Two new large format printers from Epson

[Keith Cooper]

To be shown at the FESPA show and available 'Aug 25'

Epson P7300 [likely P7370 in the US] at 24" and P9300 for 44"

These replace the 8 ink P6000 and P8000

Take a P7500 chassis and put the printhead from the P5300 in it.

So, now the same 10 ink set for the P700/900/5300/7300/9300

This is all the information I have at the moment...

Likely the same print head in each one [there may be differences in how they are driven due to needing a lot more speed in the bigger printers]

Note that the P7300 shown here has a Spectroproofer unit attached



Here's a P7500 for comparison, from when I reviewed it



--
bye for now
Keith Cooper

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

To be shown at the FESPA show and available 'Aug 25'

Epson P7300 [likely P7370 in the US] at 24" and P9300 for 44"

These replace the 8 ink P6000 and P8000

Take a P7500 chassis and put the printhead from the P5300 in it.

So, now the same 10 ink set for the P700/900/5300/7300/9300

This is all the information I have at the moment...

Thanks Keith. Here are some official Epson links, and right about the P7370 and P9370 model numbers for North America:

Epson Launches New Wide-Format SureColor P-Series Models for Professional Photography, Fine Art and Graphic Design

https://news.epson.com/news/surecolor-p7370-p9370-photographic-printers

P7370

https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers...P7370-24-inch-Wide-Format-Printer/p/SCP7370SE

P9370

https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers...P9370-44-inch-Wide-Format-Printer/p/SCP9370SE

Also:

* "2.64" printhead performs at extreme speeds—dramatically faster than our previous generations" / "exhibition-quality prints at speeds over two times faster than the previous generation"

* The P7370 and P9370 differ from the P5370 (and P700 and P900) in that the two larger printers are 2400x1200 dpi instead of 5760x1440 dpi, presumably 300 / 600 ppi instead of 360 / 720 ppi, and 3.5 pl instead of 1.5 pl minimum droplet size.

* Both models come with 110 ml starter ink cartridges; the regular ink cartridges are 150, 350, and 700 ml.

 

[Keith Cooper]

Also:

* "2.64" printhead performs at extreme speeds—dramatically faster than our previous generations" / "exhibition-quality prints at speeds over two times faster than the previous generation"

* The P7370 and P9370 differ from the P5370 (and P700 and P900) in that the two larger printers are 2400x1200 dpi instead of 5760x1440 dpi, presumably 300 / 600 ppi instead of 360 / 720 ppi, and 3.5 pl instead of 1.5 pl minimum droplet size.

* Both models come with 110 ml starter ink cartridges; the regular ink cartridges are 150, 350, and 700 ml.

Thanks for this

This definitely means that the print head is a 10 colour version of the 12 colour one used in the P7500

So NOT the same as the 700/900/5300 - I was wondering how they could get good enough performance for big printers...

The P7500 size head would not fit in the P5300 chassis, so hence its use of the same as the 700/900

It seems I was given some incomplete info ;-)

It also means that P5300 icc profiles won't work with he 7300/9300

 

[nickbatz]

I was about to ask why the Epson 44" printer is so much more than the Canon Pro-4600, but I see that its street price is now about $5000. It does come with twice the ink, but the prices are about the same.

While my Pro-4100 is paid for and it doesn't make any difference, I can't help liking it even more now ($3000 after rebate when they were clearing them out, only a year ago).

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

I was about to ask why the Epson 44" printer is so much more than the Canon Pro-4600, but I see that its street price is now about $5000. It does come with twice the ink, but the prices are about the same.

While my Pro-4100 is paid for and it doesn't make any difference, I can't help liking it even more now ($3000 after rebate when they were clearing them out, only a year ago).

The comparable Epson 44" printer is much more expensive than the Canon Pro-4600. More on that in a minute. But first, there's a reasonable argument to be made that the P9370 is a step below the Pro-4600, and that the Epson counterpart to the Pro-4600 is the P9570.

Anyway, as of just now at B&H, the Pro-4600 nets out to $4145 after an $800 mail-in rebate. It includes 12, 330 ml ink cartridges, a $2244 value. So your $4145 also gets you 3960 ml of ink, and the net cost of the printer itself is only $1901 for the Pro-4600.

Likewise, as of just now at B&H, the P9570 is $5585. It includes 12, 110 ml ink cartridges; valuing them at 110 / 150 of the value of the regular 150 ml cartridges, that's an $818 value. So the net cost of the printer itself is $4767 for the P9570.

Buying a P9570 instead of a Pro-4600 would cost you an additional $1440 but get you 2640 ml less ink.

We don't yet have prices for the P9370 and its inks.

 

[nickbatz]

Ah, I didn’t see the $800 rebate.

And when I bought my Pro-4100, the printer netted out about the same price as the Pro-1000 did.

 

[nickbatz]

So I guess my original question applies: why is the Epson so much more expensive?

And the sequitur: can the additional cost be justified? They aren't stupid - they know that people are going to look at what competitive models cost.

 

[Keith Cooper]

So I guess my original question applies: why is the Epson so much more expensive?

