Conclusion

I have been waiting for this printer for over one year, and in that time we have seen the launch of HP's 9180 and the Epson Pro 3800 printers. So has Canon missed the boat with the Pro 9500?

I don't think so, Canon have a loyal following and any user that uses a Canon camera will probably be looking at the Pixma printers.

Is the Pro 9500 the ultimate printer?

I think Canon have made an excellent job with both the Pro 9000 and the Pro 9500 printers. The 9500 uses Lucia pigment inks which should guarantee a print life of 100+ years for colour and 200+ years for B/W. Of course these figures are for prints stored and viewed under ideal conditions. For most user the prints are going to last for a lifetime and well beyond.

Almost all of top of the range printers are more than capable of producing outstanding quality prints that can rival anything produced in the darkroom - and many middle of the range printers are also producing photographic quality prints that can't be overlooked. So what do we want from a printer? We are looking for features that are going to suit our style of photography, such as an extensive range of media types, which in turn require other features such as straight paper path, decent profiles, CD/DVD printing, ease of use, and longevity etc.

The Pro 9500 is a well designed and sturdy unit, it inspires confidence from the outset. In terms of build quality, it is very robust. The 8 section steel chassis body is made from 1.6mm thick reinforced steel - I think this is the same stuff the British Army uses to make their cannons. Throughout the printer there is a lot of attention to detail, including a set of rear wheels to help you move the printer forwards on your desk (these will save you a lot of backache - a nice touch.), metal output rollers to protect the prints as they pass through the printer. A flat paper path that accepts media up to 1.2mm in thickness, an excellent rear paper feed system (although I wasn't too impressed with the flimsy media guide). In short I would have no hesitation in using this in a busy studio environment. The printer was very easy to set up and I was producing excellent quality prints within minutes of powering up.

The Canon Pixma Pro 9500 has been producing excellent quality prints over the last week. With Glossy and Semi Gloss media , it surpassed my expectations. With Fine Art media I was disappointed at first, until I started printing portraits. I will be giving more thought to media type for image type in future, this printer really brought that point home to me. The 3 pl droplet size together with a resolution of 4800 x2400 dpi ensures grain (dot) free smooth image quality. For b/w printing using Glossy and Semi gloss media Canon has got it spot on, no-one could complain about the image quality. Using Fine Art Media the prints looked very flat, they lack that WOW factor. I am sure that this will be tweaked over the next few months, its still early days for this printer.

.Although I found a few faults with the Easy-PhotoPrint Pro plug-in, it has the potential to become an indispensable item for any digital photographer, I hope Canon develops the plug-in into a stand alone application or incorporates it into the actual printer properties dialog panel. I thought some of the other software applications, such as Easy PhotoPrint and Easy LayoutPrint were better suited to entry level printers. If someone at Canon thought that a professional would want them, then they have misjudged the market. Having said that, I thought the CD Label Print was very good and have used it several times (with other PIXMA printers).

With a correct choice of media to match subject matter, this printer is capable of producing stunning looking photographs. The picture of Sophie on page 12a, using Museum Etching media looks stunning - I will get it framed and hang it on our wall, I don't often do that with prints produced for a review. The 10 inks produced very strong colours on Glossy media, I would even go as far as to say they are on par with most dye inks. I am sure with more perseverance and new profiles that I could achieve dynamic colours with the Fine Art media too.

Ink usage   15th May 2007 Total A4 plain paper media 0   20 A4 Photo media 0   15 A3 Photo media 0   7         The ink levels are just starting to go down

Ink usage would seem to be very low, I personally wouldn't put too much trust in this level indicator. The 10 ink cartridges each contain 14ml of ink and cost £10.99 per ink (£109.90 for a complete set). This compares well with the other two A3 pigment printers.

Should you buy this printer?

There is no doubt that this printer is capable of producing excellent prints, but as with any new model it needs a period to settle in and maybe some new profiles for the Fine Art Media. The Pro 9500 probably won't entice Epson and HP owners to trade in their printers, especially at the price point Canon has set. The Pro 9500 printer will no doubt appeal to many users and they won't be disappointed.

EXTRA item.

This whole issue of Fine Art Media printing with the Pro 9500 has been bugging me for the past two days, so I am going to run a Hahnemuhle Fine Art Print through the HP B9180 and see if the colours are better, worse or equal the Pro 9500.

Scan of HP B9180 print	Top Canon Pro 9500 - Bottom HP B9180
HP B9180	Canon Pro 9500
Canon Pro 9500
HP B9180

All the above prints were made using the same settings. The Canon colour print shows a bit more saturation than the HP print. But the HP prints have a deeper black. I stand by my findings.

Price - £650

Pros:
Straight paper path
Excellent build quality
B/W printing (with Glossy and Semi Gloss media)

Cons:
B/W printing on Fine Art media
Easy-PhotoPrint Pro still needs attention
USB 2.0 port only
Price

Best UK price being searched for	US Visitors $839.99
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