Paper & Ink advice (quality vs price) - iP8750

Hi all, I'd love some gleam some knowledge from the group...

I'm considering buying a printer (iP8750 A3+ Canon). Having not owned a photo printer for a very long time and being relatively poor I'm finding the question of ink & paper quality baffling and off-putting. Prices range massively and seemingly so do opinions.

I'm printing solely for my own pleasure, I use a D600 and want to be able to print decent quality prints to hang on my walls and collection.

So.. Inks.. original Canon inks cost approx. £80 for a set.. or I can buy 3 sets for £12 on Amazon. These cheap inks have over a 100 reviews singing their praises, with an ave. rating of 4.5/5. Yet i hear other sources say you should/must use the original inks for either print results or for not breaking the printer. With original inks at 20 times the price of generic inks..... my spider senses are tingling! Basically WTF is the real story here?

So.. Paper, kind of the same story, except massive choice as well as massive price range. I'd love some advice on paper, with no little knowledge regarding the difference between 30p a sheet and £1.50 a sheet printing results, I need help understanding where a good quality vs price point is without trying out a ton of paper and ink. I'd imagine paper quality is important for results, can anyone suggest a range or brand that gives good results for a fair price.

The bottom line is.. I don't want to be buy this printer if at the end of the day i'm left with a choice of either very expensive running/printing costs with good results verse cheap running with poor results. (I know quality can be very subjective) If that was the case I'd prefer to carry on using a mix of pro online & cheap high street printing services that I presently use.

Sadly money is tight and want to buy with my eyes wide open!

Thanks for any help and advice.

Doesn't Canon do Rebates in the U.K. ???????? They sell better printers than that for less money(net after rebate)...

I don't find my consumable prices much lower than ordering prints from a print shop. In fact, probably higher. The benefit is, the immediacy... If I need a print tomorrow... I can print it/make a change/print another, right now. I don't have a problem with non-OEM inks because my printer allows me to calibrate it for whatever color shift the inks produce... same with brightness and contrast with the paper...

Watoh said:

Hi all, I'd love some gleam some knowledge from the group...

So.. Paper, kind of the same story, except massive choice as well as massive price range. I'd love some advice on paper, with no little knowledge regarding the difference between 30p a sheet and £1.50 a sheet printing results, I need help understanding where a good quality vs price point is without trying out a ton of paper and ink. I'd imagine paper quality is important for results, can anyone suggest a range or brand that gives good results for a fair price.

Click to expand...

I can't really be of much help when it comes to inks for your printer, but some really outstanding and reasonably priced photo-paper comes from Costco and is sold under the Kirkland brand name.

Am-a-zon.uk sells it through numerous third-party vendors so you should be able to find it easily. You're looking for Kirkland Professional Glossy Inkjet. A box of 150 sheets sells for about £27. There are a lot more reviews here, on Am-a-zon dot com, if you care to read them.

FredKingston said:

Doesn't Canon do Rebates in the U.K. ???????? They sell better printers than that for less money(net after rebate)...

I don't find my consumable prices much lower than ordering prints from a print shop. In fact, probably higher. The benefit is, the immediacy... If I need a print tomorrow... I can print it/make a change/print another, right now. I don't have a problem with non-OEM inks because my printer allows me to calibrate it for whatever colour shift the inks produce... same with brightness and contrast with the paper...

Click to expand...

Not sure about rebates. But i was looking to buy it from Amaz-on as i was given £200 vouchers. This is £199 with set of inks. Seemed like the best option..

But you are right regarding the immediacy of home printing, this is the driving factor.

Horoscope Fish said:

I can't really be of much help when it comes to inks for your printer, but some really outstanding and reasonably priced photo-paper comes from Costco and is sold under the Kirkland brand name.

Am-a-zon.uk sells it through numerous third-party vendors so you should be able to find it easily. You're looking for Kirkland Professional Glossy Inkjet. A box of 150 sheets sells for about £27. There are a lot more reviews here, on Am-a-zon dot com, if you care to read them.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's helpful. I'll check it out.