Customer Reviews

Canon i950 Photo Printer

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Bottomline:
If you want a photo printer go with the i950
If you want a great all-round printer go with the i850.

I owned both the i850 and i950, with the i850 first. The i850 is an great all-round printer printing fast text and photos. Using the Canon photo paper images look great, but simply lack the detail the i950 can provide with 6 inks and almost twice the nozzles and special photo inks. The extra nozzles not only make printing faster (at least for photos) but allow for more detail.

On a picture, printed from Photoshop 6.0, that contained lots of details and color, but specifically a tree with multi-colored (shades) of bark - on the i850 the tree looked good with good detail, but on the i950 the tree came to life, was sharper, with more tree/bark detail and color variations becoming visible. There was no question, the i950 was better, noticably for photos.

On mixed media (web page with graphics) the i950 and i850 were the same, but for some reason, the i850 was noticably faster. You get a larger black-ink cartridge w/ the i850 presumably favoring its intended role as a excellent all-round printer.

If price is an issue, the i850 is the printer for you ... If photo quality is the most important, then the i950 is for you ... Can't make up your mind? Go with the i950, the extra money is worth the results.

Years ago, I worked as a custom color printer, so I feel I have somewhat of a background in judging photo print quality. Hopefully the stability of the Canon photo paper pro media truly approaches 25 yrs, as Canon claims. This is good enough for me at this time. My prints are made for myself, and as gifts for my family and friends.....

The output from this printer, with the 8.5"x11" photo paper pro, really impressed me right out of the box. I figured I would give it the acid test right away and try printing portraits. I don't have any professional color management, but the color was bang on, did a +13 intensity change in the print driver and I felt I had honest WYSIWYG work-flow!!

Accurate flesh tones are critical in portrait printing and the printer nailed them. I didn't need the Canon supplied imaging software as I am a PSP 7 user, so I can't comment on Canon's efforts here. I printed 6x8" prints with 1" borders that are easily frameable, wall-hangable prints. I would have no hesitation in giving these prints as gifts to family and friends....

I read everything I could about Epson and Canon photo printers...I was concerned about the amount of ink used as well as photo quality.
I had an Epson 740i, which served me well, but never quite matched the colors on the screen, (iMac DV 400), or in the original photographs. I use Photoshop 7 and an Epson 1200u scanner. The scanner does excellent work and I've had it for 3 plus years.
Bottom line: EVERYTHING LOOKS BETTER PRINTED ON THE CANON i950! You can hardly hear it working, which is amazing in itself. From simple text, to scanned text, to digital or paper photos. It's all good!
Ink is pricy. I've gone through one full set of all six colors and an extra black and photo magenta tank. So far, I've stuck with Canon ink. Staples is as good or better than anyplace, for prices, but I may try inkjets.cfriends.com soon.

I am a long-time--sometime professional--graphics guy. As such, I have been using flatbed and film scanners and digital cameras for many years. The i950 is my third dedicated photo printer. The previous ones were by HP and Epson. While both of these machines produced reasonably good results--especially the Epson--the Canon is the runaway winner in almost every department. I should note that for text I use a laser printer.

Going to Canon was not an easy decision. I had some not very pleasant memories of some Bubblejets in an office setting. Then, when the i950 arrived, it was missing the setup instructions. Immediately I called Canon tech support. Amazingly, I was connected right away to a technician who actually KNOWS what he is talking about. With very little delay, I got the new machine up and running.

The NEXT DAY, FedEx delivered the replacement setup material from Canon. Now that, my friend, is service!

Now--about the printer itself:

1. The i950 produces gorgeous prints--even on some of the third-party paper that I had on hand. I've gone over some of my test prints with a loupe and judge them virtually flawless. The full-bleeds are especially spectacular.

2. The machine is handsome (unlike the old Bubblejet), and the six-cartridge setup is very efficient.

3. The included software cannot compete with standalone packages, but Easy-PhotoPrint lives up to its name. It holds the user's hand and takes one through a series of clear choices that produce very good results with no confusion.

