Caffeine Priority: First impressions of Canon’s new PRO-1000 printer (do you like deep blacks?)
posted Friday, November 6, 2015 at 6:22 AM EDT
I was very pleased when my review unit of the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 arrived last Friday. As someone who has been printing on an Epson 3880 for the last five-plus years, I couldn't wait to try out the new Canon printer and see what they have up their sleeves. After a pretty easy set-up process, the PRO-1000 was ready to go!
My first test print was an 8 x 10 print on one of the five 8.5 x 11" sample sheets of Photo Paper Pro Luster that came packaged with the printer. I printed a night scene that poses a good challenge to any printer.
Copyright: Jeremy Gray
The PRO-1000 handled the image with ease. The final output matched my calibrated monitor quite well and was for me a proper representation of the image. Where my 3880 has always impressed me is with its ability to properly represent detail in the dark areas of my images, while still maintaining deep black levels, the PRO-1000 does this even better!
Looking at both 3880 and PRO-1000 luster prints of my "Portrait of a Heron," the PRO-1000's blacks are noticeably deeper. I will be reviewing the new Epson SureColor P800 soon, so I will be very curious to see how the PRO-1000 compares the P800.
After exhausting my 8.5 x 11" sample sheets, it was time to move on to 17 x 22" paper, the maximum print size of the PRO-1000. Canon generously supplied me with 17 x 22" sheets of Pro Luster, Pro Semi-Gloss, and Pro Premium Matte papers. Canon states that the PRO-1000 can print a 17 x 22" image in 4 minutes, 10 seconds. This stated time must be for a print at a 'standard' print setting within the print dialog rather than 'highest' because my print at 'highest' took about four times longer than that. The wait was worth it, though. I'm happy to report that the PRO-1000 renders fine details very well at large print sizes. Color, detail, and contrast was all rendered excellently on the chosen Pro Luster paper.
I have a lot more testing to do with the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 printer, which is available now for just under $1300 USD. Look for my review in the coming weeks. In the meantime, for a run-down of all the new features of the PRO-1000, check out William Brawley's preview.
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Caffeine Priority is a new series of short photo-tidbits to ease you into your day, and give us a chance to share a bit more of what life’s like here at IR. We're more like a group of friends testing and talking about cameras and lenses than the buttoned-down, big-corporation world that some of our photo-friends at other companies work in; hopefully these little snippets will share some of that. So... grab another coffee and join in the conversation with us down below!
