Hi all, please help a newbie with some ink reccomendations.

Hi all,

Having moved from an IX6550 (B200/dead at the moment) to an IP8750, I'm going to give refilling a go, rather than use cheap compatibles as I've previously done.
I've spent a fair few days searching the interweb and having stumbled across this helpful site - a fair few more reading through old threads and think I now have most of it reasonably sussed.

Having not used the IP8750 yet, I'm hoping to start with a good quality ink from the outset and stick with it, but am really having a hard time making the decision as to which one it should be. My prints will mainly be landscapes, both day and night, taken whilst not catching any fish, so quite a few. They are only for personal use between myself, friends and family but as I'm becoming quite addicted to this hobby, I would like to use an ink of reasonable quality. I appreciate though that the 3rd party inks will not quite match up to the genuine canon ones, especially in the fade resistance department.

Anyway, to cut to the chase here are links to the following shortlisted contenders:

http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/PGI550-%2b-CLI551-Refill-Kit-Bundle-inc'-Grey-[6-x-125ml].html

Pros - Very well thought of and recommended supplier, great 'squeezys' too. Cons (maybe?) - the ink used for these is not 'IS' as with most of their products but Prodinks and the little I can find suggests that this isn't necessarily as good as I'd have hoped for, even being compared to the much cheaper 'peach compatibles' in output. - Any feedback here, very much appreciated.

http://www.cityinkexpress.co.uk/che...p-series/refillable/dye-and-pigment/multipack

Pros - Again a good, legit supplier. Cons - From what I gather, in terms of quality of inks, not normally in the same league as OctoInkjet and certainly the FotoRite ink seems to get fair to middling reviews only. - As above any feedback greatly appreciated.

And now a bit of a curve ball, I know the general consensus is to avoid ebay, but after picking the bones from another thread on here I came up with this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CANON-iP7...FILLABLE-CARTRIDGES-GENUINE-OCP-/350995049376

If I could be sure this was genuine OCP ink I may be tempted with this over the other options. A quick 'Google' confirms that OCP did indeed release a set of 550/551 inks:

http://www.ocp.de/news/news-archive/891-new-ocp-inks-for-canon-pgi-550-cli-551-pgi-250-cli-251

Are these those though? I usually follow the 'if it sounds too good to be true...' ethos.

Whichever route I go I will buy the SquEasyFill kit form OktoInks and I will likely call them as well just to see why they have chosen to use Prodinks for the 550/551 kits rather than say the OCP option. Sorry for such a long first post but I wanted to be as thorough as possible and would very much like any feedback on the above inks, good, bad or indifferent and also, any other options - I'm all ears.

Many thanks - Steve.

Note to forum moderators - apologies not sure which section is best for this post so have duplicated into Non OEM Ink & Cartridge Suppliers as well - please feel free to delete either one if necessary.

There are various aspects to consider - you just need to believe your supplier of choice that the ink fits for your printer/printhead, does not clog the nozzle more than the original OEM ink. Some people go by the price when selecting a refill ink, others expect an ink to provide the same colors as the original inks. But since users using refill typically will use as well non-Canon photopapers they should be aware that the paper has as well a visible impact on the color representation as the ink itself. With that said I would advise you rather strongly to get icm-profiles created for the ink and papers of your choice, and then particular color shifts of 3rd party inks and papers are corrected, regardless. And there is another ink property pretty much unkown, suppliers do not provide any information about it - it is the size of the gamut , the range of colors and the maxímum color saturation you can acheive with that ink. You only can see the gamut once a profile has been created by measuring a set of color patches. And there is another ink property in which 3rd party inks differ rather strongly from the OEM inks - the UV/ozone stability of 3rd party inks is much lower than with OEM inks. This does not matter for lots of people but if you plan to expose your prints for an extended period to light, sun, fluorescent light you should be aware of the effect of fading. And about no ink supplier is willing or able to provide test data about their inks in this respect. So summing up all that I would recommend you to start with a more budget priced ink set, get color profiles for the papers you are using and be happy with your printouts.

Hi Steve and welcome, now if you’re going to use SquEasy bottles then why not get OctoInkjet inks as well, yes it’s Prodinks which are German made and so are of good quality, otherwise OctoInkjet would not stock them.

Cityexpress FotoRite ink is Korean as far as I know and the EBay seller reckons it’s OCP, all good brands, but like all dye inks they have a habit of fading so once your happy knowing that then it’s only a matter of deciding which to go for.

I buy from octoinkjet which sells larger bottles than the other two do, so yes I am a little bios towards them simply because I’ve never had any problems with any of their products.

