Canon Printer Off Line

I have an older Canon photo printer that still puts out great prints. Locally stores have stopped carrying a full line of ink cartridges to keep me printing. B&H continues to carry the full line of cartridges for my printer. The 8 pack offers cost savings over individual cartridges. B&H also offers cost savings over the few items I can get locally.

The PIXMA PRO-200 literature promised enhanced color gamut in magenta and reds, deeper black expression, and improvement of dark color reproduction in red and blues. There were side-by-side comparisons on the Canon web site. I am getting similar results when I compare prints from the new printer to prints from my old one. This is a heavy printer, at over 30 pounds.  If you wish to take advantage of the rear feeding slots (for Art papers), you are going to need room in back of it.  Thus, it is not the sort of printer you should buy on the assumption that it will easily fit on your desk next to your monitor.  Think of it more as the smallest, least costly, printer in Canon’s workhorse “imagePROGRAF” line.  In fact, the outward appearance (and weight) of the PIXMA PRO-200 seems nearly identical to the imagePROGRAF PRO-300, which uses pigment inks (as opposed to the dye inks used by the PRO-200). It’s going to take me a while to grow into the capabilities of the PRO-200.  Someday I may actually try to print a 13 x 39 inch panorama.  The bottom line, though, is that the PRO-200 is clearly a step up from my old printer in its ability to produce engaging prints that highlight the emotional content of the photographs.

While shopping for a photo printer, I spent a lot of time reading various on-line reviews and watching Youtube videos. (BTW some very excellent photo printer reviews are on the Red River Paper website.) I decided on the Pixma Pro-200 because it matched my budget and my needs. I had been printing a various labs but the cycle time was too long and sometimes I was spending a lot of money for rather mediocre results. I do not need prints that will last 100 years but I do want to see what my images looks like on paper. One or two reviewers commented that a printer is the best piece of gear you can buy to increase your skill as a photographer. I can already see how I need to increase my skill level in composition and Lightroom development to get prints I like. The installation of the drivers and the Canon Professional Print and Layout software (Canon PPL) was very straightforward on my M1 MacPro Pro running MacOS Monterey 12.7.1 connecting to the printer with wired Gigabit Ethernet. It has been very easy to print on Canon and Red River of various sizes 8.5X11, 8x10, 5X7, and 4X6. Some prints are already out at a custom framing shop to be framed. The printer is rather large and weighs about 30 lbs. I wish the power cord was longer, and the documentation for the Canon PPL is minimalist at best but does explain how to print borderless prints. Red River Paper has a good tutorial on how to use non Canon papers and ICC profiles with Canon PPL and the Pro-200. I do 90% of my image development in Adobe Lightroom Classic. But so far the Canon PPL software has been so easy to use that I have not yet tried to use Lightroom Print Module to print to the Canon Pro-200. Bottom line: The colors and luminosity of the prints are beautiful, and match my calibrated LG UltraFine display. Bottom line: The colors and luminosity of the prints are beautiful, and match my calibrated LG UltraFine display.

If you just bought a Canon printer or any photo printer, this is a must buy. It's a great way to try out the Canon line of photo papers before committing to an entire pack.

I only buy Canon brand cartridges, even though they are a little more expensive. Off brands don't last as long.

Off brand used to 'hang' the printer however Brother branded inks work flawlessly, but expensive.

Using highest quality printer settings with High Speed OFF and correct paper and profile settings, the prints exiting my Epson 3800 exactly matched the images on my calibrated monitor. What more can one ask for? It is now my main paper for exhibition. B&H delivered it practically overnight, expertly packed.

The Vello Off-Camera TTL Flash Cord for Canon Cameras (6.5)  allows me to set up my flash on a stand off camera and give me room to move around to compose and recompose my subject while keeping the camera to flash TTL communications available.  Great addition to my kit.

I use the Vello Off-Camera TTL Flash Cord with my Custom Bracket (CB Folding-T) and Canon Speedlight 430 EX with my Canon 5D Mark II. I have no complaints with this product. It works very well with this setup. I have also used it with my old Canon 30D

Canon paper on a canon printer, it doesn't get much better than this.