Dye Sub! Is there anything else
Pros:
True photo images an inkjet cant come close to.
Cons:
No power button.
The Bottom Line:
Dye sub technology is affordable and the ultimate way to get a photo lab quality image.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
After seeing the multitude of inkjet photo printers boasting exaggerated dpi resolutions yielding sub standard results, I went on the search for a true photo printer. I use a dye sublimation printer at my job to print out digital images. I remember seeing the price tag for this unit at around $10,000. I thought this technology was totally untouchable until I saw a few manufactures putting out units priced from $200-$600. I own a Canon Powershot A20 and since many of these manufactures design these dye sub printers around their own cameras, I decided to go with the Canon CP-200.
This was the best photo related purchase I have ever made. I say this because buying a digital camera for the purpose of printing your own pics is useless if you cant print a true photo quality image. This unit is the missing link. The dye sublimation thermal transfer technology uses a 4 step process to create amazing images. The printer lays down a layer of yellow, magenta, and cyan. The last layer is a protective layer that shields it from sunlight and humidity damage. These pics will last much much longer than inkjet.
The printer interfaces with a USB cable connected to either the camera or you computer. Your Powershot camera allows you to control printing functions like boarder or boarderless image or viewing the image to be printed. If you print from the computer, your image and print options are endless.
Canon says the print time for a standard 4x6 image is around 80 seconds. It seems like is shorter than that.
COST SAVINGS:
I pay roughly $3 per roll of 24 exp. premium Kodak film and around $10 to have it developed. It averages out to .54 cents a picture. You also have to take into account the amount of "good" pictures in each roll of film developed. When you buy the 4x6 picture stock for the CP-200, it comes with 36 4x6 pic stock and the ink cartridge for. You can find it online at Amazon for $19 and free shipping. This averages out to be about .53 cents per pic. Now factor in that, with digital photography, you have the ability to print only the "good" pictures you like, eliminating any waste. You have 36 keepers.
PAPER OPTIONS:
You can buy picture stock in 4"x6" and 2"x3". Picture label(adhesive back)stock can be purchased in 2"x3" and 8 image mini labels. All packages come with the ink cartridge. These products are readily available at many retail and online stores.
THE PROS:
You can produce images that equal that of a image produced by a photo lab.
It has a true resolution of 300dpi and 256 layers if color so you can print images a 2.0 Megapixel or greater digital
camera.
Dye sublimation technology produces a full range of realistic tones and shadings, so color is natural and true to life.
Quiet operation.
CONS:
The only disadvantage I found that the CP-200 does not have a power button. The CP-300 has one.
I purchased the CP-200 for $151.00 from an online source. The shipping was free.
