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Home >> Digital Camera Accessories >> Photo Printers
Canon I-9900 Photo PrinterBrand: Canon
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 year warranty
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
Good but expensive [Posted on 2007-12-29]
I bought this product to print color proofs for clients of my graphic design business. At the time, it was rated one of the best on the market, could take 13" media and printed bleeds.
It actually is an excellent printer, and has only a few flaws.
With good quality ink, this printer creates excellent prints. The colors are very close to print shop quality, and the bleeds are very good. Using these for self-made projects [cards, tri-folds, invitations, etc.] is where this maching thrives.
It is a little on the slow side. It also is awkward when printing photos. Knowing how and where to place the paper, as well as using the software [which isn't the greatest] is key.
Also, the ink is expensive. Sure, all printer ink is expensive, but this has 8 cartridges to refill. Plus, using on full coverage uses up the ink quickly.
I also warn against purchasing after-market or reconditioned ink. THis discounted ink is worthless. It doesn't last very long and dries up on you quickly. IT also doesn't do the job for color, as all of yor prints will turn out horribly. You have to use the Canon ink, which again is pretty expensive.
All-in-all it is a good printer.
COLOR PRINTER [Posted on 2008-02-20]
This printer prints excellent and quality pictures that are stunning. The only problem I have with it is its size. Too big. I would have rated it higher if it were not for the size.
2 years and it still rocks! [Posted on 2008-05-15]
I bought this printer nearly 2 years ago specifically for its wide-format printing ability, but it has proven itself over and over as an excellent photo printer. I use it to print 11x17 and 4x6 and everything in between. And it's still printing great prints.
I use the 11x17 to print a family birthday/anniversary calendar, using high-resolution high-bright paper, and my only problem with this is that the paper itself curls when I print photos on it, simply because it gets saturated with ink. Not too much of a problem when printing on one side only, but for double-sided printing I would recommend using a heavier paper or card stock. (This is true for any inkjet printer if you are printing anything other than text.)
The genuine Canon ink can be found for reasonable prices. If you are buying a printer this high-end, you shouldn't use the cheap ink in it, it's just not worth it. You will get many MANY prints out of one set of ink tanks, but be sure to ignore the "ink out" warnings and eyeball the ink yourself... if you can still see saturation in the sponge you still have ink left. I've found that, depending on the ink color and the amount of color in my photos, I can get anywhere from 10 to 50 4x6 prints or 5-10 11x17 pages out of an "empty" ink tank. Photo Cyan seems to need replacing more often than the others, so if you find ink on sale buy extra Photo Cyan and Photo Magenta (the 2nd most used color). Warning: The Red and Green ink tanks are not carried in many stores so once you get the ink warning on Red or Green, go online and order a new one because you probably won't be able to buy one locally when it finally does run out. The good news is that the printer uses so little Red and Green that even if you print lots and lots of prints frequently, you only need to keep one of each on hand. Personally, I keep as spares: 1 Green, 1 Red, 2 Black, 2 Cyan, 2 Magenta, 2 Yellow, 3 Photo Magenta, 3-4 Photo Cyan.
Cheap photo paper vs. Name Brand photo paper: Your mileage may vary. I have found that certain brands of cheap paper perform better than the name brand types. If you print a lot of photos you will appreciate not shelling out $boatloads for expensive paper, especially for 4x6 prints. I don't recommend HP photo paper, it produces somewhat muddy results. I have had great results from Kodak Premium 8.5 x 11 provided the original photo is high enough resolution... 4 megapixels at the absolute minimum. I have also had excellent results from LD Premium Glossy 4x6 paper. (I have not tried the LD 8.5x11 paper)
Like every other Canon inkjet printer I have ever owned, the i9900 can get a little OCD when it comes to "getting ready to print". Most of the time the printer fires up quickly and if you send a lot of files to the printer at the same time they will print back-to-back with no delay, unless you use the driver's "ink dry" function to delay the next page for an amount of time you specify to allow the previous page to dry. But sometimes the printer decides it needs to clean itself or recalibrate itself after every page, that can get irritating.
I do have a beef with the printer driver: it wants to "fix" every photo, even if you are deliberately printing something "washed-out" it will darken it. And you can't really turn that off. There is a "manual color correction" function but it is very tedious and convoluted and doesn't work very well. Canon probably does this so they can claim that the printer doesn't print any bad photos, but it won't even let you print a "bad" photo on purpose. Not many people will likely have a problem with this, I have a specific reason for wanting to print a washed-out photo on occasion.
Very finicky printer [Posted on 2008-06-14]
This printer worked like a dream for a few months, but after that I can rarely print more than a few photos without having to clean the print head nozzles. The problems began as soon as I inserted replacement ink cartridges. Mostly it just won't print all the colors from it's palette of 8 colors (so I end up with odd colored photos and wasting lots of photo paper). Eventually, it made a terrible noise and quit working altogether. I brought it to an authorized repair shop and print head had to be replaced. The repair shop said I was supposed to use only official Canon ink cartridges, but I was suspicious since I never had to do this with any of my other printers (did considerable online research compatible inkjet cartridges from reputable online vendors appear to be just as good as the authorized Canon ones that cost about 3 times more). Long story short, my printer worked great for a short while then the old problems started to reappear as soon as I had to replace an ink cartridge. This time it quit printing an entire group of colors. In a last desperate attempt to get the printer to work, I went out and paid full price for Canon's outrageously priced ink cartridges and guess what? The malfunctioning block of colors suddenly opened up. I printed a few test photos (5 x 7s), checked the ink levels and noted that the official Canon cartridges were already HALF EMPTY!!! It seems our friends at Canon figured out a way to design a printer that is so fussy that it only works properly with their overpriced ink. Very clever, Canon--I'll take my business elsewhere next time I purchase a large format printer (esp now that others are available for less). Do Not buy this printer unless you enjoy constant headaches and you don't mind paying a king's ransom for ink!
Great Printer [Posted on 2008-07-25]
I've been using this printer for a couple of years and its great. However, I've noticed that the paper makes a big difference in the quality of the final product.
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