Best small home photo printer?

My wife and I have a Sony DPP-FP30 dye sub, with which we generated
the most wonderful images. For exactly one paper pack. We now cannot
get a decent print out of it. It's like the colors went haywire.
Sony was exactly zero help. So we are now looking for some non-Sony
printer. We like the idea of dye-sub because we don't use the printer
on a regular basis, and we *had* liked the dye sub colors we were
seeing (plus durability).
We'd really like to get some advice on a small printer (4x6 or maybe
5x7) that generates great prints. We like the convenience of printing
at home, or else we'd just print at the Ritz store. We read the 4x6
dye sub printer thread posted in 2005, but I'm guessing things have
changed a little since then. Thanks in advance for your feedback!!
Jim & Hali

On Apr 13, 5:25 pm, "AnotherAmateur" <JimMi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My wife and I have a Sony DPP-FP30 dye sub, with which we generated
> the most wonderful images. For exactly one paper pack. We now cannot
> get a decent print out of it. It's like the colors went haywire.
> Sony was exactly zero help. So we are now looking for some non-Sony
> printer. We like the idea of dye-sub because we don't use the printer
> on a regular basis, and we *had* liked the dye sub colors we were
> seeing (plus durability).
> We'd really like to get some advice on a small printer (4x6 or maybe
> 5x7) that generates great prints. We like the convenience of printing
> at home, or else we'd just print at the Ritz store. We read the 4x6
> dye sub printer thread posted in 2005, but I'm guessing things have
> changed a little since then. Thanks in advance for your feedback!!
> Jim & Hali

I've used an Epson Picturemate Deluxe for 18 months, and it's
producing great resuts - I'd recommend it. Prints are easily as good
as wet-process. Prints are very durable, rated at over 100 years light-
fastness. I also recently used my father-in-law's Canon Selphy CP510 -
very compact, about $0.29 per print in packs of 108 prints, and great
color - especially the reds, very vibrant. So far the prints have been
completely light-fast (over 1 year); they're also rated at about 100
years under glass. Both printers are available for less than $100, and
both have optional battery packs for travel.

ECM

I'd endorse the little Selphys too

In article <1176515747.798669.213120@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups .com>,
ecmcdougall@gmail.com says...
> I've used an Epson Picturemate Deluxe for 18 months, and it's
> producing great resuts - I'd recommend it. Prints are easily as good
> as wet-process. Prints are very durable, rated at over 100 years light-
> fastness.

I second this. You'll want to view the pictures on your computer first
since the tiny LCD screen is useless for determining whether the
pictures are any good or not. I bought one for my wife and she loves it.
It is easy to use, prints 4x6, wallets, and mini-wallet sized pictures.

To test the durability of the pictures I took one of the pictures she
printed that was blurry and ran it under water as soon as it finished
printed and the ink didn't run. Then I wiped it with a paper towel and
it didn't smudge the picture and there was no ink on the paper towel.

Thanks for the responses! We'll look into those two printers. Also,
has anyone had any experience with the Hi Touch printers? We were
looking into the HiTi 730 PS because it can print 5x7 and 6x8, as well
as 4x6. Of course, it also 3 times the money! :-)
Thanks again!
Jim & Hali

I have a Canon iP6700D printer. I think it's a very good printer for the
money.
Jim


"AnotherAmateur" <JimMike2@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1176510336.082972.226700@y80g2000hsf.googlegr oups.com...
> My wife and I have a Sony DPP-FP30 dye sub, with which we generated
> the most wonderful images. For exactly one paper pack. We now cannot
> get a decent print out of it. It's like the colors went haywire.
> Sony was exactly zero help. So we are now looking for some non-Sony
> printer. We like the idea of dye-sub because we don't use the printer
> on a regular basis, and we *had* liked the dye sub colors we were
> seeing (plus durability).
> We'd really like to get some advice on a small printer (4x6 or maybe
> 5x7) that generates great prints. We like the convenience of printing
> at home, or else we'd just print at the Ritz store. We read the 4x6
> dye sub printer thread posted in 2005, but I'm guessing things have
> changed a little since then. Thanks in advance for your feedback!!
> Jim & Hali
>

wrote:

> I've used an Epson Picturemate Deluxe for 18 months, and it's
> producing great resuts - I'd recommend it.I also recently used my
> father-in-law's Canon Selphy CP510 -
> very compact, about $0.29 per print in packs of 108 prints, and great
> color - especially the reds, very vibrant.

