Decent, somewhat portable printer?

[Vedauwoo]

I need advice on setting up a "portable" setup....I am using the Canon 40D and need a good quality printer I can take on the road with me.....

any recommendations? A good quality vs. price is what I am seeking....prints no larger than 8x10.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Vedauwoo

I need advice on setting up a "portable" setup....I am using the Canon 40D and need a good quality printer I can take on the road with me.....

any recommendations? A good quality vs. price is what I am seeking....prints no larger than 8x10.

Define "on the road" here. Are you flying to your destination? Driving? What type of power is available? Are you looking for a TRUE portable setup, with printing anywhere, or something that can be packed up into a good size Pelican case and survive transit between two sites but still function as a stationary printer?

And "good quality" is a bit subjective as well. What's your standard here? Same with price.

[Vedauwoo]

"On the road" = Something "tabletop" that I could take via car, truck, train, plane.....a simple peripheral that could be attached to a laptop to make prints on the spot for clients/folks I meet as I go. I've seen some really nice prints come from some of these "canon" photo printers that come from local "big box" retailers....so perhaps something along those lines or slightly higher quality...I have yet to ever purchase one, so any "education" you guys care to provide will be appreciated.

"Good Quality" = Well, here my ignorance may not serve me well.....but, like I said, something that can make nice prints with good colour and resolution up to 8x10 or so. I am coming to digital from shooting Medium format.....so I guess by quality I mean, "along the lines of a traditional 8x10 'chemical' print from a 645 or 6x7 negative." (I do realize that, according to many, the Med. Format traditional print is superior to the digital..but something that comes close)

"Good Price" = How's under $1000? If that is too low, perhaps less than $2000?

I don't have alot fo knowledge of what is available in digital, as I am still getting used to it...My hope was a set up that would allow me to do alot of my own work without dealing with a lab...something I could upgrade from in another year or two...but something I could use to make cash now for that upgrade.

[brian.austin]

The plane would probably be the toughest part. Packing for flights can be a bear with bigger equipment that may be susceptible to tossing about. I can't imagine what the average baggage handler might do to the alignment of a photo printer.

My mother-in-law had decent stuff coming from one of Canon's portable photo printers. It took a LONG time to print at the highest quality, though. Something like 5+ minutes. This was a couple of years ago.

That budget $$ should be easy enough for a portable with decent quality. Heck, $1000 will get a very good quality A4 printer with no problems.

[cyclohexane]

My dad received a free Epson R280 inkjet printer with the purchase of a new desktop computer at Fry's. The printer's valued at something like ~$70, which is at least how much it costs to get a new set of ink cartridges for it. Prints up to 8.5x11 inches. Printer should pack into a medium-sized Pelican case in case you need to travel, but like Brian said baggage handling might be a problem.

With Ilford's "Premium Photo Pearl Paper" the 8.5x11" prints look pretty much as good as the color prints I used to make (and will probably continue making sometime in the future) on Fuji Matte and Pearl RA papers, and a tad better than the Kodak papers I've used.

If you like glossy prints, there's this Kirkland photo paper from Costco that's basically the same as an equivalent Ilford product (manufactured by Ilford, or so I've been told). Looks pretty good, but I prefer other textures on my paper.