Or perhaps... Why is the Canon so much cheaper?

I'd suggest it is as much about how much Canon US want to buy market share? That of course fits into corporate business strategies from Japan, and we are are even more clueless as to what they might be.

And the sequitur: can the additional cost be justified?

To who? By who?

They aren't stupid - they know that people are going to look at what competitive models cost.

They know a lot about why different people might buy printers - of course, the photo/art market is but a small part of their overall print business.

One that they might decide to buy their way into?

How Epson manages their own local/regional printer sales and marketing strategies is yet another box of mysteries.

The more I get glimpses behind the curtains, the more I realise that we [here] know very little

Years ago I used to have an Epson 9600, and then had a Canon iPF8300 - someone at Epson [long since moved on] asked me why I had the Canon? "Because they knocked on my door first..." This was around the time Nikon enquired about buying all my Canon gear...

 

[nickbatz]

So I guess my original question applies: why is the Epson so much more expensive?

Or perhaps... Why is the Canon so much cheaper?

I'd suggest it is as much about how much Canon US want to buy market share? That of course fits into corporate business strategies from Japan, and we are are even more clueless as to what they might be.

Right, all I can do is speculate from my armchair, but buying market share (at a loss or very low profit margin) seems unlikely to be a strategy Canon would have been following for so many years - although my sense is that all printers are designed above all to sell ink.

As you say, it's not something they're likely to make up in volume.

But of course my question is whether the machine is better, not the business strategy.

And the sequitur: can the additional cost be justified?

To who? By who?

Well, to and by a person in the market for a 44" photo/art printer like this. I can't imagine that it's a diverse group of people.

Actually, Canon had an S version of the -4100 with fewer colors, so the range of users may be wider than I'm thinking (I haven't seen anything about a -4600S).

But it seems pretty clear that customers contemplating paying more for the Epson know about the Canon and will ask the same question I'm asking.

How Epson manages their own local/regional printer sales and marketing strategies is yet another box of mysteries.

The more I get glimpses behind the curtains, the more I realise that we [here] know very little

Years ago I used to have an Epson 9600, and then had a Canon iPF8300 - someone at Epson [long since moved on] asked me why I had the Canon? "Because they knocked on my door first..." This was around the time Nikon enquired about buying all my Canon gear...

"Branding," to use the dreaded marketing talk, is something I might be glossing over. People may have had good experiences with Epson printers and will pay for another one. Or they just assume more money = better, and Epson has determined what the market will bear.

Who knows.

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

So I guess my original question applies: why is the Epson so much more expensive?

And the sequitur: can the additional cost be justified? They aren't stupid - they know that people are going to look at what competitive models cost.

Being curious, and noting Keith's comments, I Googled for U.K. vendors and checked the first link-to prices for each:

Epson SC-P9500, £3685 / with tax £4422 at DPSB

and

Canon Pro-4600, £4875 / with tax £5850 at PlotIT.

I did not check whether the same amounts of ink are included. I have no idea whether these prices are the lowest or even representative. Maybe better vendors have substantially different prices. But as of just now, at these two U.K. vendors, the Pro-4600 was £1190 + tax more than the P9500 (P9570).

 

[zerored]

Just checked the Epson US website. They have dropped the prices of most of their photo printers. The new ones Keith mentioned may not be the only new ones Epson will present in the future.

 

[Keith Cooper]

So I guess my original question applies: why is the Epson so much more expensive?

And the sequitur: can the additional cost be justified? They aren't stupid - they know that people are going to look at what competitive models cost.

Being curious, and noting Keith's comments, I Googled for U.K. vendors and checked the first link-to prices for each:

Epson SC-P9500, £3685 / with tax £4422 at DPSB

and

Canon Pro-4600, £4875 / with tax £5850 at PlotIT.

I did not check whether the same amounts of ink are included. I have no idea whether these prices are the lowest or even representative. Maybe better vendors have substantially different prices. But as of just now, at these two U.K. vendors, the Pro-4600 was £1190 + tax more than the P9500 (P9570).

Thanks for checking that - those are the sorts of prices I'm seeing.

Canon in the US has often had what were viewed from here as 'somewhat forceful' marketing policies in this area ;-)

I know people from both Canon and Epson who've had US pricing pointed out to them ...but of course, a printer on the other side of an ocean is not one you can nip out and buy.

This is one of the reasons I generally ignore prices/offers in all my reviews.

 

[Keith Cooper]

Just checked the Epson US website. They have dropped the prices of most of their photo printers. The new ones Keith mentioned may not be the only new ones Epson will present in the future.

Moving the P7500/9500 to the newer P6500/8500 style chassis for example...

 

[nickbatz]

Thanks for checking that - those are the sorts of prices I'm seeing.

Canon in the US has often had what were viewed from here as 'somewhat forceful' marketing policies in this area ;-)

Ah, I wasn't aware that this isn't in a vacuum.

I know people from both Canon and Epson who've had US pricing pointed out to them ...but of course, a printer on the other side of an ocean is not one you can nip out and buy.

This is one of the reasons I generally ignore prices/offers in all my reviews.

In this case the price isn't much of a story.