerShot G2.

Thanks!

--
Patrick Lacson
http://lacson.org