Photo printers

[joe2812]

Thinking of getting my Dad a printer which you connect direct to your camera, one of the wee ones, but know nothing about them and the only person who would know, is my Dad, which would ruin the surprise somewhat.

I know he has an Olympus Mju-400 Digital, which was my present to him a couple of years back, does this mean it'll only connect to an Olympus printer?

If anyone has had any experiences with 'em, or can suggest a good-un (nice and cheap like), i'd appreciate a bit of guidance!

Thanks all.

[Conan the Librarian]

I am getting mightily hacked off with an advert on Classic FM for the Canon something or other "photo printerrrrrr!!!!" which is currently sporting a free battery pack (£50 apparently)but would remind all that this is rather like razors. They give you the razor for sod all, but you will get badly and yet closely shaved when it comes to refills.

In a month or so, this will be no great problem as the compatible cartridge manufacturers will have their head around new models by then, but in the meantime, be warned!

Conan

[seacue]

Presumably any printer which will accept the xD memory card can be used.

But have you worked out the economics of printing at home? Even forgetting the first cost of the printer you may find that it's cheaper to get prints made at a store.

When you factor in the cost of the printer, you have to make a lot of prints to come out ahead economically.

Of course there is the covenience factor of being able to print at home.

My HP 7850 is more a general-purpose printer but it will print from an xD memory card (and a number of other types of memory cards) without being connected to a computer.

For somewhat more money one gets a display on the printer which allows some editing. The 7850 also allows the card's contents to be read into your computer if desired.

[Basil]

Whilst appreciating that it's not the answer to your question, I recently bought a Canon Pixma IP8500 for GBP230.
Younger daughter wanted camera printer but I lashed out on a big un - Yeah, I know, I've heard of Freud.
V pleased with photo print quality; 8 separate ink tanks; A4/Letter; v easy to use computer software; USB connection directly to camera using PictBridge industry standard (don't know if Mju-400 is PictBridge compliant) but doesn't directly accept memory cards.
Works a lot better than my old Lexmark 7000 apropos lack of banding, paper tracking, label positioning etc.
Agree with comments re price per print cf taking disc/card to shop but you're paying for convenience.
Cost of photopaper from, e.g., Staples, not too bad so if you're going for an A4 print, the price isn't prohibitive.

threadcreep ps: Found digital camera shutter lag a problem for action shots (whale/people watching) so kept the old film camera and just get a CD with prints.

[WeatherJinx]

Conan

You're absolutely correct. I was recently at a seminar at a very well-known American Ink manufacturer* and learned that it would cost $89,000 to fill the tank of the average family car with ink-jet ink (not that you'd want to).

Tip - the japanese printers tend to be cheaper on a cost-per-print basis ;)

*AKA Printer donator.. second word ends in 'ackard'.. :E

[amanoffewwords]

Colour laser printers are going steadily down in price - the liquid ink cowboys have their days numbered imho.