Best cartridges Pixma Ip5000?

[bmht]

Hello

I have been reading here for quite some time. First of all I want to thank you all for the huge ammount of effort you are putting thru here and the information you are sharing for all of us.

My question is regarding OEM cartridges and a Pixma IP5000.

Since I do not live in the states, and getting the cartridges would be a bit more expensive (have to pay the shipping to south america), I would have to pick the "best deal" you can get me. Right now, I'm not interested in refilling, I used to refill my old Hp deskjet 520, and later my lexmark 5700, with a lot of mess and less luck. So that experience still holds in my mind.

Since many of you have tested the OEM cartridges and know what to expect from them, I would like to know, which one would you pick based on the following conditions:

- Number of 8.5 * 11 color photos out of one set. I know it may vary among the pictures, but a rough estimate will do.

- Similarity with Canon colors. I'm going to print on the Kirkland costco paper. Still I have not profiles my monitor/printer, but I love the results I'm getting from it. So the less variation from this combo the better.

- Good black and white output.

- Good reliable ink. For it not to clog my printer.

Right now the contenders I got are:

http://www.inkgrabber.com
http://www.alotofthings.com
http://private.abacus24-7.com
http://www.bulkinkjetcarts.com/canon.html

Thank you very much for your replies

 

[RC]

I also own an ip5000, and I think it is the best printer produced by canon. It uses 1/3 the ink and produces the most accurate color prints using canon ink, the color profile is the best.

There are many factors I selecting an ink brand. None of the inks out there are 100% comparable with the canon ink in producing the exact same color.

It depends a lot on what you are printing. If you are printing mostly portraits, then you probably would not mind an ink that prints slightly on the red side. If you are printing panoramas, then a bluish tint may be better.

As for the mess in refilling cartridges, I to have refilled HPs in the past, and I can assure you that refilling Canons is not messy at all, and it will save you lots of money. When you replace cartridges you are throwing away half of the ink that remains in the sponge, thats right, the sponge holds 50% or more of the ink in the cartridges.

Also the ip5000 will clog easier then all others, doe to the fact that the printhead has smaller wholes, therefore stay away from COLORBAT and MIS ink. MIS will give you good color, but it will clog the ip5000, so I would not use it. You could pre-mix MIS ink 50/50 with other inks that are not known for clogging and that will not clog the printhead, that has been my experience.

You should save an empty cartridge of each color, and refill it with WINDEX. If your prinhead ever clogs, just replace the ink cartridges with the windex ones and print a few sheets of each color, and if you have to leave it overnight, do it and that should unclog your printhead.

Now, going back to the ink, this would not give good results on the other canons, but on the ip5000 I have had some satisfactory results. First try the Costco IMS ink, if that is that is good than you have solved your problem, also you will find that the Costco ink comes in nice bottles with a syringe tip that makes it very easy and clean to refill cartridges. I have been using a 50/50 mix of MIS and Costco IMS ink and I think the results have been good. To avoid a mess in refilling cartridges, get some rubber plugs fro RE-INK, at 10-Cents a piece, they are great and I order them 100 at a time.

If you want brand new refillable cartridges, I get them from ACUJETUSA at $1.85 a piece and I have been very pleased with them, some of them I have refilled over 30 times, and they are still good. I also refill my cartridges right in the printer, without removing them, that minimizes the possibilities of the ink drying in the printhead or the lower sponge of the cartridge.

I hope this helps.

Robert

 

[RC]

Just tested the Costco IMS ink on my ip500, and it prints with a green-bluish tint, so that is out.
Even the mixiture if Costco IMS and MIS is not so good.

Sorry.
Robert

 

[RC]

So far Formulabs/Sensient BCI-6 is the best i have tried for the ip5000, and that is what i am using currently.

I understans that Alotofthings carries this ink. Make sure it is the BCI-6 kind, not BCI-8 or any other.

Robert

 

[RC]

Prior to running the test I had tested a print with ColorBat ink which clogged my printhead.

I cleaned the printhead and I ran the test again. These are the results when printing with the ip5000.

As far as the closest to Canon original ink, the Costco IMS is the closest, both print with a slight green tint.

The very best was the print using a pre-mix of 50% Formulabs BCI-6 and 50% MIS. This ink is the best, especially if you are concerned with skin tones.

Formulabs BCI-6 was 2nd with more subdued skin tones.

Costco IMS was 3rd with to much of a green tint for skin tones.

Canon Ink was last with the greenest with skin tones.

I used Costco paper for the test. Costco paper always prints a little greener then Canon paper.

The nicest thing about the ip5000 is that it is not as difficult to calibrate the colors as with the 6-color printers.

I hope this is of some help to you.

 

[bmht]

Hi

I appreciate your answers, and you are making me think on refilling, but still I don't know wich would you pick up from the list for cartridges alone.

About refilling, I might consider it, and you mentioned a lot of places, but I googled the things and couldn't find a place to buy the ink as you said.

Could you please also provide links with the explanation? I'm sorry but I'm rather new at this refilling world.

Thank you!

 

[RC]

To get the best results you are better off refilling.

if you let me know what kind of photos you are printing, such as, potraits, or specialties, i can tell you which i prefer.

Robert

 

[bmht]

I mostly print portraits and landscapes

Also I love to print street photography and portraits in black and white

Thank you!

 

[RC]

I just ran more tests, and based on the results and the fact that I am going to assume that you print with the COLOR ADJUSTMENT set to AUTO, this is what I recommend.

The three best in AUTO were CANON, Costco IMS and a 50/50 mix of Costco IMS with MIS.

Compared to the results you are getting from Canon ink, the Costco IMS was slightly less RED and slightly lighter, but not very much difference; you probably would not notice at all, very good results. As for the 50/50 mix, the results were slightly darker than Canon, this you would probably not notice.

The pick is a tossup, which ever you decide, you would be happy with it. If I had to choose I would probably choose the 50/50 mix, but it is close one.

Since you mentioned that you are in South America, it may be easier for you to obtain the Costco IMS, been that you mentioned that you use their paper, and I am assuming that they also carry the ink where you are.

As for the web-sites, here they are:

ACUJETUSA, for the Empty Cartridges.
http://acujetusa.com

RE-INK, for the rubber plugs, they are great plugs.
http://www.re-inks.com/refill-accessories.asp

MIS Associates Inc., for bulk ink. Do not use their ink alone, without mixing it with another brand or it will clog your Cyan printhead.
http://www.inksupply.com/

ALOTOFTHINGS.COM. I heard that the carry Formulabs/Sensient ink, but I am not sue.
Make sure it is the BCI-6 Series ink.
http://www.alotofthings.com/

SENSIENT Imaging Technologies, they are wholesaler for Formulabs, the may tell you who their distributors are.
http://www.formulabs.com/

Also I would buy the Costco ink anyway, their bottles are very handy and clean for refilling.

I hope this can help you

Robert

 

[bmht]

Thank you again Robert

I'm going to keep reading and investigating.

I'm going to buy cartridges either from inkgrabber (not to refill) or the alotofthings (to refill)

Also I need to get in touch with the acujet and re-ink guys, since they don't seem to accept international payments without previous arrangements.

It's not easy to get the Costco ink for me
I have to relly either on ebay or internet sites that accept international payments. I got the Cotsco paper because last december I traveled to Fl, and got me some of it and I'm glad I did.

It also seems that I'm going to buy in the future the gretamacbeth eye one, I know the 2 version is out but I think the older one will do the job, and profile prism. That alone will make my head ache for a while I bet.

I'm going to keep asking questions here if you don't mind, and I really appreciate your help

Belen