Laser Printer for Amatuer Photographer?

Dabko

Hi

I am going buying a colour laser print for me da who is into the world of amatuer photography and the likes. Can anyone recommend a decent printer, colour A4 with a budget of 200 - 400? He is currently using an inkjet which is not too bad but ive seen photos printed on laser as miles ahead.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Ricky91t

I thought laser was only for quick printing?Like documents etc...

Could be wrong though?

Dabko

I could also be wrong!!

Laser print is like digital which gives great picture print quality. They are also fast as hell when printing.

Ghost Train

would have though that a good inkjet would be better than a budget colour laser for photo quality prints?

might find some details about which would be better here http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/007oKd

Merrion

The range of papers you can put through a laser printer is much less than the range that you can put through an inkjet so I'd say the inkjet with the expensive paper and ink is still better than laser for photos.

minikin

lazer is not the way to go for photo printing... it's not archival (lazer output fades very quickly compared to inkjet) at all, the gamut (range of colour) it can reproduce is inferior to inkjet (uses 4 colours: cmyk toner rather than as many as 8 inks for inkjet), you can't print on photo quality paper: just a coated paper which gives a nasty sheen as the toner sits on the surface rather than inkjet where the ink soaks into the substrate.

I operate both a €40k lazer printer (xerox dc250) and a €5k inkjet printer (epson 7880) at work... we charge €1 for a colour A4 lazer print and €8 for a colour A4 inkjet - that should tell you something about the quality difference. The lazer is good but you'd never mistake it for a photographic print... the inkjet prints are exceptional.

Tallon

I work in HP, you should come to one of our open days and i'll show you the different types.

HP's current slogan is THinkjet

Inkjets are the better alternative, coupled with very good quality paper.
You can buy HP's for little to nothing these days, but with your budget you will deffo get a good printer

Laser is only really used for high speed documents i.e. B&W

Just remember, you can have fast>ok quality, or slow>excellent quality
It's not all about speed, i'd rather sit there for half an hour to get a print that would make the picture 'come alive'

Dabko

nice one! Thank you everybody for the feedback. I guess i was looking down the wrong route all along - the inkjet it is then!

Cheers again