Canon ImagePROGRAF W8400 wide format inkjet printer reviews The Canon ImagePROGRAF W8400 has not been shown at most wide format trade shows. When it does appear, it is usually off to the side, not really featured. Although we do not have any recent model Canon printer, if we did, we would show it front and center, not pushed off to the side. We have two earlier Canon ImagePROGRAF W-series printers already (w7250 and w8200). They are nicely designed and well built machines, though clearly Canon saw need for improvements, which is why the earlier models were rather quickly replaced. The replacements were the imagePROGRAF W6400 and W8400. Our evaluations and comments on these two earlier-model Canon printers, especially the imagePROGRAF W8200 have proven very popular, in part because they are the only reports on a bubblejet printhead machine written by a university-based lab that is respected for its reviews. Italian trade magazines have already shown photos of the next generation of Canon printers and listed how many new models will appear. We are updating our “What’s new in 2006” FLAAR Report with a quote. This report will be ready by mid-January. A German trade magazine, Publishing Praxis, Nov/Dez 2005, pp. 46-49, found that the Canon imagePROGRAF W6400 had notable metamerism. Previously metamerism was primarily a problem with the Epson 7500, 9500 and a bit with the 7600 and 9600. Metamerism has been minimized for the Epson 4800, 7800, and 9800 due to the problems it caused with earlier Epson printers. Thus to see metamerism pop up on a Canon imagePROGRAF W6400 printer, does not bode well for their interest to enter the world of giclee and fine art photography. Since the W8400 uses the same ink, it is logical that it would also have metamerism issues. This is why we prefer to test ourselves, but since we don’t have either the w8400 or w6400, we can’t comment on what the German lab states on metamerism. Most people in the general public associate Canon with copiers and cameras. Most people don’t realize that Canon makes wide format printers. As a result their market share during 2005 was only about 5%; it was 1% in 2002. HP has over 90% market share in the technical market in comparison. The technical market is CAD, GIS, and technical drawings. Our background at FLAAR is in architecture and so we are asked by companies across the USA and around the world what kind of printers we recommend for graphic design, CAD, GIS, and technical drawings for electrical circuits, etc. We ourselves use HP printers for printing all these technical drawings, both at our university in Ohio and in our office in Guatemala (where we serve the growing market of Latin America in Mexico above us and the rest of South America below us).
Most recently updated January 16, 2006. Most of our updates for 2006 onward are in the FLAAR Reports in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. It is more efficient for us to make new information available in PDF format. So if the web page itself is not updated, check out www.wide-format-printers.NET to see if the printer, RIP, color management ICC profiles, or other subject is covered in an update which can be easily ordered in a PDF download. |
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