There is a notion among serious photographers that if you don't make large print out off your photo collections, you will not know how good or bad of your photo. Today, I start my own digital dark-room with the Canon Pix Pro 9500 mk II printer together with the following hardwares and software:
1) Apple 24 inches i-mac
2) Western Digital (WD) 1TB external HD
3) Maxtor 640 G external HD
4) Adobe LR 2.6 and Photoshop CS3 for editing and indexing.
5) Spyder 2 express for monitor calibration.
I made a couple of A3+ (19 inches x 13 inches) size print using the Canon Photo Paper Plus (semi gross) paper. I am quite impressed with the quality of the print. The prints are with fine details and excellent color reproduction. I made the comparison between the print and the picture on the screen, the color is very identical. Here is the photo of my first A3 + print:
Collared Kingfisher in A3+ size print
Orange-breasted Flowerpecker in A4 size print
Side by side comparison
My Digital Darkroom
Overall here is what I like and dislike about the Canon Pix Pro 9500 mk II printer:
Like:
1) Easy to setup and operate.
2) Superb printing quality with fine details and color reproduction.
3) Good printing speed.
4) Dedicated black and grey ink tank, it produces superb black and white print.
Dislike:
1) It utilizes small ink tank, I was hoping it comes with 80 ml ink tank similar with the Epson 3880 series printer. It is more economical to have bigger ink tank.
Thanks for viewing.