Have fun with the new hobby of refilling, at least you wont smell of fish afterwards..

Of the suppliers you mentioned id take the octoink product. Product quality will be high and any issues you have will be supported by @websnail Delivery (if all is in stock) will be quick and packed snuggly see ink does not end up everywhere.

City ink express and OCP would be my second choice (maybe city ink express just nudging second as its UK based) and Ebay i personally would not touch with a barge pole.

I use the Prodinks 525/526 inks. This is another set (for reason of colour compatibilty whit OEM I suppose) than yours, but I wonder if the quality should be different.
I had no problems at all with colour differences (although I make my own profiles since I use non-brand papers), clogging or the like. The inks are quoted very well in tests.
There is only a problem with exposed prints to UV and ozon.
In the hot July days some prints faded very fast, while during the winter no change was seen for 6 months.
As I understood from private tests by other forum members this is common to most or all 3th party dye inks (and even OEM dyes are not for eternity).
I think you have to accept this for inks who cost 1/10 of the original Canons (same for the paper).
Personally I (and my family) use dye inks for all prints who should not last forever (since printers are cheap and uncomplicated) and pigment for photos I hang on the wall (or I know people to whom I am giving them will do).
I would like to find fade resistant 3th party dye inks, since dyes give more brillant glossy prints, but even if they should exist, they probably would cost more than pigments.
The only 3th party dyes who do not fade fast are in my experience the Peach inks (Swiss), but they are only available in prefilled cartridges at about half the price of Canons.
You could get a set of these and change cartridges in case you want to make prints who should live longer (framing behind glass helps a lot).

Hi again all, (warning, long rambling post ahead)

Replies very much appreciated and thanks for taking the time. I think taking all aspects on-board I will go with Octoinkjet. They had started as my first choice and are the clear winner here too. I did also make a quick call to them yesterday and although didn't get the chaps name would think it was Websnail I spoke to and must say he was very open and helpful. So being in the UK it makes absolute sense to use them.

@Ink stained Fingers - thanks - a lot to consider but I thought your line "and be happy with your printouts" was a great starting point. I have a little knowledge re profiles and it's certainly something I'll be looking into more. I know it can be done for you but I can see me wanting to buy the calibration kit to do it myself. Am still hankering after one or two more lenses at the moment though, so along with a better/calibrated monitor it will go on the 'to save for' list. I will though perhaps get an initial profile done by someone to get me going.

@palombian - thanks also - I can live with the fact that all the 3rd party Inks fall short of the OEM ones in the UV resistance dept. and if my photos/prints ever merit it, I can either have the odd one printed professionally with pigments or more likely, continue to turn my living room into something akin to a photography store and get my own pigment printer and run with a two machine setup; a man can never have enough gear for his hobby after all.

@CakeHole and @The Hat - again thanks - good to hear both your feedback/suggestions regards Octoinkjet, I'm confident that's the direction to go in. To The Hat, I very rarely manage to come home with that 'catch of the day aroma' but am ticking the 'take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints' box, on a regular basis ;-)

Sorry all for such a lengthy post again, - as it happens Ocktoink are waiting on a fresh batch of the 550/551 inks so it may be a week or two before I'm up and running but I will check back in with my initial results and perhaps talk about ColourMunki's, papers and profiles et al. Thanks again and happy printing all

I got some ink from Octoink as well, they appear to be quite a customer oriented and quality conscious company. When it comes to printer profiling, once you got a basic understanding of profiling, the need and how to activate the profiles it's all quite easy to start with. There are other threads about profiling running, ColorMunki is overall much better received than the Datacolor Spyder set. Having your own equipment makes it easier to experiment e.g. with different papers.

Thanks, I'm definitely pleased to be going with Octoink and I was thinking exactly what you say that having my own Munki would allow me to start experimenting with different papers. Also I believe there are models that will allow me to calibrate my monitor too.

I've avoided looking into this side of things too deeply to begin with as I fear it would really upset my bank manageress, but I will start reading through the other threads on the subject and hopefully sneak a purchase in when she's not looking

GoneFishin said:

I've avoided looking into this side of things too deeply to begin with as I fear it would really upset my bank manageress, but I will start reading through the other threads on the subject and hopefully sneak a purchase in when she's not looking

Click to expand...

As long as she doesn't limit your expense account for fishing gear!

Superb! - Never visited, but what a place to wet a line and on a drizzly grey old day here in Blighty those pictures make one want to start packing...

...Fishing gear and expense you say, not my words but seems apt:

"A fisherman’s worst fear is that when he dies his wife sells his equipment for what he told her it cost."