New printer

[DanK]

I finally had to give up: the head on my Canon Prograf Pro 1000 kept clogging (one ink: matte black), and after wasting a lot of time and lot of very expensive ink trying to deal with it, I had to give up today when even a system cleaning failed.

Canon has replaceable heads, but the head is US $700, and because I wasted so much ink in cleaning cycles, I would have had to buy another $350 or so in ink to set it up and resume printing. The Canon upgrade price for the newer Pro 1100 was $1193 including tax, so buying a new one seemed a lot more sensible then repairing one that's 6 or more years old.

I looked at the competing Epson. Last time, it was a close call, and there were good arguments for going with either brand. However, the competing Epson now, the P900, gets poor reviews, so I stayed with Canon.

[LenR]

Dan, sorry to hear of your ink clogging issues with the Pro 1000. I seem to remember you had a similar issue a while ago.
Going with the new printer makes more sense as you say.
Good luck with the Pro 1100.

[Round Tuit]

Dan,
Sorry to hear about your difficulties with your printer.

A few years ago my pro-100 died completely. Something fried the motherbaord. It would have cost me $275 plus shipping cost both to and from the repair facility to get it fixed. A new one cost $300 with free delivery and came with a full set of ink. The printer was 3 years old therefore was two years out of warranty.

So I wrote a very polite letter to the president of Canon Canada expressing my disappointment with their repair policy which did not make much sense and that I thought that a reputable company like Canon could do better.

Two days later, I got a call from the manager of the repair facility informing me that they were shipping me a new printer that day.

You might want to invest in the cost of a stamp!

[DanK]

Andre,

Actually, I had a similar experience years ago. My first pro 1000--well after it was off warranty--developed a weird problem: it failed to lay down enough cyan, but only when using the 16-bit (XPS) driver! A tech worked with me for quite some time, asking me to try various things, but nothing worked. After a while, they decided to send me a new Pro 1000 gratis.

Unfortunately, clogged heads are a routine problem, and this one can be chalked up to my own error. Pigment ink printers should not be left idle for too long, lest they develop clogs. So, when I had no reason to print for a substantial time, I would print a small print from time to time. However, Canon printers, unlike Epsons of that vintage, keep both matte black and regular black inks mounted at all times. I very rarely print on matte paper, and I never thought to include matte prints when doing my occasional preventive printing, so the matte black nozzles sometimes went many months without use. And sure enough, it was the matte black nozzles that clogged beyond repair. The rest are just fine, even though the printer is probably 7 years old by now.

So my new preventive machine is to print two prints: a color bring on coated paper and a black and white on matte paper.

Dan

[Manfred M]

I look forward to seeing your comments on how your new printer works when compared with your old one.

My D800 is about 9 years old and I know it will not last forever, so I have been watching the developments from both Epson and Canon. The P900 is about 5-years old and based on the past printer refresh cycle by Epson, I would not be too surprised if a new model is not announced in 2026.

I had heard from a number of people that while the Canon printheads are technically replaceable, in reality the cost of doing so can be cost prohibitive.

I know that there were teething problems when the P900 first came out and a lot of the negative comments seem to come from when the units were first released. I know a number of people that own the unit who are very happy with it.

In terms of my needs, I find I am printer at larger sizes and suspect I might be going to a 24" model (versus the 17") when my current printer dies. I hope that is still a few years away...

[Chataignier]

We bought a Canon pro 1100 for our club last summer and are delighted with it. We are averaging about 100 prints per month, enough regular work to keep the heads clean - so far, no clogs.

As a matter of interest, members buy their own paper and I notice that some are using Canson Baryta Photographic 11 matt (more are using the satin version) that you mentioned in another thread about paper. Results are excellent.

[DanK]

Interesting. After a long period of inactivity, I plan to submit to two juried competitions soon, so I have to think about papers. Most likely, I'll fall back on my dwindling stock of the original Baryta Photographique, if I still have the relevant sizes. for the things I'm thinking of submitting, a coated paper would be superior.

I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the 1100. The 1000 produced gorgeous prints, but the 1100 is supposed to be an appreciable improvement, particularly for B&W and color photos with deep blues.