Digital Photography Question / Printers...
 

I have a question about digital photography….

Here’s my situation:

My first digital camera was a 2.1 mp – when printing on my photo printer, years ago, the print jobs were so bad that we decided to use an online service to print and send then via mail back to me (ofoto, etc…). When they came from these services the pictures turned out great. I came to the conclusion that the only way I could get a good print job out of that camera was to upload them somewhere…

Then I got a 7mp Sony point and shoot… great camera – thought it would print well on a newer full size printer…. Unfortunately, the quality was terrible (still grainy when printing). So we began to upload again. The problem is that a 7mp shot is a huge file, so uploading is tedious and frustrating… But it was the only way to get a decent print job…

So my question..

Now that we have a baby on the way, we realize that we are going to want to print pictures and hand them out on the spot when people come to see the baby. My question is: are the small photo printers (that print the 4x6’s) any good? Are they any better than standard full size printers? I noticed that they are around $200 or so, but a great full size printer can be $500+. Is it worth buying one of these small ones (they just seem so easy and perfect for what we need it for)? Do any of them have the same quality as the online print places? What is the major difference in photo printing and/or processing that makes the online places that much better? Am I being unrealistic to hope for a good print job?

I know there are a lot of digital photography guys on the board and I’m sure you guys have a lot of input on printers…

Any input would be appreciated… Thanks,..

I have a Canon i960 and it makes great prints. It was expensive when I bought a few years ago, but it's cheaper now. I print out snapshots on Canon photo paper all the time, usually 4x6, sometimes 8x10.

My camera that I have used was a 6 MP Canon Powershot.

I find that printing at home is never as good as the pro photo lab but you can come close. I personally use Canon digicam and photoprinters as well. I have the Pixma IP6600D with fantastic results but you have to use quatity print papers as well. I do have the Selphy CP400 that quickly print out 4x6 prints for those parties or when I'm on vacation. They're nice and compact and the quality is excellent. This can be expensive but it's good for the occasional use when you need pictures on demand.

the canon i960 is a great printer, I agree.

Here are my thoughts on printing your own pictures:

4x6's I send/take to costco and have them do them in bulk, each print is usually costs under .20 so it's a no-brainer, you can't print at home for cheaper than that.

5x7's - if i'm getting a bunch done, I also go to costco. Under a dozen i do them at home 2 to a page. Also, make sure that whatever software you're using to print (pick up a copy of Photoshop elements, it's ~ $70 online) and make sure you print at least at 150DPI, the higher the better, and with a 7MP camera you'll be fine.

8x10's - 6 or under i do at home, more than 6 i send to Costco. Again, if you're printing at home, make sure you're at 150DPI or above, preferably 200DPI.

Concerning a printer, you're probably not going to print bigger than 8x10's so the canon i9xx series is great. I've been using a canon 9000 for the last 3 years and it's still going strong.

DISCLAIMER: Everyone has their own favorite settings and printer manufacturers, the canon/espon argument goes along the lines of mac/pc, so my best advice is to listen to everyone's advice and make up your own mind. I stick with Canon because my entire workflow is canon: camera, color space, scanner, printer. It makes things easier. That being said, Canon and EPSON printers work fine with SONY cameras.

I got a Nikon D70. Wife has the Canon SD550 (Thanks SG!). We both use the Epson Photo Stylus R800 to print the photos on the spot. We have never been to a print lab to print our photos. I usually bring the photos into Photoshop and touch up before sending them to the printer and this helps tremendously.

Once you get it tweaked the right way, nothing beats an Epson, imho. Canon is a very good photo printer too. The color is more vivid.

I use a Canon EOS20D (8MP) and print thru a Canon Pixma ip8500 (A4/Letter/10x8) or HP9130 (6x4 & 7x5). The results are very good indeed, but the real trick was to get the original calibration settings right. It took a bit of time (and paper) but was worth it. I got a calibration card from a local photo specialist and played around with the printer and software until it was about right.

Peronally I go for printers where the colours are all in separate tanks. There's nothing worse than having to change a multi-ink cartridge because one colour has run out!! The damned things are expensive enough as it is.

What I would like to find though is a colour printer that can do really good B/W prints without any kind of cast/tint. I've tried all sorts of different ones and none are really any good unless you pay big bucks.

To me, it also makes a difference what type of paper you use. I have a Canon i850 and I use only Canon paper when I print pics I want to keep - I especially love the Canon Photo Matte paper. I kind of like it better than the glossy stuff.
I've tried some cheap photo paper - glossy type and even on my great printer, it looked like crap even after I choose the paper type in the Options. (Always choose what type of paper you are printing on also - it helps with the ink output).
I have had great experience with the Canon printers too, so I highly recommend them. When I upgrade, I'll probably go for another one.......
Good luck in your choice.........

Some thoughts for you to consider

There are basically two types of camera, and this will dictate the type of result you get.

Your typical 'point and shoot' compact camera has high saturation settings and very little ability to alter the information such as aperture/focal length/shutter speed etc as they are all predetermined. Of course you get a couple of settings for these but keep in mind that they are manufacturing a camera to take quick and nasty photos without a lot of thought to eg white balance. For this reason, the colours are oversaturated to give a 'warmer' look even in bright conditions.

These cameras give you a finished photo without processing and the only way to get some of these photos to clean up is to spend some time on a photo editing program (processing).

The other type of camera is the SLR (single lens reflex) which is your more high end such as the Canon EOS 20D mentioned earlier. This camera requires time and patience/knowledge to set up the shot, get the lighting right, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, lens type and then head off to process. They are not designed for a quick shoot.

Now, in answer to your question, both cameras can alter the size of the photo, but in order to get the best result, you have to spend time editing it.

Otherwise, the motto is the same for all electronic equipment, garbage in=garbage out. There is little point worrying about grainy pics being printed if that is what your camera has taken in the first place.

Because the settings are saturated, you can easily clean them up with Photoshop or most quality photo editing programs. Photoshop has the ability to record your individual actions and assign a single key (eg F5) so that you can one touch desaturate/clean up the colour levels/contrast. You can then do this in batches.

To see what I am talking about, turn on your colour television and push the colour right up, then play around with the contrast and brightness. You will see the image become very grainy.

If your shot is not cleaned up then it may come out grainy. For example; here is the same photo before and after a little editing.......... (not done by me but taken from a photography forum)

before
http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/8/1/tree-fuzzy.jpg
after
http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/8/1/tree-sharpened.jpg


In our case, we have a little Olympus for the quick happy snaps (2500 of our 3yr old son), and also a Canon EOS 20D for the better shots.

We use a Sony Photo printer http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/8/1/dppex5_2.jpgwhich gives us the same as shop prints in a few minutes. Great for giving the family a copy quickly and far superior to a bubblejet for definition and colour. They also apply a protective film over the shot to stop fading and handling marks.

Here is a photography forum for you to browse if you are interested. http://www.phototakers.com/forum/ and here http://www.digi-darkroom.com/index.php?

Cheers

we have the same situation.....i use the EPSON deluxe photomate, very close or similar to the online photo services..2.1 megapixels or 7.1 , equally very good printout!

I too used to use only canon paper, then I discovered Office Depot photo paper that was 1/4 the price and I got the same results as the canon paper.