Old photographer interested in DIY printing

[PalaDolphin]

I'm a semi-retired Software Engineer now focused on photography. I have quite a bit of camera equipment for someone on a fixed income; what can I say, it's the love of my life.
I grew up at age 15 with a darkroom in the house I'd built myself, bulk loaded my own film, and printed my own photographs using an enlarger. So, it's only natural that I should start using refillable cartridges and do my own printing. Note: I haven't started doing this yet.
I own two old printers: HP 7760 and Epson RX500 (the latter not printing at the moment). In a few weeks, I'm buying the affordable Canon PIXMA iX6820 for $150 and can't justify paying 1/3 the price of the printer for ink cartridges. I'm doing my research into non-OEM ink and refillables. After reading postings on this forum, I've decided to jump head first into investing in refillable cartridges.
I'm a member of my local Saint Paul Camera Club (est. 1893) of Minnesota where I've won 12 awards. I'm currently working on building my website into a photo gallery and will let you all know when it's complete.
And I'm into vintage watches.

-=- PalaDolphin

 

[The Hat]

Hi @PalaDolphin and welcome, there are many members who are very interested in Photography, so you’re in good company here.

While iX6820 is a very nice printer, you can get robbed buying new inks for it, the only other option and the best way to go is to use 3rd party inks and refillable cartridges.

But this printer is still limited and can be tedious to work with because of its very small footprint which is the last thing you need when trying to print your latest creation.

A better way to go is to check out B and H who have the Pixma Pro-100 for $49.99 after rebate of $250. The deal includes 13 x 19 photo paper, this deal comes up just about every week or so, and there are even many of these printers on Craig list for sale.

If you want archival prints, then try the Pro 10...

 

[PalaDolphin]

Thanks @The Hat for the Pro-100 suggestion, but I wouldn't be able to afford the $250 mail-in rebate for like 6 weeks or so. That gave me the idea about my local National Camera Exchange because they usually have instant rebates, but their deal is worse. I've seen them give better deals around Christmas, but I can't wait. And after surviving two used printers, I want to start with a new printer with my own history and pamper it.

 

[The Hat]

@PalaDolphin, Craigs list have brand new never used printers for $99 too.
Go on spoil yourself with a new Pro printer, you'll not regret it..

 

[PalaDolphin]

Craig's list, I'll have to check that out. Thanks @The Hat.

 

[PalaDolphin]

I found a new in-box Canon Pixma Pro-100 for $75 on Craig's List w/o ink. The seller has two printers and took the ink from the other. I'll buy refillable cartridges.

 

[The Hat]

I found a new in-box Canon Pixma Pro-100 for $75 on Craig's List w/o ink. The seller has two printers and took the ink from the other. I'll buy refillable cartridges.

@PalaDolphin, Congratulations on you your great find, but don’t go and spoil both your pleasure and this lovely machine by putting refillable cart in it, try EBay for empty OEM carts and refill them..

Check out: - http://www.precisioncolors.com/PC42.html

 

[Roy Sletcher]

@PalaDolphin, Another convert into the fold!

You can purchase used and empty OEM carts from Octoink.

http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Canon-Pro%2d100-EMPTY-CLI%2d42-Cartridge-Set.html

About US$27.00 for the set. Genuine used OEM including the chip.

However if your budget would stretch, I would recommend getting a new OEM set from wherever is cheapest and use them for your first prints.

Advantages are:

• You can test the printer and printing without the complication of third party components to muddy the waters. You will also be able to familiarize yourself with t he printer. It is a relatively tame beast but has a small learning curve.

• It will give you time to acquire the expertise, and if necessary the cash, to start refilling. There is a small upfront cost, but a huge ROI down the road. My calculation is that a full set of OEM carts will give approx 50 8x10 prints depending on subject, substrate, and coverage.

• With your OEM carts functioning well MAKE A STANDARD TEST PRINT on a couple of your favourite papers. Label, date it, and file for future reference. Do the same when you start using third party inks. When, (NOT if) at sometime in the future, you get strange inexplicable results, you will have a known standard for troubleshooting comparisons.

Both Precision Colors and Octoinkjet have excellent videos on their sites explaining the whole process.

By now you have probably found our own JToolman's excellent set of videos on Youtube. It really is a simple as portrayed in has videos.

Welcome to the world of refilling. It makes quality printing affordable.

rs

 

[stratman]

Are we still recommending to not refill the Canon Pro-100 OEM Yellow cartridge for fear of the "Yello Gello" clog?

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Are we still recommending to not refill the Canon Pro-100 OEM Yellow cartridge for fear of the "Yello Gello" clog?

Precision colors are still recommending it on their website, and his refill kit gives a cleaned CL-8 cart for refilling the yellow, only requires a chip change. I am still following that method on the, "better safe than sorry", theory. After all it is a small initial inconvenience rather than risk a complete printhead.

I am pretty sure Octoinkjet's position is that his refill inks come from a different supplier, and does not have the gello yello problem. Of course I do not speak for him, so check his website to be 100% sure.

RS