Canon ImagePROGRAF Charleston WV

Reader Score: 8.74 (out of 10)

Review: "In May, 2006 Canon began shipping the iPF5000 printer. This is a 12 ink, pigment-based, 17" carriage photographic printer capable of printing in 16 bit mode. It is physically large, moderately priced (for what it does), and, as will be seen, surpasses just about every other fine-art inkjet printer yet available, in terms of both image quality and convenience of features.

Canon, being the 800 pound gorilla of the photographic industry, seems to have now made a corporate commitment not to allow Epson's virtual monopoly on professional wide carriage photographic printers to go unchallenged. With the iPF5000 they have taken aim squarely at the Epson 4800, accurately targeting all of that printer's flaws, and in some ways surpassing its well recognized first-rate image quality.

f you do not currently own a printer of this type, then I would regard the decision to purchase as a fairly straightforward one. The Canon iPF 5000 offers a combination of image quality and productivity advantages that are quite compelling. If you own a previous generation printer of this general size and capability then only you can answer the question of budget and need, based on your own circumstances." ...