Canon iPF6450 vs Epson 7900 Comparison

[AngusPady]

I recently wrote a comparison between the Canon iPf6450 and the Epson 7900 printers. They are both amazing devices capable of stunning picture quality. But I was more interested to see how the two printers compared when used in production day in day out. I'm considering writing more reviews, let me know if this is helpful.

You will find the review at the link below.

Canon iPF6450 vs Epson 7900 Comparison

Angus Pady
www.ColourManagement.ca

 

[kdw75]

I recently wrote a comparison between the Canon iPf6450 and the Epson 7900 printers. They are both amazing devices capable of stunning picture quality. But I was more interested to see how the two printers compared when used in production day in day out. I'm considering writing more reviews, let me know if this is helpful.

You will find the review at the link below.

Canon iPF6450 vs Epson 7900 Comparison

Angus Pady
Monitor Calibration | Epson Printer Ink | X-Rite and Colormunki - Colour Management

Your review layout was nice and the tables and charts looked good.

Our company has two of the 9900s that we use regularly, so I am pretty familiar with them. You mentioned that the Canon would auto clean the heads, while the Epson required intervention. This is not the case. The Epsons, when auto cleaning is turned on, will monitor the heads and clean them when needed, even if it means pausing the print job in the middle, performing the cleaning, then resuming the job. We probably have around one minor clog per day that it cleans, and it handles it without operator intervention.

I also wanted to point out something about the print head replacement on each brand. You mention at the beginning that you are looking at these being used in a production environment. Anyone who uses these in that fashion should count on having a service contract on them, meaning that the repair cost of the parts isn't really an issue. Even if you don't have a service contract then you may be better off with the Epson, here is why I say that. The Epson printheads, from what I have read and heard, tend to last longer than the Canons, and when you replace the Canon's your looking at $900 or more for the parts. So that $1500, which according to Epson is actually only $1180, plus service costs, may not be much more if it lasts a fair amount longer.

When we purchased our current Epsons, we looked at Canon, but the deal killer, was that they couldn't print on heavy media, because of their curved paper path. In business, this can be a major factor.

Finally, I wanted to say that your review is the only one I have seen that awarded the image quality crown to the Canon. Every other review I have seen says that the Epson is the hands down winner in tonal smoothness and sharpness, probably because it squirts smaller dots than the Canon.

 

[AngusPady]

Your review layout was nice and the tables and charts looked good.

Our company has two of the 9900s that we use regularly, so I am pretty familiar with them.

Thank you for your input, let me clarify where I can. You are correct, the Epson will do an auto cleaning as does the Canon. My experience is that the Epson's clog more. Once a day, is a lot and every time the Epson does an auto cleaning, it is wasting ink and money. The Canon, in my 5 month test NEVER clogged. Not once. It never needed to be checked, it would fire up after a week of sitting idle and print without any issues.

The previous generation Canon heads did wear out more quickly, this generation seems to be doing better. I have two production customers that have been running them for a year without issue.

The cost of a Canon print head is $597 CAD or $413 US. Much less than the previous generation heads. The heads can be replaced by the user. Epson requires a service call and a minimum of $500.00 on top of the $1400 head, $1400 is the price for a print head in Canada. That's a huge difference!

Canon PF-04 Print Head for ImagePrograf Printers 3630B003AA B&H

Epson does have the advantage for sure on the straight paper path and loading media.

The Canon has a lower L* value, a very slightly bigger colour gamut and in my opinion was equal to the Epson except for the darker blacks.

When I magnified the printouts x35 on both printers I thought the Canon had a better dot placement. GMG has started to recommend the Canon's for dot proofing over the Epson's. That says a lot.

 

[kdw75]

Thank you for your input, let me clarify where I can. You are correct, the Epson will do an auto cleaning as does the Canon. My experience is that the Epson's clog more. Once a day, is a lot and every time the Epson does an auto cleaning, it is wasting ink and money. The Canon, in my 5 month test NEVER clogged. Not once. It never needed to be checked, it would fire up after a week of sitting idle and print without any issues.

The previous generation Canon heads did wear out more quickly, this generation seems to be doing better. I have two production customers that have been running them for a year without issue.

The cost of a Canon print head is $597 CAD or $413 US. Much less than the previous generation heads. The heads can be replaced by the user. Epson requires a service call and a minimum of $500.00 on top of the $1400 head, $1400 is the price for a print head in Canada. That's a huge difference!

Canon PF-04 Print Head for ImagePrograf Printers 3630B003AA B&H

Epson does have the advantage for sure on the straight paper path and loading media.

The Canon has a lower L* value, a very slightly bigger colour gamut and in my opinion was equal to the Epson except for the darker blacks.

When I magnified the printouts x35 on both printers I thought the Canon had a better dot placement. GMG has started to recommend the Canon's for dot proofing over the Epson's. That says a lot.

You mentioned the Canon print head price. Doesn't the canon take two of those? In effect doubling the listed price for replacing them when they wear out?

 

[AngusPady]

You are correct and the heads will usually fail at similar times.

 

[Glenn McDowall]

a couple of years ago we had a Canon ip8400 and an Epson7600, my experience was that we were constantly head cleaning the Epson almost couple of days but the only time the Canon banded was when the head failed after about three years of intermittent use (we used them for proofing only, not production).
Currently I'm using a Epson 9800 and the banding is really quite bad, requiring head cleans almost every 3 or 4 proofs, does anyone know if this frequency indicates the heads require changing?

 

[AngusPady]

Epson's, when used often need to have the wiper blade assembly replaced or at least cleaned once a year. It is an easy replacement see this link for how to on the 7900. Not sure if it is the same on your printer. When this part gets dirty, the print heads will keep picking up gunk from the dirty wiper blade. Another reason Epson heads clog is in a very dry environment. Try putting a humidifier in the same room. But I'd say it's probably the wiper blade. Check how many prints have gone through. If it's over 3000 get it cleaned. Find a tech that will come in every 6 months and clean this part. It will pay for itself in the ink wastage in cleaning cycles. Or buy a Canon and the issue will be resolved.

MY X900 | before you firebomb your Epson X900, try this..

 

[Correct Color]

Finally, I wanted to say that your review is the only one I have seen that awarded the image quality crown to the Canon. Every other review I have seen says that the Epson is the hands down winner in tonal smoothness and sharpness, probably because it squirts smaller dots than the Canon.

Well, the smallest dot size on the Epson is 3.5 picoliter, and on the Canon it's 4.0 picoliter.

That's just not enough difference to make any difference in print quality.

The fact is that either of these machines will yield spectacular prints.

What's important to remember is the little understood truism in this industry that Profiles Are Everything.

Either of these machines, driven by a RIP and profiled to squeeze out every bit of their capability at a certain resolution on a particular media for a given purpose, will crush the other if the other is using inadequate profiles.

Myself, if I had to pick one, I'd probably go with the Canon, only because it has violet its inkset, and I am a little -- maybe irrationally -- leery of Epson printheads.


Mike Adams
Correct Color

 

[nidur]

Very nice review and discussion about these printers.

I tend to lean more towards Canon after using both for a long time.

In my experience the Epson clogs up faster printing on a little rougher paper.