I also am looking for a new color printer. Mostly for printing from
my wife's Canon digital. As she wants to keep these in an old
fashioned album, as she did her film fotos, I print 4-up in
3.5 x 5 format on hi-gloss paper. Our current Canon i250 prints
them ok, but only when viewed head on. Move your head a bit,
and the colors (especially black) go a bit wonky. So I guess
I need to move up to a better printer with better inks.

Will these two printers do what I want or should I look higher??

thanks 'n all,

nick

"nick" <nick@NOSPAM.ORG> wrote in message news:PBn3i.40$ky6.9@trnddc02...
> wrote:
>
>> I've used an Epson Picturemate Deluxe for 18 months, and it's
>> producing great resuts - I'd recommend it.I also recently used my
>> father-in-law's Canon Selphy CP510 -
>> very compact, about $0.29 per print in packs of 108 prints, and great
>> color - especially the reds, very vibrant.
>
> I also am looking for a new color printer. Mostly for printing from
> my wife's Canon digital. As she wants to keep these in an old
> fashioned album, as she did her film fotos, I print 4-up in
> 3.5 x 5 format on hi-gloss paper. Our current Canon i250 prints
> them ok, but only when viewed head on. Move your head a bit,
> and the colors (especially black) go a bit wonky. So I guess
> I need to move up to a better printer with better inks.
>
> Will these two printers do what I want or should I look higher??

I have a Selphy cp600 that I use both at home and when traveling. It runs
on a rechargeable battery and will print from the camera or PC. Since it's
dye-sub, I can be confident it won't leak when packed in luggage! It
amounts to a digital version of Polaroid.

The materials are somewhat cheaper than the .29 per print mentioned above.
..25 per print if you buy from B&H, a little less if you look around. The
prints look like drugstore prints.

Caveats: Wilhelm rates these at 7 years, which is somewhat less than
drugstore or the newer inkjet prints. The printer crops in a somewhat
unpredictable manner when printing from my Nikon. In PhotoShop, I am able
to compensate for this.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Mike Russell wrote:

> I have a Selphy cp600 that I use both at home and when traveling.

Looking at more of a full-size printer capable of 4 up on an
8.5 x 11 sheet, as well as 8 x 10 shots on full size paper.
Currently looking at Canon 6 ink printers. I have found
review sites but they only review capabilities. I'd like
to see some reviews of actual print quality.

nick

"nick" <nick@NOSPAM.ORG> wrote in message
news:OCD3i.4707$qp5.3896@trnddc03...
> Mike Russell wrote:
>
>> I have a Selphy cp600 that I use both at home and when traveling.
>
> Looking at more of a full-size printer capable of 4 up on an
> 8.5 x 11 sheet, as well as 8 x 10 shots on full size paper.
> Currently looking at Canon 6 ink printers. I have found
> review sites but they only review capabilities. I'd like
> to see some reviews of actual print quality.

I question the economics of that. I have a cheap Epson six color printer
that someone laid on me, and it works quite well for that. I generally do 2
ups on a letter sized sheet, because showing people the 4 ups always results
in comments like "oh - you printed these yourself". It is possible, by
rotating, to fit three 4x6's on a page.

One thing it took me a while to realize is that running your own printer
costs quite a bit up front, as well as to operate even if you finagle on
supplies. For the cost of a wide format 6 color printer ($300 or more) you
can get about 30 20x30 posters printed at CostCo, or 20 16x20's at
snapfish.com. 4x6 prints at both places are about 17 cents. No need to
stock paper and ink.

I do think it's necessary to have a printer at home for quick one-offs, and
for this I use the Selphy and the freebie Epson. For the time being,
anyway, I've decided that it's not worth it to keep a high quality printer
running at home for my normal prints.
--

Mike Russell
www.mike.russell-home.net