Pro Printer Titans Clash in Vegas

Printers From Canon

As with HP, I seem to have missed Canon's surge in pro printing while tending my Epson printers. I saw some great Canon pro printers at PMA. Here's a brief blurb on each.

Canon Pixma Pro9500

With a projected retail price of $850, the 9500 directly competes with HP's $700 retail B9180. It can handle media up to 13" x 19" and uses 10 pigment based ink cartridges. The 9500 will be available in the spring of 2007. So far, Canon has released precious little detail on the printer. Looking at specs for Canon's Pixma Pro9000 won't help. The 9000 is a dye based printer that is very different from the 9500. I saw one 9500 print at PMA. Having nothing to compare it with makes it difficult to make a definitive judgment. However, I was duly impressed with what I saw.

Canon ImagePROGRAF IPF5000

The iPF5000 (retail $1995) uses 12 pigment based cartridges. It can handle media up to 17" wide in sheets or rolls. Based on a direct comparison with output from Epson's Stylus Pro 4800, Canon's B9180 and the iPF5000, I can say that the iPF5000 produced images comparable those from the 4800 and slightly better than those from the B9180.

Canon ImagePROGRAF IPF8000

This unit prints on up to 44" wide media. Aside from that, it's quite similar to the iPF5000. The iPF8000 goes for near $6000 retail. A 60" version, the iPF9000, costs around $15000 retail.