Full A4 print	Left shoulder
Left eye	Left eye detail

The prints above were made last month at the PIXMA launch party in Niece. I was gob smacked when I saw the quality of the iP8500 prints. Here we have an eight ink A4 printer that can produce photographs on your desktop that would put most professional labs to shame. Look at the very subtle shading of greens on the dress and the delicate skin tones. Canon have pulled out the stops with this printer - they will have yet another winner on their hands with the iP8500.

Full A4 print	Detail
Detail	Detail

The shot of Autumn trees shows how clean the colours are on the iP8500, the reds jump of the page and yet there isn't any sign of a colour cast in the pale stones.

The Canon i9950 printer impressed me and the i990 didn't, the iP8500 is everything the i990 should have been - unfortunately I couldn't say anything about this printer at the time of my i990 interactive review. I will give this printer a full in-depth interactive review as soon as it becomes available.

Click here for full specifications Canon's other PIXMA printers

Pricing, availability and reader enquiries

The PIXMA iP8500 will be available from October 2004 for around £329 inc. VAT

Reader enquiries:

UK - 08705 143723 / www.canon.co.uk

Eire - (01) 2052400 / www.canon.ie

All photographs were acquired using the EPSON Perfection 4870 scanner