4. I still haven't adjusted to this printer's speed and lack of noise. It is very quiet and very fast.

5. My conclusion is that in the race to set the standard for professional quality home photo printers, Epson has fallen off the pace, and Canon is way out front!

Printed boarderless pictures, taken with my Canon G3 4.0 megapixel, are nothing short of astounding. Easy to install (you do have to align the print head, but it's a quick couple of minutes), easy to use with the included software (not the psycho 2 billion options that Epson printers have, I like simplicity, and can do my adjusting in photoshop elements 2.0), and fast, fast, fast. The drawbacks are no on board flash card reader (no big deal to me, but to some...), and you must use Canon products to print the great quality pictures.

Important cost saving measure!!! Sure, there are some pictures that you will want to use the .60/sheet photo paper pro (when perfection is needed), but for most I would suggest the wonderful Canon matte photo paper, at .20 / sheet 8 1/2 x 11 (either run them 1, 2, or 4 up on the sheet, no its not glossy, but good nonetheless), and you've got one of the most cost effective photo printers on the market (the think tank system with separate ink compartments already makes this one of the cheapest for inks).

Canon has, in my opinion, the best 4.0 mp solution for pictures (G3)and printing (i950) for the photo hobbiest. Add Photoshop Elements 2.0 , and you've got an astounding all around digital photo solution for around [$$$].

I usually do not write reviews, but I just had to comment on the i950. My previous printer was a Canon S800, which was a good printer, but the color matching was very inconsistent. The i950 has solved this problem. It ships with a newer ICC profile and the color matching is perfect - yes perfect. Every - yes every - print that I have made, comes out just like it looks on the calibrated monitor.

Also, I have just discovered Canon Matte Photo Paper which I must say is totally awesome. I had previously used Canon Photo Paper Pro exclusively, but I like the matte better, and it is way cheaper - 5x cheaper! Absolutely beautiful results - no kidding.

FYI, I am using the printer on a Mac G4 and PhotoShop.

Please don't forget to purchase an (A to B) USB cable if you don't have one for this printer. I did not know it was not included with the printer and so I had to go to the store to buy one. And then I bought the wrong one (A to mini-B)!

I received a digital camera (Nikon 4300 which I like) for x-mas, but didn't buy a printer right away. My friends' photo printers were okay, but I really wanted to be able to get prints that looked as good as from a lab.

The i950 is impressive. Setup was very easy on my XP machine. In less than half an hour, I took the printer from the box, set it up, did some tests, then printed some photos that blew me away. 8 1/2 x 11 and 4 x 6 prints were very impressive. No graininess, beautiful colors, all this with no editing at all. The printer driver is incredibly easy to use. Simply select the photos you want to print, choose the type and size of paper, select a layout, and that's it. No complicated settings.

The Canon paper is key. Photo Paper Plus is good. Photo Paper Pro is slightly better, but so far I have not seen good results with any non-Canon paper.

Anyway, if you want a great photo printer, this is the one. 2 picoliter droplets and 6 color tanks are an awesome combination.

I just returned from a family vacation and had a bunch of picture files to process and print. I began the task on an older HP non-photo printer. The results were less than what I wanted. I did a little research on the i950 and made the leap.

The picture quality from this machne is amazing! I've been making 4x6 borderless and 5x7's (on 8.5x11) all day. The color reproduction is extremely accurate and the representation of skin tones is outstanding. The results look as good if not better than from a 1 hour processing lab and I control the output.

I couldn't be happier with my jump to digital photography and this printer is a key part of that satisfaction.

This is truly an amazing photo printer. I have had it for about a month now, and find that the prints I produce are indistinguishable from normal photos. I have used both the Canon Photo Paper Pro, and the much less expensive Photo Paper Plus; the Plus is just fine, and I at least can't tell the difference b/n the two. I have the printer hooked up to my Mac, and it works fantastic. The first couple of photos came out a bit darker than they appeared on the screen, but that was easily fixed. The printer is so quiet I can't tell when it's actually working! Also, the speed is a major factor if you have 20-30 photos to print; about 30 seconds per 4x6 inch print. Printer works well with iPhoto 2. It's nice and compact, and looks good. Really can't see how they can do any better than this...