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Review: Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II

Considering that you only need a 3-megapixel image for a top quality A4 print, the 12MP or more of most current digital cameras largely goes to waste. Switch to large-format printing with an A3+ printer that can output photo prints at sizes up to 483x329mm (19x13 inches) and you can view your photos in all their glory, as well as creating the bigger picture, ideal for framing and hanging on the wall. But it's not just size that matters, as there's also the potential for plenty of sophistication under the bonnet to ensure top quality results.Weighing in at 14.4kg, the Pro9000 Mark II is a heavyweight printer, even for an A3+ model, yet despite weighing twice as much as some competing printers such as the HP Photosmart B8550, it's still relatively compact at 660mm wide, 354mm deep and 191mm high, so doesn't demand an inordinate amount of real estate. Most of the extra weight is down to remarkably robust and solid build quality, which is a big plus point considering the printer's below-average price tag. There's no skimping on quality either, with a healthy 4800x2400dpi (dots per inch) maximum print resolution, generated by near-microscopic 2-picolitre ink droplets fed from eight ink cartridges. The conventional photo line-up of CMYK plus light cyan and light magenta is boosted with additional green and red inks, the overall result being a particularly wide gamut, or colour space, for added realism in photographic prints.It might sound a bit of a nightmare having eight individually replaceable cartridges but, over many weeks of testing, we found that the green and red inks lasted two or three times longer than some of the others, so separate cartridges make the printer barely any more expensive to run than most A4 models. We found the combined ink and paper costs worked out to around £1.50 and £3.35 for A4 and A3+ photo prints respectively. One thing that sets the Pro9000 Mark II apart from most of its competitors, including the Epson R2880, HP B8850 and Canon's own Pro9500 Mark II, is that it runs on dye-based rather than pigment-based inks. This is a major upside when you're printing on glossy paper, as it gives a much smoother sheen to photo prints. Pigment inks are normally better for matte paper, photo rag and canvas prints but, even here, the Pro9000 Mark II performs very well. It's super-fast too, outputting A4 normal photo quality prints in just under a minute, and highest-quality A3 prints in just three minutes 43 seconds, making it more than twice as fast as the Epson R2880 and over three times faster than the HP B8550.Fast, highly effective and fairly frugal for both purchase and running costs, the Pro9000 Mark II ticks all the right boxes for an A3+ photo printer. Typical of the breed, there are no built-in memory card slots or an LCD display, but at least you get a PictBridge port for direct printing from compatible cameras.We likedThe eight-ink line-up enables a frankly enormous colour space that does full justice to images from high-quality digital cameras. There's direct support for a wide range of Canon's own-brand photo papers, as well as good third-party equivalents, so you can keep your options open. For a dye-based printer, it works particularly well with matte and canvas-style papers.We dislikedAt the price, the Pro9000 Mark II is difficult to fault. The only real minus point is that the omission of any 'photo grey' cartridges makes it less than perfect if black and white photo printing is your passion. It's also noticeably heavier than most competing printers, which can be an issue if you store it away when you're not printing but, even so, we'd prefer to have the robust build quality rather than any weight loss. VerdictFor large-format glossy colour prints, the dye-based Pro9000 Mark II leaves pigment-based printers standing, with drop-dead gorgeous and lusciously smooth print quality. The only area in which it could do slightly better is black and white photo printing but, even here, there are some neat cool/warm tonal adjustment options.Related LinksRead more printer reviewsTechRadar's Reviews GuaranteeRelated StoriesReview: Canon PIXMA iP4700

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